• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, June 13, 2014

ChoiceStream, a programmatic ad tech provider for buyers, this week released its June cost calendar, which features data from May. The cost calendar looks at how expensive it is to buy ads in certain verticals on programmatic ad exchanges.

Holidays and Events: Gift Giving was the most expensive segment on programmatic exchanges in May, per ChoiceStream. There’s no obvious connection between May and gift giving, but it's logical given that May is home to Mother’s day, weddings and graduations.

Baby Showers and Birthdays were other Holidays and Events segments in the top 10 in terms of cost in May, while four travel segments (Portugal, Italy, South Pacific and UK) were also in the top 10.

Antivirus Software and Travel: Navigation were among the 10 cheapest segments last month. The two segments have similar trend lines over the past 18 months.

“Both are standalone features that are becoming absorbed by other technologies, but whose advertisers are still spending more money during the holiday season to promote,” stated Bill Guild, VP of marketing at ChoiceStream, theorizing why the two different segments share similar cost patterns. “It will be interesting to see how these two segments play out through the rest of 2014 and into 2015.”

You can find the full June audience cost calendar infographic here.