Black Friday 2025 once again confirmed its status as one of the most important moments in the digital retail calendar. Across the entire week from November 23 to 30, US audiences weren’t just hunting for discounts—they were flooding Google with highly specific queries about products, brands, categories, and even the NFL’s Black Friday game. For news publishers and commerce-focused outlets, this search behavior translated into a massive opportunity: land in Google’s mobile News Boxes at the right time, with the right headline, and your deal guides and explainers are suddenly in front of millions of high-intent users.

This article looks at how that played out in US mobile News Boxes during Black Friday week 2025. Using 94 Black Friday-related keywords with a total of 11,231 rankings, the analysis breaks the search landscape into seven content groups: Specific products, Brands, Product categories, Retail stores, Streaming services, NFL, and General queries. This structure makes it possible to see not only which products and brands drove the most visibility but also how broader topics like spending trends, opening hours, or football intersected with retail coverage.

In the second part, the focus shifts from keywords to publishers. Based on the same keyword set, we identify the top 10 outlets in US mobile News Boxes and track how their visibility developed across the eight-day period. From hyper-specialized tech sites to general news publishers, the data shows which editorial and headline strategies worked best (and when).

Taken together, the findings offer a practical roadmap for future peak-shopping events: how to frame Black Friday content, which angles Google tends to reward, and what publishers can learn from the outlets that dominated visibility this year.

Let’s dive into the data!

Keyword landscape in US mobile News Boxes during Black Friday Week

Between November 23 and 30, a total of 94 Black Friday-related keywords generated 11,231 rankings in US mobile News Boxes in the United States. To better understand which kinds of queries drove visibility, the dataset was divided into seven categories: Specific products, Brands, Product categories, Retail stores, Streaming services, NFL, and General queries. Together, these groups show how strongly Black Friday search behavior is shaped by concrete purchase intent (for example, “ps5 black friday deals” or “apple black friday”), while still leaving room for broader questions about spending, logistics, and event-related topics like the NFL’s Black Friday game. The following sections break down each category in more detail to highlight where Google concentrated visibility and which types of queries publishers should be optimizing for next year.

The Specific products category generated 4,848 rankings, making it the strongest driver of Black Friday visibility in US mobile News Boxes. The data clearly shows that consumer electronics dominated the week, with gaming consoles and Apple devices leading the charge.

Gaming products accounted for roughly 46% of all rankings in this category. Terms related to the PlayStation 5 (1,140 rankings across variants such as “ps5 black friday deals,” “black friday ps5 pro,” and “black friday ps5”) and the Nintendo Switch/Switch 2 (over 1,300 combined rankings) made up the largest cluster. This concentration reflects both strong shopper demand and publishers’ strategic alignment with high-intent search behavior, especially around console deals and bundle updates.

Apple-related keywords made up approximately 33% of the category, with the strongest terms linked to iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and MacBook Air. Queries like “ipad black friday deals” (910) and “apple watch black friday” (428) show that evergreen Apple deal searches continued to fuel algorithmic surfacing throughout the week. Notably, multiple variations (e.g., “black friday airpods,” “airpods black friday”) ensured steady visibility for publishers who used precise deal-centric phrasing.

Beyond gaming and Apple hardware, Google’s Pixel and Amazon’s Fire TV Stick appeared, though at much lower volumes, together accounting for only around 2–3% of rankings. This imbalance highlights how News Box visibility during Black Friday heavily favors products with both high demand and broad mainstream appeal.

Overall, the keyword distribution in this category shows how Google rewarded publishers who matched clear transactional intent (“deals,” “sale,” “black friday”) with specific, highly popular devices. Accuracy in keyword phrasing—particularly around exact product names—appears to have played a key role in surfacing articles during high-stakes shopping moments.

With only 11 keywords contributing 2,796 rankings, the Brands category shows how brand-led searches can generate substantial News Box visibility even without mentioning a specific product. But unlike the product category, where exposure was broadly distributed across dozens of items, brand visibility here was highly concentrated.

