• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, November 20, 2014

While it often seems as though the entire U.S. has let holiday celebrations slip into October, new data indicates advertisers at least waited until Halloween had passed before shelling out big cash for holiday advertisements -- at least on programmatic ad exchanges.

Reaching consumers with ads related to “Giving Holidays,” via programmatic exchanges was actually less expensive in October compared to September. In fact, that segment has been decreasing in price for the past five months.

That’s according to ChoiceStream, a demand-side platform, and their November cost calendar (featuring data from October). The cost calendar analyzes the cost of reaching certain audiences on programmatic ad exchanges; 315 audience segments are measured.

Looking for an explanation as to why the "Giving Holiday" segment didn't see a price boost with the holidays on the horizon, ChoiceStream cites a recent eMarketer report that says retailers in 2014 “are making conservative inventory choices.” ChoiceStream says in its release that the “dip in gift giving is significant in comparison to previous years.”

Not all holiday-related segments decreased in rank, however. Advertising for toys via programmatic exchanges was significantly more expensive relative to other segments in October compared to September. The toy segment has been on a steady rise since July.

The full November cost calendar can be found here.