---
title: "Black Friday 2025: why CPCs are rising"
url: "https://www.omnicliq.com/en/blog/black-friday-cpc-surge-2025/"
description: "If you have seen CPCs climbing in your Google Ads accounts over the past two weeks, it is not random. Major e-commerce platforms, Trendyol most visibly, have sharply increased their spend ahead of Black Friday 2025, mostly in fashion but also in home and decor.

It shows across the category: higher bids, a bigger share of impressions for the largest advertisers and more expensive clicks for everyone else."
category: "ecommerce"
datePublished: "2025-11-17"
readTime: "2 min read"
author: "Dimitris Bachtsevanis"
locale: "en"
---

# Black Friday 2025: why CPCs are rising

> If you have seen CPCs climbing in your Google Ads accounts over the past two weeks, it is not random. Major e-commerce platforms, Trendyol most visibly, have sharply increased their spend ahead of Black Friday 2025, mostly in fashion but also in home and decor.

It shows across the category: higher bids, a bigger share of impressions for the largest advertisers and more expensive clicks for everyone else.

**TL;DR.** Large e-commerce platforms, Trendyol most visibly in fashion and home, raised their Google Ads budgets sharply before Black Friday 2025. The result: more expensive clicks for everyone. How to protect performance with the right timing, targeting and creative.

## Why Black Friday 2025 is different

Black Friday auctions get noisy every year. What changes in 2025 is the scale: a few very large international platforms see Greece and its neighbouring markets as a growth priority. When Trendyol, Temu, Shein and others of similar size pour serious budget into the same two-week window, local auctions shift faster than a mid-size advertiser can react. That is why [preparation](/en/blog/black-friday-prep-mode-2025/) starts weeks earlier.

## What we see in the accounts

In the accounts we manage we see:

- **CPC increases in fashion** from 30% to more than 100%, depending on how narrow the category is.
- **Lost impression share** on keywords that were comfortable until recently (brand and category terms).
- **Pressure on conversion rate**, because competitor offers appear in almost every search.

The brands that hold performance in this window are not the ones trying to outbid the giants. They are the ones that **avoid head-on auction fights** and win with structure, targeting and creative, sending budget only to the [products that can win](/en/case-studies/stylewish-competitive-pricing/).

## What working smarter looks like right now

Three levers consistently make the difference in accounts we are managing through this year's surge:

1. **Timing:** Budget front-loaded into the two weeks before Black Friday week tends to produce better ROAS than budget spent during the peak itself, because CPCs during the pre-week are still manageable and the audiences built in that window pay off during the peak.
2. **Targeted, not broad:** Broad [Performance Max](/en/digital-marketing/google-ads/) and generic Shopping campaigns get crushed by the big-budget players. Tightly structured campaigns with clear audience segmentation and negative keyword discipline keep performance defensible.
3. **Creative that justifies the click:** In a SERP packed with deep discount offers from international platforms, the offers that win are specific, credible, and tied to a concrete reason the user should buy from you rather than the cheapest option. Vague “Black Friday sale” creative gets ignored.

Black Friday is not just a sprint. It is a strategy.

## FAQ

### Should I raise bids to compete?
Not always. Going head-on with much bigger advertisers rarely pays. Targeting, campaign structure and creative usually deliver better results.

### When should I spend most of the budget?
Often in the two weeks before Black Friday week, while CPCs are still reasonable and you can build audiences for the peak.

### Is Performance Max worth it for Black Friday?
It can be, with strong assets, exclusions and separate control for key products. A generic Performance Max often loses to the big players.