Google Ads in DACH: why each country needs its own break-even

Same gross price, different net revenue

The same gross price produces different net revenue in each country, different costs and therefore a different ROAS at which you start making money. My argument: you need to know these three figures first. Only then can you say whether a country needs its own campaigns, whether a second account makes sense and which country comes next.

Three countries, three break-even values

Two documented figures drive the differences. According to the EU overview, the standard VAT rate is 19% in Germany and 20% in Austria, while Switzerland, according to the BAZG, levies 8.1% on imports. On top of that comes an item the usual search results leave out: for ads served in Austria, Google adds a 5% fee, attributed to the digital services tax there. Germany and Switzerland are not on Google's list of jurisdictions.

The third figure is your own logistics, and no source knows it. The following worked example uses invented, round figures: an item costs 120 gross everywhere, and for simplicity I treat the Swiss price as its euro equivalent. The shop pays the tax of each country itself and covers import and customs clearance.

The last row is the reason for this article. A shared target of 2.5 looks like a solid figure in the account. In fact, Germany makes money, Austria stays just in profit and Switzerland loses on every order. In the example, the tax advantage of around ten euros net is not enough to offset the higher shipping and returns costs.

If you report gross values to Google, you get different figures: 2.46, 2.86 and 3.00. The gap between the countries then appears to shrink, because the value in the account includes tax, and the tax rate differs by country. How to define numerator and denominator is explained in the calculation of the break-even ROAS.

Order value reverses the ranking

Switzerland's tax advantage grows with the price, whereas shipping and handling are incurred per parcel. That is why there is no blanket answer to whether Switzerland pays better than Austria. If I extend the example, with cost of goods at a third of the gross price, a payment fee of 2.5%, and shipping and returns at a fixed amount, this is the picture:

The table shows the maximum permissible ad spend per order. At 60, Switzerland leaves hardly any room for advertising; at 240, it is ahead of both EU countries. With these assumptions, Switzerland overtakes Austria from around 137. For your shop, that point lies elsewhere, but the formula stays the same: work through order value, parcel costs and tax for each country before you talk about market size.

Austria: the cost does not show on the campaign

Austria looks like Germany with one percentage point more tax. Language and currency match, and Google lets you add a country to an existing data source via “Add multiple countries”, provided language and prices fit. All you need is shipping information for the country and a Shopping campaign that serves it.

The fee needs its own attention. Google adds it once at the end of every month, and it appears as a separate line item on the invoice and under “Transactions”. An account budget you have set does not cover it: according to Google's example, a €100 budget plus €5 in fees becomes a €105 bill, plus any applicable taxes. Build it firmly into your target value rather than discovering it later in the bookkeeping. Where your business is located makes no difference; what counts is where the ad is served.

That does not have to mean a separate campaign. If Austria runs in a shared campaign with 10% of the orders, the break-even in the example only rises from 2.06 to 2.09, and at 30% to 2.15. Whether separating it pays depends on volume and range; the calculation is in the article on whether to run Austria alongside Germany.

Switzerland: three problems instead of one

Switzerland breaks the assumption that the German structure will fit in three places at once: currency, language and tax.

Currency. For Switzerland, Google lists CHF as the currency. Full localisation means a separate data source with prices in francs, shipping costs in the same currency and CHF throughout the website. If you stay in euros using Google's conversion, the ad shows both currencies, and you follow the price and tax rules of the euro country. That works as a test, but for an established market I consider it too weak. The details are in the guide to Google Shopping for Switzerland.

Language. The landing page and the checkout elements relevant to the purchase must be in the language of the data source. A German feed on a German page therefore reaches German-speaking Switzerland. For the French- and Italian-speaking regions, you need translated pages and separate data sources. Weigh this effort against the contribution margin of the additional demand instead of taking it for granted.

