News Australia targets AI shoppers for Black Friday

News Australia has launched a month-long Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign through news.com.au Checkout, combining discovery-focused shopping content on AI platforms with automated price updates, shoppable videos, and a print advertising push.

The campaign, carrying the tagline ‘Checkout before you check out’, positions Checkout as a guide for consumers checking deals before buying.

It comes as publishers compete to reach shoppers whose research increasingly involves generative AI tools, alongside search engines and social media.

News Australia cited October research from YouGov showing 60% of Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers will use AI to guide their buying decisions.

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Getting onto the AI shopping list

The publisher said it has structured its shopping content for discoverability across AI platforms. It also cited Semrush’s September 2026 AI Visibility Overview, which ranked it as the most-cited commercial Australian publisher on ChatGPT.

News Australia general manager eCommerce Sophie Miura said the campaign reflected changes in how consumers research purchases.

“This year marks Australia's first truly AI-shaped Black Friday and we have evolved our approach to meet shoppers wherever they research, whether on social feeds or through generative AI tools. By shifting our focus to trusted, expert curation with our 'Checkout before you check out' campaign, we are helping consumers cut through the sales noise while delivering measurable results for our retail partners.”

Price updates and a print push

Shopping tools rolling out across News Australia’s digital network include automated catalogues that update merchant prices four times a day, one-tap mobile wallet reminders and editor-led shoppable videos across social platforms.

The campaign also extends to print, with 11 state and community mastheads running 10 consecutive days of wraps promoting shopping deals.

Participating titles include The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser.

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign will feed into News Australia’s previously announced Travel Tuesday initiative on 1 December, extending its retail activity into holiday bookings.