Apple dominated the category with roughly 72% of all rankings. Queries such as “apple black friday” (1,266), “black friday apple” (428), and “apple black friday deals” (104) demonstrate that many users started their shopping journey at the brand level—likely browsing for multiple devices (iPads, Watches, Macs, AirPods) rather than one item in particular. This aligns directly with the previous category, where Apple devices also held a major share of rankings.

Verizon followed with about 21%, driven entirely by “verizon black friday deals” (586). This indicates strong interest in carrier-based promotions, phone plan upgrades, and bundled discounts—areas where brand authority outweighs specific product names.

Beyond these two giants, others gained far fewer ranking values. Brands like LEGO (130), Samsung (82), Nintendo (30), Marshall (26), and Pokémon (20) accounted for less than 5% combined, reflecting far more niche interest. Importantly, for these smaller brands, the real visibility came from specific product searches rather than brand-level queries. For example, Nintendo’s brand keyword ranked only 30 times, while specific device-led queries such as “nintendo switch 2 black friday” and “nintendo switch black friday deals” generated hundreds of rankings. This shows that for some brands, specific products and not the brand name itself are the primary visibility drivers.

Overall, the Brands category shows how major tech companies—especially Apple—were able to dominate visibility through strong brand recognition, while smaller or more niche brands surfaced mainly when tied to specific high-interest products.

The Product categories group accounted for 1,406 rankings across 19 keywords and acts as the “middle layer” between brand-driven searches and very specific product queries. Unlike the dominant Product category or the Brand-segment, visibility here was more evenly distributed, showing that many users began Black Friday shopping with a general category in mind rather than a specific item.

TV-related searches clearly led this group, contributing roughly 45% of all rankings. Variants like “black friday tv deals” (286), “black friday tv” (152), “tv deals” (110), “best black friday tv deals” (60), “tv black friday deals” (54), and “black friday tv deals 2025” (28) reveal two things:

1. Televisions remain one of Black Friday’s most consistent high-interest categories.

2. Users rely heavily on “best deals” and “deal roundups,” formats that News Boxes frequently surface due to their utility value.

Gaming-related categories also performed strongly, together making up about 25% of rankings. Queries such as “black friday deals games” (196), “black friday gaming pc” (104), “black friday gaming” (62), and “black friday pc” (24) show that the gaming audience came in with broader intent before narrowing down to consoles in the product-specific category. This mirrors the pattern seen with Nintendo, Sony, and PlayStation searches: general gaming interest funnels into device-specific queries, which then dominate visibility in other sections.

General tech categories—phones, laptops, streaming deals, and headphones—accounted for another 25%. These reflect the wide spectrum of typical Black Friday shopper priorities, but none individually challenge TV or gaming for dominance. Still, the repeated appearance of “laptop deals” (42), “black friday laptop” (36), and “black friday laptop deals” (18) shows that publishers with strong laptop review or recommendation content were steadily present in the News Boxes.

A smaller but notable portion (around 4%) is tied to beauty deals, which is one of the few non-tech categories to consistently rank. “Black friday beauty deals” (36) and “beauty deals” (22) hint at rising visibility for lifestyle and retail outlets, but are still far below the levels of tech-oriented search behavior.

Overall, this category shows how Google elevated high-intent, evergreen Black Friday segments like TVs, gaming, and laptops, while lifestyle and niche categories struggled to compete with the sheer volume of tech-related interest. It also reflects a key structural trend across the dataset: broad category searches serve as entry points, but the deeper visibility battle happens at the product and brand level.

The General queries category accounted for 1,154 rankings across 19 keywords, capturing the broad, non-product-specific searches that typically rise during Black Friday week. While these terms don’t point to particular items or brands, they reveal how users orient themselves around the event itself—from logistics and economics to deal-seeking behavior.

