1. Political spending is impacting overall platform spending, but later than we anticipated.
Political ads did not bump up overall platform spending until the week of September 29th (give or take a day). This was a bit surprising because we figured we’d see an impact earlier. Whether political advertisers are getting the last word or hoping to influence open polls, most of the action has occurred in October.
The platforms with the biggest impact? YouTube and Facebook, with a slight increase in desktop display video.
2. Political campaigns have doubled down on YouTube
In July, August, and September, distribution was relatively even across YouTube, Meta, OTT, and programmatic spending. However, political advertisers are now prioritizing YouTube over every other platform. For context, in the second half of October, political parties spent well over $2.5M per day on YouTube. For Meta, it’s closer to $1M per day.
3. And that means roughly 8% of all ads on YouTube are political
Between September 24th and October 23rd, over 83 million dollars were poured into the political category on YouTube, representing about 8.3% of all ads on the platform. To compare, only 1.65% and 1.37% of ads are political on Facebook and Instagram, respectively.
4. Top audience targets include gamblers, gamers, and sports fans
It’s no surprise that consumers 18-45 are the primary focus of political ads, as they represent 49.1% of the US population. But it is perhaps surprising that political advertisers have been targeting gamblers, sports fans, digital socialites, and PC gamers 2.5-3.5 times more than other groups.
5. Ads in Pennsylvania exceed $300M
In the top swing state of Pennsylvania, voters are getting bombarded with ads. Both presidential candidates, senate candidates, and Political Action Committees (PACs) are all prioritizing Pennsylvania. This is impacting the cost per million (CPMs) for brands attempting to advertise in the state and will continue to increase dramatically until November 5.
6. Spend is still revving up
While it may seem like the election is winding down, political advertisers are revving up. As we head into the first week of November, we expect spending to continue to increase before the massive dropoff on the 6th.
7. Three safe havens
Safe havens—platforms with the least political investments—include TikTok (where political ads are banned), Snapchat, and Pinterest. You can rest assured these platforms will be safe from political investment through election day.
