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New report details at least $600 million in digital ad spending this cycle piles of hundred dollar bills with dark shadows2024 ElectionsReleases

New report details at least $600 million in digital ad spending this cycle

Donors hard or impossible to track in up to half of the ad spendingA new report from the Wesleyan Media Project, the Brennan Center and OpenSecrets sheds light on the scope of online ad spending this election cycle on the two largest online platforms, Google and Meta. Among the report’s key findings are: In the 2024 election cycle through the end of August, advertisers who spent at least $5,000 on Google and Meta bought $619 million in political ads, with at least $248 million focused on the presidential race. Of spenders on Meta and Google known to advertise in support…
Wesleyan Media Project
October 16, 2024
Trump Narrows Harris’ Ad Advantage in Past Week A crowd of people attending a political event. Some people are holding up Trump campaign signs.2024 ElectionsReleases

Trump Narrows Harris’ Ad Advantage in Past Week

Photo Gage Skidmore/flickr But Harris Still Has Large Ad Advantages, especially on Digital(MIDDLETOWN, CT) October 10, 2024 – According to a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project, about 71,000 pro-Harris ads have run on broadcast television over the past two weeks, substantially more than the 51,000 pro-Trump ads that have run during the same time period. But pro-Trump advertisers have been narrowing that gap in recent days. The Harris campaign has sponsored over 53,000 ad airings since September 23 (Table 1), and has been supported by another 17,000 ads from outside groups, including FF PAC, Project Freedom LLC, and…
Wesleyan Media Project
October 10, 2024
Advertising Issue Spotlight (9/1/24 – 9/30/24) WMP Issue Spotlight2024 ElectionsReleases

Advertising Issue Spotlight (9/1/24 – 9/30/24)

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) October 3, 2024 – The Wesleyan Media Project is releasing the third post in a series of regularly updated overviews of issue mentions in federal races by state. Below, we show the percentage of ads mentioning eight key issues tracked by the WMP (abortion, energy/environment, guns, health care, housing, immigration, inflation, public safety). The post covers ads from all sponsors (candidates, parties, and outside groups) aired on broadcast TV in U.S. House and U.S. Senate races from August 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024 (shown by month). Note that percentages across the columns may total more than 100…
Wesleyan Media Project
October 3, 2024
Pro-Trump TV Ads Plummet in Past Two Weeks as Harris Expands Ad Advantage Across Platforms Crowd of people holding up Harris Walz campaign signs.2024 ElectionsReleases

Pro-Trump TV Ads Plummet in Past Two Weeks as Harris Expands Ad Advantage Across Platforms

Photo Gage Skidmore/flickr Harris Campaign Outspending Trump on Meta 16:1 and on Google by Nearly 3:1(MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 26, 2024 – According to a new analysis from the Wesleyan Media Project that focuses on ad spending over the last two weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris maintains a significant advertising advantage over Donald Trump thanks largely to a decline in pro-Trump advertising on television in the past 2 weeks. On broadcast stations across the country, pro-Harris forces have spent nearly $73 million on 73,000 ad spots. Pro-Trump forces have spent just under $45 million on 52,000 ad airings. Harris also maintains…
Wesleyan Media Project
September 26, 2024
Advertising Issue Spotlight (6/1/24 – 8/31/24) WMP Issue Spotlight2024 ElectionsReleases

Advertising Issue Spotlight (6/1/24 – 8/31/24)

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 19, 2024 – The Wesleyan Media Project is releasing the second post in a series of regularly updated overviews of issue mentions in federal races by state. Below we show the percentage of ads mentioning eight key issues tracked by the WMP (abortion, energy/environment, guns, health care, housing, immigration, inflation, public safety). The post covers ads from all sponsors (candidates, parties, and outside groups) aired on broadcast TV in U.S. House and U.S. Senate races from June 1, 2024 to August 31, 2024 (shown by month). Note that percentages across the columns may total more than 100…
Wesleyan Media Project
September 19, 2024
Presidential Campaign Turns to Economic Issues hands shown holding money with a light bulb in the foreground and an American flag in the background2024 ElectionsReleases

Presidential Campaign Turns to Economic Issues

Democratic, Republican TV Ads Almost Equal in Number but Harris Outspending Trump by Nearly 3:1 on Meta and Google(MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 12, 2024 – The issue discussion in the presidential race has shifted to a focus on the economy, according to a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project that analyzes issue mentions in broadcast ads. This is especially true for Donald Trump, who largely ignored the topic of immigration in his television ads over the last two weeks, focusing instead on the economy, inflation and the price of gas (Table 1). “In the presidential debate on September 10, former…
Wesleyan Media Project
September 12, 2024