bol.com advertising for sellers mainly means Sponsored Products: cost-per-click ads that show your items in search results, on category pages and on item pages. You set a maximum bid, a budget and a target ACoS, but your ad only runs while your offer holds the buy box. This guide explains how the system works and how to set up, bid on and measure your first campaigns.
At a glance
- Main ad format: Sponsored Products, sold on a cost-per-click basis. You pay only when someone clicks.
- Key condition: the advertised item must be in the buy box.
- Campaign types: automatic (bol picks keywords, bids and placements) or manual (you control them).
- Budgets: daily, campaign and account budgets, set in your seller account.
- Measurement: ACoS, ROAS, TACoS and more, with a 14-day attribution window.
- Checked: November 2026 on bol’s partner platform. Features change, so check your own account.
What is bol.com advertising?
bol.com advertising is bol’s paid visibility programme for partners selling on bol, the marketplace serving customers in the Netherlands and Belgium. Its main tool, Sponsored Products, links shoppers’ search terms to your items so they appear higher in results. bol also lists Branded Shelves and a Brand Page Creator for brand visibility.
According to bol’s Sponsored Products page, 78% of clicks on product pages come from the first page of search results and 60% from the top 10 results. If your item sits on page three organically, ads are the fastest way to test whether it sells when shoppers can see it.
New to the marketplace? Start with our guide on how to sell on bol.com, then come back here.
How do bol.com Sponsored Products work?
Sponsored Products run on a cost-per-click auction. You bid the most you will pay for a click, and a higher bid makes your ad more likely to show. bol says the winning click price is the second-highest bid plus one cent, and showing an ad is free, so you only pay when a shopper clicks.
Where ads appear
- In search results for specific search terms.
- On category pages.
- On item pages.
What affects your cost per click
bol’s bids and budgets guide names four factors: competition on the keyword, your bid, the item price and the delivery time. Price and delivery time are levers you control outside the ad console.
What cannot be advertised
Some items, such as infant formula and certain medicines, are not eligible for regulatory reasons. Ads must also follow the rules of the Dutch Advertising Code Authority.
Why does the buy box decide whether your ad runs?
bol states that the item you advertise must be in the buy box. If a competing offer takes the buy box, your ad stops showing for that item, however high your bid. That makes buy box health the first thing to check whenever impressions drop suddenly.
bol’s buy box page lists five factors: orderability, condition, price including shipping and VAT, delivery conditions, and your quality score, which must be at least 65 over 22 weeks. Before you raise bids:
- Keep stock in your feed accurate so the item stays orderable.
- Check your price, including shipping, against competing offers.
- Set a delivery promise you can meet every day.
- Watch your quality score on the Performance page.
Our guide to bol.com buy box and performance covers each factor in detail.
How do you set up a bol.com ad campaign?
Go to the Advertising tab in your seller account, accept the advertising terms and create a campaign. bol recommends beginners start with an automatic campaign, where you only enter the items, a daily budget and a target ACoS. Let it run for about two weeks before changing anything.
- Set a goal, such as launching a new item, profitable sales or more visibility.
- Select items that hold the buy box and have strong content and reviews.
- Choose automatic or manual. Start automatic to gather data.
- Set your target ACoS from your margin. bol’s example: with a 20% profit margin, keep ACoS below 20%.
- Set budgets and bidding, then check the settings via the gear icon before launch.
- Wait for data: about two weeks, or 80 to 100 clicks per item or keyword.
Automatic vs manual campaigns
| Feature | Automatic campaign | Manual campaign |
|---|---|---|
| Keywords | bol selects them from your content | You choose them |
| Bids | Set in the auction, based on your goals and target ACoS | You set a bid per keyword |
| Placements | Chosen automatically | You choose the page types |
| Negative keywords | Can be added | Can be added |
| Best for | First campaigns and keyword discovery | Scaling proven keywords with more control |
| Time needed | Lower | Higher: weekly monitoring and bid changes |
Source: bol partner platform, keyword targeting and campaign type pages, checked November 2026.
How should you choose keywords on bol?
Use automatic campaigns and bol’s search trends dashboard to find the terms shoppers actually type, then move the best ones into manual campaigns. bol offers three match types and exclusion keywords, which you add to stop spend on irrelevant searches.
- Exact: shows only for the exact keyword, though variations, typos and singular or plural forms also match.
