With Black Friday taking place later this week, we asked experts from across the ad tech industry for their insights. What has changed this year?

Black Friday has been one of the UK’s biggest yearly shopping events for well over a decade now, long-cemented into advertisers’ calendars. This year, UK shoppers are expected to spend £9.52bn over the four-day Black Friday weekend, over half of which is projected to be spent online. 

Challenges continue to rear their heads, as the ad landscape becomes more complex, fragmented, and AI-powered. Alongside this, UK consumers remain cautious spenders, facing a relentless cost of living crisis with surprise bill increases, rising food prices, and an ever-worsening housing market. 

Despite the challenges, doors also open. The retail media sector is growing rapidly, bringing about new opportunities for brands to connect with consumers. Meanwhile, developments in tech continue to help advertisers reach new audiences. 

As the years go on, are advertisers approaching the shopping holiday any differently to before? What's being done to address the current challenges? What strategies have brands been employing, and have tactics around activation changed? What new tech is helping advertisers reach audiences? Plus, how can advertisers find value beyond the festive window? We asked a range of ad tech experts for their input. 

Outsmarting the competition isn't about outspending them

The Golden Quarter may be highly competitive, but marketers who play the long game with a data-driven, audience-first approach will find value beyond the festive window. Outsmarting the competition isn’t about outspending them during Q4; it’s about applying insight to reach the right audiences when others aren’t paying attention. 

Black Friday is a powerful moment for consumer engagement, but it’s one goalpost among many to win for brands. The real opportunity lies in how brands leverage this seasonal momentum to build lasting relationships with their customers.

Brands that invest in understanding their customers year-round will be the ones who convert seasonal spenders into lifelong advocates. Making sure brands understand the motivations, habits, and preferences of shoppers throughout the year, and also on which media channels they spend their time, will allow brands to engage strategically and proactively with their customers, rather than simply reacting to seasonal trends.

Alison Harding, Vice President of Data Solutions, Lotame

Brands are changing how they activate around Black Friday

Black Friday remains one of the biggest retail events of the year, but brands are changing how they activate around it. With budgets under increasing scrutiny, marketers are shifting focus from broad awareness to more performance-driven strategies that deliver measurable ROI. The extended Black Friday campaign window has diluted urgency, pushing brands to differentiate their approach and stand out in an increasingly crowded landscape.

Amid growing acquisition costs, fragmented consumer attention, and heightened competition, brands must prioritise smarter targeting and higher-impact creative to break through. Curated audiences across channels such as CTV with mapped deterministic data allow advertisers to reach the right consumers with creative that converts, while also improving the quality and granularity of measurement—still one of the most challenging parts of the funnel. Strengthening measurement capabilities is essential for proving the effectiveness of spend and maintaining investment confidence.

Nick Flood, SVP, Product, Shinka

One of this year's biggest challenges is standing out in increasingly algorithm-driven environments

Black Friday may be stretching into a longer shopping window, but it still creates a clear moment of heightened intent. Brands benefit from being present in these periods with targeting that aligns to the moods and mindsets of audiences actively looking to shop. If your customers engage with Black Friday content, tapping into those contextual environments remains key to capturing demand without over-exposing wider, uninterested groups.

This year, one of the biggest challenges is standing out in increasingly algorithm-driven environments. Large platforms can deliver scale, but they also risk making campaigns feel homogenised. Brands are turning to contextual tactics across channels to anchor their ads to relevant content and avoid getting lost in the noise.

Advances in context-recognition AI, cross-device optimisation and smarter classification models allow advertisers to find high-intent moments across video and CTV with greater precision. This is crucial during peak shopping periods.

Sasha King, UK Sales Director, Silverpush

There is growing scepticism around the shopping holiday

There’s growing scepticism around Black Friday deals, with many arguing the discounts aren’t as strong as they appear. Publications are even offering guidance on how to identify genuinely new offers, so consumers will be more vigilant and spend more time researching online before making a purchase. In turn, this provides more opportunity for brands to reach their audiences – but the messaging must be relevant. Another challenge is that media consumption is increasingly fragmented across mobile, streaming, social by generation etc, so brands need to tailor messaging to each channel. 

On the tech side, AI-driven intent technology is enabling brands to understand where a user is in their purchase journey, and capture the most relevant real-time signals without relying on cookies. Also, genAI targeting tools are transforming precision – going beyond simple keywords and allowing brands to use natural-language sentences to describe their audience personas. The AI interprets the sentence, identifies the underlying intent patterns, and targets users who truly match it – all at scale and in a privacy-safe way.

Ade Fowler, Senior Insights Manager, Nano Interactive

New technology is both the problem and the solution

Brands no longer need to participate in every hyped shopping holiday, but opting out of Black Friday now requires a conscious strategy rather than inertia. For many, the shift is from blanket discounting to precision value, using data to protect margin, reward loyalty, and clear the right stock rather than everything.

This year’s challenge is compounded by signal loss, media saturation, and rising acquisition costs. Retail media networks, paid social, and promo-heavy CTV inventory are already congested. Measurement is fragmented, and last-click logic is finally breaking under the strain.