Tax and customs. Once a mail-order retailer reaches CHF 100,000 in annual turnover from small consignments, it becomes liable for VAT in Switzerland. From then on, all consignments are subject to domestic tax, and a foreign retailer needs a tax representative based in Switzerland. This block of fixed costs is missing from my table: divide it by the planned number of orders and add it to the costs. Below that threshold, tax is due on import, and according to the BAZG the post office and couriers charge their own customs clearance fees, which vary by company and form part of the tax base. Tax amounts up to CHF 5 are not collected, which at the standard rate corresponds to a tax base of CHF 62. What the threshold means for your offer is covered under VAT for foreign shops.

One account or several?

My rule: one account, as long as you can pay in one currency. According to Google, the account currency is permanently set when you set up the account and determines how you are billed. If you want to pay in francs, you therefore need a new account. For a shop from Germany or Austria that pays in euros, I see no reason in this to split. Targets, budgets and countries can be separated through campaigns; a second account mainly adds maintenance.

The case is different if a Swiss company is to pay the invoice, the countries have separate people responsible, or the accounting requires a split. These are organisational reasons, not algorithmic ones, and they are sufficient.

In the euro account, one trap remains with conversion values. If you report conversions in francs, Google converts them into the account currency using the average daily foreign exchange rate. Place a test order in the Swiss checkout and check that amount and currency arrive together. After that, your measured ROAS also moves with the exchange rate, while parts of your costs are incurred in another currency. When the exchange rate moves more sharply, recalculate the Swiss break-even.

Splitting campaigns follows its own rule of thumb. I would split off a country if its break-even differs from the rest by around 15% and the country on its own delivers enough conversions for its bid strategy. That is my working threshold, not a documented one. If the volume is missing, use a blended target that weights the countries by share instead, and check the results per country regularly. In the example, Austria would be just above that with a 16% gap, and Switzerland clearly so at 34%. Because of the separate data source in CHF, I would split Switzerland off anyway once it is localised.

Which legal questions differ

You cannot solve any of these questions in the account, and each one changes the calculation. Pass them on to a tax adviser or lawyer to check; this is not legal advice.

The returns question is the underrated lever. According to the federal portal, in Switzerland there is no legal right to return or exchange goods, and the same rules apply to online trading as to a purchase in a shop. For goods without defects, you therefore set the returns policy yourself. Copying a German returns promise one to one means cross-border returns, which produce the highest returns item in the example. A tighter rule saves costs and can cost conversions. That is something you test rather than assume. Before launch, also decide who bears the Swiss import charges, and reflect that in the price.

Your own checkout measures payment methods

Guides like to back up payment methods with market shares per country. I do not use such figures, because they measure different things depending on the study. Your own checkout is more telling: analyse the abandonment rate and payment mix per country, and enter the fees per payment method in the table above. If one country differs markedly, that changes the conversion rate and the fee, and with them the break-even. The rest is explained in the article on payment methods and trust in the checkout.

In which order to enter new countries?

Similarity of language is not a good argument for the order. I would proceed like this:

1. Fill in the table above for each country with real costs, separately for your two or three typical order values.
2. Set the one-off and ongoing effort alongside it: data source, translation, shipping contract, tax representative, support.
3. Calculate the expected monthly contribution: orders times contribution after advertising, minus ongoing costs.
4. Launch the country with the highest contribution for the least effort first, with a limited budget and its own reporting.

For most German shops, that will put Austria first, because feed and currency are already in place and Austria can be tried with little effort. That is my expectation. A shop with high order values and a shipping partner for Switzerland can justify Switzerland first; a shop with small baskets and bulky goods should perhaps leave it out altogether.

CHF prices change every row

The example assumes equal gross prices. As soon as you price differently in Switzerland, every row shifts, and that is your strongest lever.

For goods at a reduced rate, the gap narrows: Switzerland then applies 2.6%, Germany 7%. According to the BAZG, higher customs duties apply mainly to alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and food, where you calculate duty per product category. In B2B business with net prices, the VAT effect largely disappears, while the fee in Austria remains. And in a small account, a clean three-way split achieves nothing if no campaign has enough data left. In that case the blended target applies until the volume is there.

All rates and fees are as of November 2026 and may change, Google's list of jurisdictions in particular. Check them before every recalculation.