- Partial: shows for searches that contain your keyword, so “bike” also matches “blue bike”.
- Longtail: longer, more specific searches, such as “pink makeup bag with mirror”.
- Exclusion keywords: work only on the literal term, with no spell check or plural recognition, so add each variant separately.
Make sure your main keywords also appear in your title and description. bol links low click-through rates and costly placements to low relevance between the ad and the search.
How do bids and budgets work on bol.com?
You choose an automatic or manual bidding strategy and cap spend with daily, campaign and account budgets. When a budget runs out, the related ads stop until it resets or you raise it. bol suggests a starting daily budget of €15 and recommends making the budget last all day.
| Budget type | What it controls | When it runs out |
|---|---|---|
| Daily budget | Spend per campaign per day | Campaign pauses for the rest of the day |
| Campaign budget | Total spend for one campaign, useful for launches | Campaign pauses automatically |
| Account budget | Total spend over a period, with an optional end date | No ads show and all campaigns stop |
| Portfolio budget | Separate budgets tied to PO numbers | Linked campaigns stop |
- bol says 40% of purchases happen after 17:00, so a budget that runs out at lunchtime misses the evening.
- Unused daily budget does not roll over. bol describes a monthly average option as coming soon.
- If you get no impressions, bol suggests raising bids gradually by €0.05 or €0.10.
How do you read bol.com advertising reports?
bol reports clicks, impressions, CTR, CPC, conversions, revenue, ACoS, ROAS and TACoS for Sponsored Products. A conversion is a purchase within 14 days of a click, using last-click attribution. Judge campaigns on ACoS against your margin and on TACoS against total sales, not on clicks alone.
- ACoS: ad costs as a percentage of ad revenue, both excluding VAT. An ACoS of 20% equals a ROAS of 5.
- TACoS: ad costs as a percentage of total revenue, organic and paid.
- Impression share: the share of possible impressions your ads received.
- Average winning bid: what winning advertisers pay in the auction.
Under Advertising > Reports you will find a performance per placement report, an attribution report with direct and indirect conversions, a bidding report and results per item. bol’s analyse results guide suggests checking price, content completeness and negative reviews when an item converts poorly, and bol advises at least 1.5 hours a week on campaign checks.
How EcommTech helps
EcommTech’s marketplace PPC management team runs advertising with the same discipline across Amazon and the European marketplaces: buy box checks before bids, keyword harvesting from automatic campaigns, and budgets set from your margins.
- EcommTech is an Amazon Ads Verified Partner, with an in-house team of 40+ specialists across PPC, listings, design and operations.
- An Amazon account we manage sold €1,054,219 across 10 European Amazon stores in 30 days. Read the Amazon Europe case study.
- You get a named account manager, weekly reports and a monthly review call, month to month with no lock-in.
For how we approach multi-country campaigns, see our guide to Amazon PPC in Europe.
Are you an agency running bol.com clients?
- We deliver PPC management on a white-label basis, reported under your agency’s brand.
- Access runs through each marketplace’s own user and permission system, never shared passwords.
- See the details on our white-label Amazon PPC page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does advertising on bol.com cost?
Sponsored Products are cost per click, so you pay only when someone clicks. You set the maximum bid and your budgets. bol says the winning click price is the second-highest bid plus one cent, and it suggests a €15 daily budget to start.
Can I advertise on bol.com without the buy box?
No. bol states that the item you advertise with Sponsored Products must be in the buy box. If another offer wins the buy box, your ad stops showing for that item.
Should I start with an automatic or manual campaign on bol?
bol recommends starting with an automatic campaign. Let it run for about two weeks, or 80 to 100 clicks per item or keyword, then move proven keywords into manual campaigns where you control bids.
What is a good ACoS on bol.com?
It depends on your margin. bol’s own example is that with a 20% profit margin, you should keep ACoS below 20%. Also track TACoS to see how ad spend relates to your total sales.
How long is the bol.com attribution window?
bol counts a conversion when a purchase happens within 14 days of an ad click, using last-click attribution. Its attribution report shows direct and indirect conversions.
Want a second opinion on your marketplace ads? Our in-house team of 40+ PPC, listings and operations specialists will send a free written audit within 3 working days. WhatsApp +44 7878 479380 or email info@ecommtechltd.com. We reply within 24 hours.
