The 2016 election was a disaster for the reputations of political pollsters, many of whom missed badly. With the midterm elections now in the bag, how well did the pre-election surveys match Tuesday’s results? Pretty well, actually. Public polls and data aggregators like FiveThirtyEight were, broadly speaking, closer to the mark in 2018 than they […]
With the midterm elections less than 24 hours away, some of the Democratic Party’s top digital advertising evangelists are worried that liberal candidates have squandered opportunities by siloing digital media and failing to adequately spend online. Conservative groups account for seven of the ten highest-spending political advertisers on Google and Facebook, according to data collected […]
Online spending records have shattered across the country during this year’s midterm election cycle, but no campaign has brought more attention to digital media than that of Democrat Beto O’Rourke, a Texas congressman running for Republican Ted Cruz’s Senate seat. No candidate this year has raised more money online or spent more on Google, Facebook […]
Far from Silicon Valley, in a lecture hall at George Washington University Law School on an overcast day in Washington, DC, the clouds are gathering for big tech. On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission held the first in a series of public hearings running from now through November focused on a wide range of consumer […]
“AdExchanger Politics” is a recurring feature that tracks developments in politics and digital advertising. Today’s column is written by Ray Kingman, CEO at Semcasting. As the candidates, PACs and parties lean into the remaining 50-odd days before the midterm elections, media budgets are coming into focus for both television and digital. But a mixed ad […]
“AdExchanger Politics” is a recurring feature that tracks developments in politics and digital advertising. Today’s column is written by Chris Nolan, founder at Spot-On. Regulations such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and California’s Consumer Privacy Act have focused a spotlight on consumer data privacy. But there’s another conversation that needs to take place […]
“AdExchanger Politics” is a recurring feature that tracks developments in politics and digital advertising. Today’s column is written by Ray Kingman, CEO at Semcasting. Political parties and their leadership pick winners and losers – when they legislate and, especially, in how they allocate resources to candidates running for office. The idea of picking winners and […]
Trump’s trade war is a game of high-stakes chicken that could hit advertising investment – but it’s not clear how. Escalating tariffs will affect different industries differently, but if the cost of manufacturing goods rises, CFOs are likely to shave whatever looks like a cost center. Marketing often fits that bill. On the flip side, […]
It is “inevitable” that nation-states will try to leverage Facebook and its ad platform to influence elections and political sentiment again as they did during the 2016 presidential election, said Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s director of cybersecurity policy. Yet, despite the persistence of false news and misinformation on the platform and likely efforts by bad actors […]
Facebook and Twitter each released new political advertising transparency tools on Thursday in preparation for the 2018 US midterm elections, as the social platforms try to forestall the malicious electoral interference they enabled during the 2016 election. Facebook began archiving electoral and issue-based ads in May, so any ad by an active candidate or featuring […]
“AdExchanger Politics” is a recurring feature that tracks developments in politics and digital advertising. Today’s column is written by Ray Kingman, CEO at Semcasting. Borrell Associates predicts the 2018 election cycle will be an $8.5 billion “advertising bonanza.” Given the temperature of the electorate this figure is likely to grow. Unfortunately, fallout from the Cambridge […]
Facebook introduced its political advertising archive and updated transparency policies to the US on Thursday after testing them in other countries, including Canada, Britain and Kenya. Moving forward, all electoral and issue-based ads on Facebook or Instagram will be archived and will have a “paid for by” disclaimer, which prevents political advertisers from promoting content […]
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can finally take down its vacancy sign. More than a year into Trump’s presidency, five new commissioners were approved by the Senate late last week. The brand-new commission, comprising three Republicans and two Democrats, are tasked with tackling consumer protection and privacy at a time when consumers are more aware – and […]
Facebook on Friday implemented new transparency and verification processes for political advertisers. Last October, the company said it would begin allowing only authorized advertisers to run electoral ads, which explicitly advocate for or against an active political candidate. But those limits will now apply to any advertisers who want to run “issue ads” that more […]
Cambridge Analytica was notorious long before its controversial use of Facebook data became news. But even before it defected from Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign to Donald Trump’s in 2016, the company was angling for marketing dollars. In September of that year, it had about 25 Fortune 500 businesses in its funnel, AdExchanger was told at […]
