Online Political Ad Spending in the 2024 Election Surpasses $1.9 Billion
Recent analysis by the Brennan Center, OpenSecrets, and the Wesleyan Media Project has revealed that political advertisers have spent over $1.9 billion on online ads for the 2024 election across major digital platforms like Meta, Google, Snap, and X. Despite being the most comprehensive assessment available, it remains an underestimation due to the lack of mandatory disclosure laws for political ad spending on these platforms.
The study expands on previous analyses from the summer of 2024 and the postelection period, highlighting varied strategies in ad content. Negative ads were predominantly used by political parties and outside groups, who focused on voter persuasion, in contrast to candidates who balanced their ads between persuasion and fundraising.
There were notable partisan strategies as well. Democratic-aligned spending often emphasized fundraising, while Republican-aligned efforts leaned more towards get-out-the-vote campaigns. Additionally, Democrats allocated more funds to contrasting their candidates against opponents, whereas Republicans invested more in promoting their own candidates.
Challenges in Understanding Online Political Advertising
The analysis underscores the complications in comprehending online political advertising due to insufficient disclosure rules. Platforms provide voluntary and inconsistent data, which may be incomplete. As political engagement increasingly shifts online and dark money reaches record levels, there is a pressing need for enhanced transparency and regulation.
Spending by Platform
Among the platforms, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, reported over $1 billion in political ads. Google, including YouTube and Search, followed with $846 million. Snap and X contributed substantially less, with $27 million and $24 million, respectively.
However, these figures are likely incomplete. Media investigations have highlighted political ads that platforms did not include in their reports, such as when X revised its political ad revenue report to be 50 times higher following a 2023 investigation. Additionally, ads placed through independent brokers may never appear in a platform’s database.
Other platforms, like Reddit and Truth Social, offer little to no public data on political ad spending, which hampers comprehensive analysis. Reddit provides estimates in non-downloadable formats, while Truth Social’s revenue is currently too low to impact this analysis significantly.
Lack of Transparency in Influencer Payments
A growing area of concern is the lack of information on influencer payments for political promotion. Such payments are not categorized as traditional ad buys and thus remain undisclosed by platforms, advertisers, or influencers. With more Americans receiving news from social media influencers, this area becomes a critical component of political messaging.
Reports indicate that more than a quarter of digital content creators were approached to promote political content during the 2024 election. Campaigns funneled millions into influencer marketing, such as the Democratic National Committee and the Harris campaign’s $4 million investment in influencer-focused firms. Pro-Trump group Turning Point USA also engaged numerous online creators.
The increase in influencer engagement allows significant spenders to influence elections anonymously. For example, an anonymous network of paid influencers pushed false allegations against Harris, and a DOJ indictment accused Russian operatives of channeling $10 million through influencer networks. As dark money spending breaks records, the lack of transparency in these payments leaves voters uninformed.
Ad Content Analysis
The in-depth analysis of Meta-based political ads during the federal election period identified notable differences in strategies by sponsors and parties. Candidates, focusing more on self-promotion, used 57% of their ad budget for this purpose. In contrast, outside groups concentrated their spending on negative ads, with 65% of funds dedicated to attack or contrast ads.
Candidates focused their efforts almost equally on fundraising and voter persuasion, while party and outside group spending overwhelmingly targeted persuasion. Republican and Democratic spenders showed distinct strategies, with Republicans prioritizing candidate promotion and Democrats focusing more on contrast ads.
