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It's time to set up your holiday streaming campaign
Are you ready to reach holiday shoppers on CTV? For many streamers, the season is already underway.
Last year, according to Roku internal data, holiday content searches on Roku saw an 86% increase during October. And in November, those searches rise an average of 39% weekly. This surging holiday spirit is mirrored by consumer activity, as about half of Roku streamers shopped Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals in 2025.
Meeting those shoppers is easier than you might think. Begin with the seasonal outcome you hope to drive: awareness, online sales, leads, store visits, or another measurable goal. From there, define your audience, upload your creative, set the budget and campaign dates, and establish measurement before launching. You can even create a shoppable ad unit that lets streamers buy with a click of their remote.
Our holiday playbook offers a month-by-month guide to reaching shoppers during this all-important time of year.
First-time spenders get a $5,000 match on the first $5,000 spent with code BEEHIIV5K. Terms apply.
Happy Monday!
Here’s last week in one quick read.
The money got big. Anthropic filed for an IPO, and reports put its valuation target as high as $2 trillion. Microsoft offered buyouts to a reported 60,000 employees, Bedrock Robotics raised $600M for autonomous excavators, and a non-Nvidia chip startup raised $100M. Fusion startups took federal cash with equity attached.
AI moved closer to the user. Siri added five languages, Opera proposed an open standard for running AI inside the browser, and Instagram began testing long-form video. Nvidia and Meta expanded their Muse partnership, and OpenAI’s always-on assistant, dots, got its first public walkthrough.
Trust and security took centre stage. The PHP2Shell flaw kept pulling big tech into the response, retailers started blocking AI shopping agents, and a dispute over Ukraine’s Starshield access raised questions about who controls critical infrastructure. Silicon Valley’s AI lobbying also split into rival camps spending millions on opposing sides.
EDITORS PICKS
1.
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
SpaceX Loses Dismissal Bid in xAI Data Center Pollution Case
Court ruling lets NAACP's Clean Air Act lawsuit proceed, marking shift from rapid AI infrastructure buildout to environmental accountability
2.
AI
Apple's New CEO Breaks With AI Hype Cycle
John Ternus stakes out utility-first AI position in first major policy statement as CEO, signaling strategic divergence from Microsoft and Google's aggressive rollouts.
3.
GOVERNMENT & POLICY
Data Centers Hit the Ballot in Brooklyn
AI infrastructure crosses from technical concern to midterm election issue, signaling a shift in how communities view tech's physical footprint
4.
AI
AI Chatbots Hit Their First Deadly Blind Spot
Consumer AI crosses from helpful assistant to dangerous authority as hikers surrender critical thinking to hallucinating chatbots in life-or-death situations.
5.
AI
Meta's AI Ad Engine Widens Gap Over Google Search
Meta's ad revenue grew 26% while Google Search hit 12%—the widest divergence since 2021 as AI reshapes digital advertising's power dynamics.
That’s your Monday reset. Here’s what to carry into the week:
1. AI’s physical footprint is now a public fight. Data centers are showing up in courtrooms and on ballots, which means communities now have a say in where AI gets built.
2. Not every company is racing to ship AI. Apple’s new CEO is reportedly setting out a utility-first stance, while Meta’s AI-driven ad engine keeps widening its lead.
3. People are trusting chatbots with serious decisions. The story about hikers relying on chatbots is a reminder to check AI answers when the stakes are high.
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