VNExpress-Sept 30
Foreign brands entering Vietnam need to understand local search behavior, trust signals and AI-driven visibility rather than simply translating global content, according to digital marketing agency On Digitals. Vietnam’s expanding digital economy is creating a larger opportunity for international companies, but search behavior in the market has its own patterns. Google accounted for 94.41% of Vietnam’s search engine market in May 2026, while Coc Coc held 4.41%, according to market data cited by On Digitals. The audience is also highly connected. DataReportal recorded 85.6 million internet users in Vietnam at the end of 2025, equal to 84.2% internet penetration, along with 79 million social media identities. Consumers may move between social platforms, Google Search, review content, messaging apps, brand websites and online marketplaces before making a decision.
SEO therefore increasingly supports a wider customer journey rather than only a position on a search results page.
On Digitals said one of the most common localization mistakes is treating a Vietnamese website as a translated version of a global one. The language may change while the search intent behind the query remains different. Industrial buyers, for example, may search by application, manufacturing capability or supplier credibility instead of a technical product category. Beauty consumers may focus on skin concerns, expected outcomes and safety, while automotive and retail customers may also consider local availability, after-sales support and brand reputation.
Vincent On, founder and CEO of On Digitals, said brands need to understand how Vietnamese customers discover and evaluate a business before planning content. “Foreign brands usually do not fail in Vietnam because they lack marketing assets, but because their global brand voice does not always match how Vietnamese customers find, compare, and trust a brand,” he said. Backing up his claim, he shares that localization should combine search-intent mapping, keyword research, competitor analysis and content planning rather than simply increasing the number of articles published. Research by SEO platform Ahrefs found that the click-through rate for the top organic result was 34.5% lower when an AI Overview appeared in April 2025. When the study was repeated in December 2025, the gap had widened to 58%. The shift does not remove the need for SEO, but it changes what optimization requires.
Vietnam’s growing digital economy is bringing more domestic, regional and international businesses into the same search market. The e-Conomy SEA 2025 report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company estimated Vietnam’s digital economy at US$39 billion in 2025, while e-commerce was expected to exceed US$25 billion with 17% year-on-year growth. Read more at:
