Streaming Audio is bought on CPM only, averaging $18.90. Meta Ads averages $1.16 CPC and $8.19 CPM. Analysis for Ireland in 2026.
Ireland is a small but disproportionately strategic European ad market — CPMs run roughly 5% above US baselines, but the country's outsized role as the European HQ for Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, and most major tech platforms makes it relevant beyond its population (~5.2M). Most platforms' EU-wide commercial decisions are made in Dublin, and EU GDPR enforcement against US tech companies routes through the Irish DPC (Data Protection Commission), which has been historically criticized as slow but is now more active. Domestic ad spend is dominated by retail, financial services, telecom, and a notably high concentration of B2B SaaS due to Dublin's tech employer base. English-language creative is standard; Irish (Gaeilge) creative is rarely used outside specific cultural campaigns.
Spotify, Pandora, and other audio streaming platforms
Facebook and Instagram advertising - highly targetable social ads
The auction, the creative, the budget floor — the three things you actually need to know before picking a platform.
Spotify, Pandora, iHeart, and podcast networks sell audio ads on CPM. Rates run $15–25 depending on demographic targeting depth. Podcast host-read ads bill differently (flat fee per episode + CPM top-up), but programmatic streaming audio is standard CPM.
15s or 30s audio, .mp3 or .wav, 128kbps+ recommended, with a companion display banner (300×250) for the app UI. Sound design matters more than script — this is background-attention media.
$2K–5K/month gets meaningful reach on Spotify's self-serve platform. Podcast-network buys typically start at $10K/month for host-read integration.
Meta (Facebook + Instagram) runs an auction across Feed, Stories, Reels, Marketplace, and Audience Network. You optimize for a conversion event; Meta's algorithm decides bid and placement. Effective CPM is $6–12, effective CPC $0.80–1.50 depending on optimization goal and vertical.
Feed: 1:1 (1080×1080), 4:5 portrait (1080×1350). Reels/Stories: 9:16 (1080×1920). Video 15–60s. Carousel supports 10 cards. Copy ~125 chars before the truncate. Creative fatigue is the #1 cost driver — refresh every 2–3 weeks.
The algorithm needs ~50 conversion events per week per ad set to exit learning phase. For a $30 CPA that's ~$1,500/week or $6K/month per campaign. Below that, performance is a lottery.