The single biggest driver in this category was practical, day-of information, especially “are banks open on black friday” (276 rankings), which alone makes up 24% of all rankings in this group. This mirrors a wider annual trend: non-retail service queries often spike around national shopping events as users navigate schedule changes.

A second major cluster revolved around consumer behavior and overall activity, with terms like “black friday shoppers” (150), “black friday spending” (72), “black friday economic” (54), and “black friday record” (50). Together, these economics- and behavior-focused queries represented roughly 30% of the category. Their presence suggests that publishers offering data-driven reporting, trend analysis, or business angles gained meaningful visibility in News Boxes, especially as 2025’s Black Friday was closely watched for inflation-related spending trends and record online sales performance.

Deal-seeking intent still played a substantial role here, though it appears more diluted than in the product-specific or category-specific segments. Variants like “black friday deals 2025” (104), “black friday sale” (46), “best black friday” (44), and “the best black friday deals” (22) collectively accounted for around 40% of the rankings. These queries acted as catch-all entry points, typically surfacing roundup articles or live-updated deal trackers that appeal to undecided shoppers. Notably, the multiplicity of near-identical phrasing (“best black friday,” “best black friday deals 2025,” “deals best black friday”) indicates that Google rewarded broad relevance and headline clarity, regardless of minor wording differences.

Smaller but consistent queries such as “black friday open” (66), “black friday stores” (62), and “black friday online” (60) reflect a mix of logistical checks and interest in retail channel comparisons (online vs. in-store), which has become a recurring coverage theme.

Overall, the General queries category highlights how Black Friday visibility isn’t driven solely by product demand. Logistical help, spending coverage, and broad deal navigation form an essential layer of search behavior. Publishers who combine utility (opening hours, timelines), economic context, and easy-to-skim deal roundups are especially well positioned to capture these high-volume, non-product queries.

The Streaming services category was small in volume but highly concentrated, with just 5 keywords generating 366 rankings. Almost two-thirds of all visibility came from one term: “black friday disney” (228 rankings), highlighting Disney’s dominance in this space during the 2025 shopping cycle. This likely reflects major promotional pushes around Disney+ subscriptions or bundled offers, which historically gain strong traction during holiday deal events.

Other services such as Hulu (52 rankings) and Apple TV (combined 86 rankings across three variations) appeared at much lower levels, suggesting that interest in streaming-related Black Friday deals existed but remained far less fragmented than in product categories. Instead, Google surfaced brand-specific deal pages, where users already knew exactly which service they were targeting. The presence of long-tail terms like “apple tv black friday streaming deals” (28) reinforces that publishers who provided package comparisons or curated streaming discounts had an advantage in the News Boxes.

Overall, the category reflects focused, deal-driven intent around major streaming brands, with Disney clearly carrying the bulk of consumer attention.

The NFL category reflects event-timed search behavior, driven by the league’s now-standard Black Friday game, which has quickly become a major audience magnet in the US. Across 6 keywords and 329 rankings, the bulk of visibility was tied to the two teams that played: the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles. Combined, Bears- and Eagles-related queries made up nearly 80% of all rankings in this category.

Terms like “bears black friday” (104), “black friday eagles” (69), and “black friday bears” (48) show that users were looking for team-specific updates, likely driven by pregame coverage, roster news, and live reaction pieces. “black friday nfl” (50) captured more general game-day interest, while “black friday injured” (26) points to the importance of injury reports, a recurring high-traffic element in NFL search behavior, especially ahead of nationally televised matchups.

Even though the category is relatively small, it highlights how sports news can intersect with retail-driven search seasons. Publishers who posted timely previews, injury breakdowns, or live game updates had a strong chance of surfacing in the News Boxes despite the retail-heavy context of Black Friday.

Finally, with just four keywords and 260 total rankings, the Retail stores category was small in volume but still revealed clear patterns of consumer intent. Searches were dominated by “nordstrom black friday” (140 rankings), accounting for more than half of the category’s visibility. This indicates strong interest in Nordstrom’s seasonal discounts, likely driven by its focus on fashion, beauty, and premium brands—product areas that historically perform well during Black Friday week.

