Black Friday & Holiday Season: What to Do
The final months of the year are a completely different game for the programmatic ecosystem.
As Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holiday season approach, three things tend to happen at the same time:
– CPMs increase as advertisers compete more aggressively for premium audiences.
– Traffic and impressions grow, creating more opportunities for publishers, but also putting additional pressure on infrastructure, demand connections and monetization strategies.
– Purchase intent changes, with advertisers placing greater value on users who are actively researching, comparing and buying.
For publishers, this means the preparation cannot start when Black Friday arrives.
Before the peak season, publishers should already have:
→ Their inventory fully optimized and monetized across multiple demand sources
→ Their Prebid and header bidding setup properly configured
→ IVT and quality controls in place
→ Their highest-value placements identified
→ Their traffic and performance data analyzed
→ Their infrastructure ready to handle increased demand and volume
For advertisers and agencies, the priorities are different:
→ Secure access to quality inventory before competition peaks
→ Define audiences and targeting strategies in advance
→ Diversify supply sources
→ Monitor CPMs, win rates and performance continuously
→ Make sure budgets can scale when the right opportunities appear
At 152 Media, we see the holiday season as more than just a period of higher CPMs.
It’s a stress test for the entire programmatic ecosystem and a major opportunity for publishers and advertisers that are prepared to move quickly.
The winners of Q4 don’t start optimizing in Q4. They prepare before it begins.
If you’re a publisher or advertiser preparing for Black Friday and the holiday season, now is the time to make sure your programmatic strategy is ready.
Let the journey begin