New technology is both the problem and the unlock. CTV is becoming genuinely shoppable. LLMs are accelerating creative testing and offer generation at scale. In parallel, emerging commerce infrastructure layers like Kindred are helping brands insert verified incentives directly into AI-powered discovery and decision journeys, connecting intent to transaction at the moment it matters most. 

Black Friday is no longer a single-day event. It is a test of signal, structure, and smarter execution.

Aaron Simpson, Founder & Executive Chair, Kindred

The rules have evolved

As the gateway to the seasonal rush, Black Friday remains critical for brands – but the rules have evolved with the event now digital-first, spontaneous and high-velocity.

Azerion’s annual Holiday Season survey revealed that 71% of shoppers now buy exclusively online; brands simply 'showing up' isn’t enough – winning the screen battle is critical. And with 83% of shopping being last-minute or opportunistic, success hinges on real-time visibility, reactive offers and hassle-free purchase paths.

2025 brings fresh challenges: rising competition for attention, shorter decision windows, and audiences (especially Gen Z) who browse without fixed buying intent but convert when the experience feels authentic, playful and too good to miss.

New tech gives advertisers the edge. Programmatic DOOH, CTV and display with dynamic AI-powered creative optimisation helps brands reach the right audiences at speed, update offers instantly, and personalise messages in the Black Friday moments that matter, and beyond.

Ruth Reynolds, Research & Strategy Director, Azerion UK

Focusing on a full-funnel plan

Brands should still be involved in shopping holidays, but with a different mindset. Since Black Friday has become a longer cycle, advertisers should focus on a full-funnel plan rather than a one-shot promo weekend. It’s no longer a sprint; it’s a marathon, but it can be very rewarding.

This year, the abundance of more cautious consumers, earlier competition, and higher noise, plus the ongoing reduction of cookies and retargeting, are forcing brands to be sharper on pricing, creativity, and context.

CTV is now a key reach-and-influence channel for any moment, including retail moments. LLMs have long been a key part not only in generative AI but also in helping analyse context and predictive attention of creative formats at scale.

Alvaro Pastor, CMO at EXTE

Advanced identity technology is a must

Black Friday makes efficient customer acquisition especially competitive, but a growing share of high-value shoppers are now found in ID-less environments — Safari, iOS, and other places where traditional identifiers simply don’t exist. Advanced identity technology is essential to effectively reach these customers at key shopping moments.

The best-performing advertisers are those able to extend their reach into ID-less environments by enriching limited or partial data and resolving it with high accuracy, at scale. When you can recognise prospective customers reliably — even when cookies, MAIDs, or other identifiers aren’t present — you can expand audiences, maximise your media and data investment, reduce wasted spend, and improve conversion rates at the moment it matters most.

Black Friday rewards marketers who have a true strategy for identity. The ability to find, reach, and measure real consumers across both ID-available and ID-less environments is quickly becoming the difference between incremental lift and missed opportunity.

Adam Smoler, VP Audience & Enterprise Partnerships, Intent IQ

The premium open web offers immense opportunities for reach and relevance

Black Friday campaigns will naturally include social and retail media, but the premium open web also offers immense opportunities for reach and relevance, as many users explore reviews, inspiration, and editorial content before making purchase decisions. Brands can appear in these environments that naturally align with consumer mindset and build stronger engagement by using contextual and attention signals to guide media investment.

The ability to curate quality supply and optimise placements in real time gives advertisers a clear performance advantage, helping them connect with shoppers where decisions are being shaped rather than where they are simply completed. 

Emma Lacey, SVP, Sales Demand EMEA, Onetag

Black Friday is no longer a spike but a sustained season

Black Friday remains a cornerstone of holiday shopping – it’s no longer just a spike, but a sustained season. According to research, 89% of consumers plan to shop online during Black Friday, and the vast majority say this tentpole moment plays a critical role in shaping their holiday purchases. 

At the same time, the way shoppers encounter products is evolving. With viewers spending an average of 10 minutes browsing the Smart TV Home Screen before deciding what to watch, the Home Screen makes it a powerful window for brand discovery this Black Friday - one that captures consumer attention at the exact point of curiosity and intent. 

This year, brands are tapping into tech that brings storytelling and shopping closer together. From dynamic CTV creative to AI-enhanced planning and interactive formats, media needs to feel as intuitive as the platforms it appears on. That’s how brands move from simply being seen to being chosen - especially in this crowded retail moment.

Ryan Afshar, VP, Publishers & Platforms, LG Ad Solutions

Deal discovery is being led by CTV and social media channels

While advertisers have been planning Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns for months, our data indicates that 66% consumers are planning their purchases in the three days before, and a quarter only on the day itself. Advertisers should be aiming to maximise conversions by engaging consumers with creatives on these preceding days, as well as the first sale day. It’s also worth noting that deal discovery is being led by CTV and social media channels, or influencers on those platforms. These key channels indicate an open lane for building brand awareness and equity for the shopping events.

