How Does Black Friday Impact Publisher Ad Earnings

Black Friday’s Impact On Publisher Ad Earnings

Ad rate trends in November and December 2015 & 2016?

What do we know about ad earnings in 2017?

Ad Earnings in November 2017

- Ad rates in November 2017 are up 18.7% this year compared to last (prior to the big Black Friday jump)

- - Last year ad rates started increasing substantially in Q4 on Tuesday, Nov 22 and peaked (setting a record index high) on Black Friday

- The Q4 ad rates bubble usually runs from November 20-December 31, with an average 35% drop in publisher earnings on January 1.
- Ad rates usually hit annual lows until approximately January 28th — this is when they typically start to recover from the Q1 drop

Black Friday sets a new record in 2017

On Friday November 24, the Ad Revenue Index reached a new record. Publishers saw their highest total EPMVs ever witnessed by the index.
Black Friday has traditionally marked a point at which advertisers expend the largest portions of their budgets to capitalize on holiday spending. This increased competition leads to higher earnings for publishers, and we see once again this year, that digital spending and competition is on the rise. This continues to benefit digital publishers.

How publishers should be treating this information

One of the most obvious questions publishers should be asking themselves in light of some of this data is, _how are my session earnings lining up with these seasonal trends_? [Calculating EPMV](https://blog.ezoic.com/why-ecpm-vs-rpm-is-skewing-true-earnings/) for your site is very simple (earnings divided by 1,000 visitors). Understanding how your site’s EPMV compares to the index can give you some insights regarding how your property is fairing in line with industry trends.
Make sure to keep an eye on the [Ad Revenue Index](https://adrevenueindex.ezoic.com/) this season to stay on top of changes and trends. If you have further questions about trends or the index you can leave them below.