Walmart and Best Buy also appeared through highly transactional keyword structures (“walmart black friday deals” with 54 rankings and “best buy black friday deals” with 38), both aligned with the broader electronics-heavy trends seen throughout the dataset. Compared with tech brands and product-specific terms, retail-focused queries were smaller in scale, but they clearly reflected users looking for store-wide deal roundups rather than browsing individual products.

Overall, the Retail stores category highlights that while Black Friday search behavior is primarily product-driven, major retailers still secure meaningful visibility when their names are directly combined with high-intent modifiers like “deals” and “sale.”

Top publishers in US mobile News Boxes during Black Friday Week

The next part of the analysis looks at which publishers gained the most visibility in US mobile News Boxes during the full Black Friday week from November 23 to 30. Using data from the Trisolute News Dashboard, the graph below illustrates how the top ten outlets performed across the eight-day period. Because Black Friday coverage moves quickly and peaks at different times—product-launch moments, deal roundups, Thanksgiving-evening previews, Cyber Monday transitions—the visibility curves show when each publisher managed to capture search demand and how consistently they stayed present in the News Boxes.

The following section breaks down each publisher’s performance in more detail, including their overall visibility share, peak moments, most-ranked keywords, and strongest-performing articles.

1. Tom’s Guide

   Tom’s Guide led all outlets during Black Friday week with an 11.40% visibility share in US mobile News Boxes. Its strongest moment came on November 26, when it surged to 26.02% visibility—a clear sign that its deal-driven coverage aligned perfectly with rising pre-Black Friday search demand. The outlet’s visibility grew steadily as the week progressed, rising from just over 3% on November 23 and 24 to nearly 10% on November 25, before hitting its peak on the 26th. After that, Tom’s Guide maintained strong midweek momentum with 19.29% on November 27 (Thanksgiving) and 15.47% on Black Friday itself, ending the period with a still-solid 7.23% on November 30.

   Across the eight analyzed days, Tom’s Guide accumulated 1,249 keyword rankings—the highest total among all publishers. Its most frequently ranked terms emphasize how strongly the outlet tapped into high-intent tech-shopping queries: “ipad black friday deals” (227 rankings), “apple black friday” (184), “verizon black friday deals” (145), “black friday airpods” (124), and “apple watch black friday” (109). This concentration shows how effectively Tom’s Guide positioned itself around Apple-centric and carrier-specific deal searches.

   The outlet’s most visible article overall, “I checked every retailer, and these are the 27 best Black Friday iPad deals that are still available,” also reveals a deliberate stylistic choice. The use of first-person voice (“I checked…”) adds a sense of authority and personal verification, making the recommendations feel more trustworthy and approachable. This tone—combined with comprehensive deal curation and keyword-rich phrasing—helped Tom’s Guide dominate US mobile News Boxes throughout the week.

2. IGN

   IGN ranked second overall with an 8.02% visibility share—and it delivered the highest single visibility value of any outlet in the entire dataset. On November 23, the very start of Black Friday week, IGN surged to a remarkable 29.4%, positioning itself as an early leader before most deal-focused publishers ramped up. Visibility tapered afterward, but IGN still performed strongly on November 24 (12.39%) and November 25 (10.48%) before sliding to lower values heading into the weekend.

   Across the week, IGN accumulated 751 keyword rankings, heavily driven by gaming-related searches. Its top terms—“ps5 black friday deals” (177 rankings), “nintendo switch 2 black friday” (98), “switch 2 black friday” (78), “black friday deals games” (69), and “ipad black friday deals” (66)—show how firmly the outlet captured early momentum around consoles and game discounts.

   IGN’s most visible article, “Nintendo’s 2025 Black Friday Sale is Officially Live,” benefited from authoritative retail framing (“officially live”) and hyper-relevant timing. The outlet’s early-week dominance shows how frontloading coverage—especially for categories with explosive early demand like gaming—can deliver outsized visibility before competition intensifies.

