What has happened to online political ad spending in the past two years?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
Online political advertisers spent $1.35 billion to buy ads on Google and Meta this election cycle, with more than half coming in the final two months before the election. According to the visual above, about how much money was spent on online campaign ads in February 2023?
According to the visual above, from July 2024-November 2024, did Meta or Google make more money from online ad revenue?
Describe the change in spending on online ads between 2023 and November 2024.
When you look at the data from the visual above, who do you think of as the winners? And who are the losers?
If you are reading this you are probably too young to vote. However, you probably still saw tons of presidential ads online (YouTube, Google search, Meta/Insta, TikTok) or on TV. Describe any of the political ads you saw during the 2024 presidential election?
Democrats and their allies continued to dominate online ad spending throughout September and October of 2024, outspending their Republican counterparts by nearly three times. Why do you think Democrats spent more heavily on online ads than Republicans and do you think it worked?
One student named Zachery Flackery said that he does not think advertisements actually work. Another student named Balthazar Bandicoot replied - of course ads work - In the United States alone, total auto industry advertising spending was estimated at $12.3 billion in 2024. If ads didn’t work, nobody would spend so much money on ads. Ads clearly work at shaping consumer spending habits, but do you think they actually work on political campaign ads?
Some countries have regulations on ad spending right before an election. For example, the United Kingdom and Ireland prohibit political parties from purchasing television and radio advertising. France also has significant restrictions on political advertising. Norway and Sweden have traditionally banned political television advertising. Finally, political parties in Denmark have an agreement not to use political advertising in their campaigns. How do you think ads impact American political campaigns?
Remember, America’s entire system of government was set up to STOP tyranny. The Framers of the Constitution were so concerned about tyranny that they set up the First Amendment to guarantee freedom of speech. That same freedom of speech, according to the Supreme Court in their 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. F.E.C. meant that the government could not limit spending on campaign ads. How would you have ruled in Citizens United regarding limits on spending?
I went to facebook world HQ last year with my dear friend _____ who is a facebook engineer. Did you know that they have free food and drink everywhere? AND employees can swipe a card to operate a vending machine full of free computers, monitors, and all kinds of cool electronics? Yep! While we toured the building and I searched desperately for Zuckerberg, I asked my friend ____ about the presidential election and he starter to whisper and then changed the subject. Why do you think he did that?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Run your own online political ads. Read Google’s Political advertisement policy and then buy some ads for a cause or politician you support.
Get Creative
Write the script or describe an ad you would want to create for a cause or politician you support. Or do some math: Spending on online political ads on Google and Meta accelerated in the weeks before the election, pushing the overall total to $1.35 billion spent since January 1, 2023. If one pizza cost approximately $20. How many pizzas could you buy with $1.35 billion?