“AdExchanger Politics” is a recurring feature that tracks developments in politics and digital advertising. Today’s column is written by Jordan Lieberman, politics and public affairs lead at Audience Partners. Happy election season, everyone. I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is that many of those who enter the political advertising space right […]
When Facebook, Twitter and Google executives were summoned late last year to testify before Congress on political interference and advertising in the 2016 election, they were steadfast that they could manage the issue through ad policies and disclosures. Early bipartisan calls for legislation have mostly faded and, for now, self-regulation is the name of the […]
The Federal Trade Commission will soon be populated by a completely fresh crop of appointees with no holdovers from the previous administration. It’s an irregular situation. But what it means for advertisers and for the commission’s future direction is still unclear. President Trump finally sent his nominations for four commissioners out of five to the […]
Should brands be wary of the net neutrality rollback? Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly aimed to put their minds at ease at AdExchanger’s Industry Preview in New York on Wednesday. The FCC, led by Chairman Ajit Pai, voted along party lines to repeal net neutrality in mid-December. The worry is that without rules to disallow […]
Net neutrality is dead. But not without some high drama. In a 3–2 party-line vote Thursday, the Republican-majority Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the Obama-era regs, which prohibit internet service providers like Verizon or Comcast from blocking, throttling or prioritizing content or from favoring their own media with better data or bandwidth. Moments before […]
After Democrats won an unexpected cascade of seats in the Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday, liberal technologists and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) are hoping to scale the programs behind those successful bids to other state races in 2018. Many of the data and technology products used by candidates in Virginia were backed by […]
A year ago, the Democratic Party data-driven ecosystem, a network of consultants, liberal digital media agencies and campaign tech vendors, was confident it would hold the White House, flip the Supreme Court and maybe even reclaim a Senate majority. Now, there is a sense of urgency as Democrats up and down ballots seek to reclaim […]
Regulators will always be playing catch-up with technology. Is self-regulation the answer? By the time regulators do act to protect consumers, it’s generally more reactive than proactive. “The pace of change is much quicker than it used to be,” Martha Coakley, the former attorney general of Massachusetts, said Wednesday at an event hosted by marketing […]
While political news drives traffic and engagement, many DC-focused publishers are taking a hit as ad budgets fail to materialize. “There’s a real seasonal cycle for political advertising,” said Jordan Lieberman, politics and public affairs lead at the ad targeting firm Audience Partners. “But the legislative calendar is so messed up, it’s not leaving time for […]
Net neutrality is not long for this world. In a 2-1 party-line vote Thursday, the Republican-led Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal Title II, the regulatory framework used by the former regime to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers. The proposed rule, part of the FCC’s effort at “restoring internet freedom,” will be subject […]
Ajit Pai is waging war against net neutrality. On Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Pai laid out his plan for dismantling net neutrality regulations with a proposal to reverse Title II. Title II is the regulatory framework the previous FCC, led by former Chairman and Democrat Tom Wheeler, used to reclassify broadband providers as common […]
Since the 2016 election, liberal organizations like the ACLU, Center for American Progress (CAP) and Planned Parenthood have been sprinting like they’re on hot coals, smashing online donation precedents, flooding congressional phone lines and marshaling nationwide protests. But does that energy translate into gains for the Democratic Party’s data and digital media ecosystem? During a national […]
In the months leading up to and following the US presidential election, publishers with right-wing and occasionally extremist views, such as Breitbart and InfoWars, have joined stalwarts like the Drudge Report and Newsmax on the Republican right. In spite of their growing audiences, monetization can be tough for these challengers. Some brands have stayed away, […]
Maureen Ohlhausen is taking the reins as acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission. Ohlhausen has been vocal about the need for less regulation and fewer restrictions around data collection, which dovetails with the digital ad industry’s point of view on the matter. Ohlhausen, who’s been been with the FTC since 1997 and has served […]
In the years leading up to the 2016 election, Democrats continued investing heavily in a shared data and technology platform, NGP VAN, across liberal candidates and causes. Republicans took a more market-based approach, with high-headcount, full-service shops meant to continue product development beyond election years. Republicans wanted competition where liberals emphasized collaboration. In the wake […]