3. Engaget

   Engadget followed closely with a 7.95% visibility share and one of the steadiest curves across the entire week. It performed well right from the start—11.76% on November 23 and 13.81% on November 24—before peaking on November 25 at 14.1%, just as consumer search interest accelerated. Although visibility dipped slightly mid-week, Engadget maintained meaningful presence, even ending strongly with 10.96% on November 30 during the Cyber Monday transition.

   With 917 keyword rankings, Engadget demonstrated clear strength in both gaming and Apple-related deal searches. Its top terms—“ps5 black friday deals” (247 rankings), “apple black friday” (178), “black friday airpods” (86), “black friday apple” (49), and “black friday ps5 pro” (44)—show that the outlet consistently ranked for the most competitive product queries.

   Its most visible article, “PlayStation 2025 Black Friday deals: Sony takes $100 off PS5 consoles,” used direct value framing (“$100 off”), which matches high-intent user behavior and likely helped Engadget secure strong placement throughout the week.

4. TechRadar

   TechRadar held a 5.81% visibility share and aligned closely with the overall Black Friday search cycle. Visibility climbed steadily from November 23 (4.81%) and November 24 (4.8%) to 8.65% on November 25, before peaking at 11.63% on November 26—the moment many consumers began acting on high-ticket deal searches. Strong Thanksgiving visibility (10.72%) confirms the outlet’s competitive positioning during a key shopping milestone.

   With 593 keyword rankings, TechRadar performed best around TVs, gaming consoles, and carrier deals—three of the biggest product categories of the week. Its most ranked keywords included “ps5 black friday deals” (153 rankings), “black friday tv deals” (78), “verizon black friday deals” (50), “nintendo switch 2 black friday” (42), and “tv” (28).

   Its top-performing article, “Black Friday TV deals – live updates on the top 40 deals at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and more,” leveraged a highly effective format: live curation across multiple retailers. That structure tends to be favored in News Boxes because it satisfies continuous user intent and aligns with multi-store comparison behavior.

5. The Verge

   The Verge secured a 5.31% visibility share, with its most significant peak on November 24 at 14.72%—a moment when early deals and retailer rollouts dominated user searches. Visibility remained healthy on November 25 (6.98%), then dipped mid-week before rebounding for Black Friday and the weekend. This pattern reflects The Verge’s known strength in early explanatory and “what to buy” coverage.

   The outlet collected 592 keyword rankings driven by a mix of Apple, Nintendo, and entertainment-adjacent keywords. Its top terms—“ipad black friday deals” (129 rankings), “black friday deals nintendo switch” (65), “apple black friday” (60), “nintendo switch black friday deals” (59), and “black friday disney” (54)—show how strongly The Verge performed in categories with broader lifestyle or entertainment overlap.

   Its top article, “Some of the best Nintendo Switch games are up to $30 off for Black Friday,” fits squarely into that hybrid space: approachable, consumer-friendly, and related to gaming but not hardware-specific—allowing The Verge to capture both casual and high-intent shoppers.

6. New York Times

   With 3.81% visibility, The New York Times played a more selective but highly impactful role during Black Friday week. The outlet’s standout moment came on November 26, when it reached 22.51% visibility—by far its strongest value—just ahead of the peak shopping days. Prior to this, visibility was negligible, showing that NYT entered later and focused specifically on broader “best deals” roundups rather than daily rolling updates.

   NYT achieved 409 keyword rankings, with a clear emphasis on premium consumer tech searches: “ipad black friday deals” (94 rankings), “apple watch black friday” (79), “black friday tv deals” (53), “apple black friday” (34), and “black friday spending” (28). This aligns with the publication’s more curated and evergreen editorial style.

   Its most visible article, “30+ Great Apple Black Friday Deals Still Live: iPads, MacBooks, Apple Watches, and More,” was a comprehensive, wide-appeal guide. The “still live” phrasing helped the piece perform late in the week, tapping into the urgency and reassurance users seek during the deal window.