With our data showing a high level of suspicion around the validity of deals, particularly among Gen-Z. Only 10% aged 18-24 believe Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are "definitely real," compared to 21% of those aged 25-44. Scepticism must be countered with specific campaign messaging that verifies discounts. Brands should be highlighting the genuine value of the savings to build trust and validate this by tracking brand sentiment. To capture the younger, ageing-up audience, it’s even more important for brands to emphasise the authenticity of savings in their campaign messaging.

Stephen Upstone, CEO & Founder, LoopMe

Treating DOOH as a multiplier, not a bolt-on

With Black Friday approaching and the colder nights setting in, bargain hunters and early Christmas shoppers will spend their evenings in front of the TV, scrolling for offers on their mobiles, and their days out hunting for deals. Brands that can connect these moments will stay front and centre with consumers.

What this means is using every channel available, and in harmony. CTV and premium video will take a big share of the spotlight, but advertisers shouldn’t overlook DOOH. Programmatic technology and third-party measurement have finally made outdoor advertising flexible, easy to use, and accountable. With real-world triggers based on weather, footfall, or nearby events, DOOH can be optimised just like any other programmatic channel. This means relevant retail campaigns flow naturally from the phone in hand, to the screen at home, to the show-stopping billboards people see while out and about.

As such, the brands that will deliver game-changing results this Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the ones treating DOOH as a multiplier, not a bolt-on, for their omnichannel campaigns.

Phil Acton, Country Manager UK, Adform

Passive participation risks being lost

As shopping holidays like Black Friday evolve into extended, multi-week campaigns, brands must remain actively involved to maintain relevance and drive conversion. Passive participation risks being lost amid an increasingly fragmented consumer attention span, especially as deals now stretch far beyond a single day.

This year, advertisers face new challenges, including heightened competition, rising ad costs, and shifting consumer expectations for personalisation and seamless cross-channel experiences. Understanding audience behaviour in real time has never been more critical.

And new technology is empowering brands to meet these demands. Connected TV allows marketers to reach audiences in premium, non-skippable environments, while AI and large language models help deliver messaging that feels personal at scale. Dynamic creative optimisation and data-driven attribution models are helping campaigns adapt on the fly, ensuring efficiency and relevance.

At the heart of this is creativity, precision, and technology that turn extended shopping periods into meaningful growth opportunities.

Yaron Tomchin, CEO, Mobupps

The question is how to sustain efficiency

Black Friday signals the start of an extended seasonal shopping season that for many will drive the largest sales of the year. The question is how to sustain efficiency over this prolonged period. Brands must adopt a performance and measurement mindset that comes with a digital-first approach, treating Black Friday and the rest of the festive season as one continuous campaign where investment is optimsed based on actual business outcomes rather than soft media metrics.

We’re working with an increasing number of brands to activate first-party data dynamically by location and orchestrating this across media channels. By mapping real-time data such as sales and search volume to specific areas, advertisers can deliver omnichannel campaigns that react to these signals where it matters most.  The results are impressive, a recent campaign with a major airline brand leveraged live booking data and search volumes to trigger specific channel mix and media investment combinations in campaign areas that drove an 84% uplift in bookings in just four days. Participation in these peak sales seasons are essential, but increased use of business intelligence to inform and optimse investments are a must.

Victor Fenes, Global Product Marketing Lead, Taptap

Finding new, relevant audiences

Brands don’t have to get involved in Black Friday, but for those that do, it can be a valuable way to maximise sales during the holiday rush. However, the battle for share of voice and wallet becomes more competitive each year, with brands often wrangling over the same individuals and online contexts. This clustering of competitors isn’t helped by the fact that many advertisers are still using an assumptive approach to contextual targeting.

Success this Black Friday will instead involve innovating to find relevant new audiences away from the crowd. For example, the smartest marketers are using AI to look at contextual signals during live campaigns, to see where audiences are actually engaging in real time, across topics, and update their strategies to meet these moments.

In this way, contextual-AI can deliver diverse and successful activations that help brands to stand out from the Black Friday noise.

David Evans, EMEA Sales Director, illuma

The real challenge this year is predictability

Black Friday has stretched so far beyond a day that it barely resembles a holiday anymore. But brands should still participate, not out of habit, but because the modern shopper moves through November in fragments, and programmatic is one of the few systems capable of making sense of that behaviour. For example, US online sales on Black Friday 2024 reached USD$10.8bn (£8.2bn), up about 10.2% year-on-year.

The real challenge this year isn’t competition; it’s predictability. Every brand discounts. Every brand increases spend. What sets winners apart is their ability to adjust in micro-moments: when intent spikes, when hesitation appears, when attention shifts. Programmatic gives that visibility. During the holiday season, programmatic CPMs tend to rise by 20-40%, reflecting the need for smarter, signal-driven targeting.

New tech is changing the texture of Black Friday. AI-generated creative variants and adaptive avatars fight the creative sameness that usually floods the season. And CTV is becoming the anchor: over 90% of CTV ad spend is now transacted programmatically, giving brands visibility during moments of genuine attention. Programmatic then reinforces that exposure across mobile, web, and apps without feeling intrusive.

So yes, brands still need Black Friday, but only if they use it with intelligence, not volume. This season is less about 'bulk discount" and more about recognising behavioural opportunity.

Oleksii Sakhno, CEO, Blasto