• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, November 18, 2014

Mobile smartphone apps from Target and other retail stores will feed the Black Friday deals this holiday season, but consumers will rely on search more often to find the deals. One in two consumers will search the Internet for shopping deals this holiday season, per a study released Tuesday. This makes sense, since it's an online survey, with the majority of participants favoring online ads over TV or email.

Genesis Media asked 17,000 consumers and readers of national online publications about their holiday shopping habits and what types of online advertising formats catch their attention as the holiday season begins. Interestingly, the majority of people polled preferred video ads compared with sponsored or editorial content ads. One in two shoppers would welcome online ads if they featured a relevant Black Friday deal.

The National Retail Federation estimates that stores will see about $50 billion in sales during the one weekend. It's too soon to say whether the Thanksgiving Day shopping trend will fade or if the buzz will build in 2015 -- but this year, The NRF is betting on another strong turnout.

Last year, the NRF estimates that 248.7 million shoppers were in stores and online during Thanksgiving 2013 -- up 0.5% compared with 2012. Some 64% went out on Thanksgiving Day or visited stores by 10 a.m. on Black Friday, and 27% of consumers shopped online on Thanksgiving Day 2013. About 45% of holiday shopping had completed their shopping by the Sunday after Thanksgiving, up from 42% in 2012.

Offline ads can influence searches and purchases too. Three in four consumers research online after seeing an offline apparel ad, per Kenshoo, which cites data from Microsoft. The infographic, released Monday, suggests that Google product listing ads generate 73% higher click-through rates and 36% lower cost per clicks than text search ads.

Consumers will search on branded, non-branded and category terms to locate products. Some 34% of apparel shoppers search on category terms, and when the ads fall in the top positions, they are 35-times more likely than lower ads to drive new customer purchases.

When paired with social, search advertisements produced a 24% higher average order value than those only exposed to search.

Happy shopping!