7. CNN

   CNN reached a 3.70% visibility share and showed one of the most consistent curves across the week. Visibility held between 2% and 5% throughout Black Friday before spiking to 8.55% on November 30—the pivot into Cyber Monday, when recap and “what’s left” coverage tends to dominate.

   CNN generated 520 keyword rankings, overwhelmingly driven by Apple-related searches. “apple black friday” alone accounted for 319 rankings—more than 60% of its total—followed by “black friday apple” (75), “nordstrom black friday” (38), “black friday spending” (32), and “black friday deals 2025” (20). This indicates CNN leaned heavily into consumer-friendly, widely searchable categories.

   Its top article, “The 16 best Apple Black Friday deals I’ve found after sifting through them all,” again used first-person framing (“I’ve found”), signaling curated expertise. This style appears to be a recurring winner for News Box visibility during deal cycles.

8. 9to5Mac

   9to5Mac captured a 3.42% visibility share and performed strongest toward the end of the week, peaking on November 29 at 7.06%—a classic pattern for a niche publisher with deep authority in a single product ecosystem. Visibility climbed steadily from November 24 onward, tracking with rising interest in Apple product discounts.

   The outlet recorded 335 keyword rankings, almost entirely centered on Apple wearables and audio. Its top terms included “apple watch black friday” (153 rankings), “black friday airpods” (50), “black friday apple watch” (21), “ipad black friday deals” (20), and “black friday macbook air” (17).

   Its most visible article, “Apple Watch Black Friday deals: buy today from $199,” combined a product-specific focus with clear price anchoring—two factors that match high-intent deal-seeking behavior.

9. Yahoo

   Yahoo reached a 2.88% visibility share, showing several smaller peaks throughout the week, with its strongest day on November 24 at 5.22%. While it never dominated a single category, Yahoo maintained a stable presence across a broad mix of consumer deal queries.

   Yahoo accumulated 409 keyword rankings, primarily driven by Apple-related searches: “apple black friday” (135 rankings), “black friday apple” (68), and “best apple black friday deals” (26). It also performed for some gaming-related queries like “ps5 black friday deals” (27), giving the outlet a diversified—if not deep—keyword footprint.

   Its most visible article, “PlayStation Black Friday deals are here — with up to $100 off new PS5 consoles and more,” leveraged strong value framing and mirrored retailer announcements, which tend to rank well during the first wave of deal availability.

10. ZDNET

    Last but not least, ZDNET posted a 2.73% visibility share, with its strongest moment falling on November 27 at 6.48%—Thanksgiving Day—when early Black Friday traffic collided with product comparison demand. The outlet’s visibility remained modest but consistent throughout the week, with smaller spikes on November 26 and 29.

    ZDNET accumulated a keyword portfolio strongly oriented toward high-demand tech categories. Its leading terms included “verizon black friday deals” (148 rankings), “black friday tv” (57), “apple watch black friday” (25), “black friday apple watch” (17), and “black friday fire tv stick” (14). This mix highlights ZDNET’s strength in telecom, streaming, and smart-home niches.

    Its top article, “We found the 60+ best Black Friday TV deals, and we’re tracking them live,” combines three best practice aspects for reatil events: the more personal use of “we” (“We found”), numbers (60+), and a live format (“we’re tracking them live”), which rewarded them with high visibility.

What publishers can learn from Black Friday 2025

These news SEO analyses could also be interesting to you:

• Black Friday 2025 Preview: Insights and Tips for News Publishers
• The Louvre Heist: Who Stole the Spotlight in Google’s US Mobile News Boxes?
• Prime Deal Days 2025: What Google’s Rankings Reveal About the State of News and Commerce
• Prime Time for Visibility: An SEO Deep Dive into Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 for US Publishers
• Tariffs in US News: How Publishers Ranked in News Boxes and Organic Search

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