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Cross-Platform Election Advertising Transparency Initiative (CREATIVE) Research Published Politics

Cross-Platform Election Advertising Transparency Initiative (CREATIVE) Research Published

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) June 24, 2025 – New research published from the Wesleyan Media Project (WMP) in collaboration with Privacy Tech Lab at Wesleyan University describes a new  cross-platform digital advertising dataset.  The data cover federal election activity from the 2022 midterm general election period for Meta and Google. Published in Scientific Data and funded in part by the National Science Foundation, “Comparable 2022 General Election Advertising Datasets from Meta and Google” (open access link) seeks to provide a starting point for scholars seeking to understand, describe, and assess the impact of the 2022 digital advertising landscape on the two largest…
Wesleyan Media Project
June 24, 2025
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New Studies Published on Television and Digital Advertising in the 2024 Elections 2024 ElectionsBlogReleasesYear-End Summaries

New Studies Published on Television and Digital Advertising in the 2024 Elections

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) June 24, 2025 – New research published by the Wesleyan Media Project provides two summaries of political advertising activity in the 2024 U.S. elections. The two pieces appear in the latest issue of The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics and are both freely available through open access. The first examines advertising trends on television across all sponsors (open access link) while the second hones in on digital activity on Meta (including Facebook and Instagram), Google (including YouTube, display and search), and Snapchat by federal candidates (open access link).Key takeaways from the publications are as…
Wesleyan Media Project
June 24, 2025
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New report details at least $600 million in digital ad spending this cycle 2024 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
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New Analysis of 2022 Midterm Advertising Published Blog

New Analysis of 2022 Midterm Advertising Published

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) February 27, 2023 - New research utilizing Wesleyan Media Project data yields new insights on the polarization of 2022 midterm messaging between the parties in discussions of race as compared to discussions of gender. The new analysis, described by the Collaborative on Media and Messaging (COMM) for Health and Social Policy, builds on prior research published by WMP’s co-directors in early 2023 highlighting the pro-Democratic focus on abortion as a key issue. What was not previously known was the extent to which the race-related conversation in 2022 was contested between the parties and led more often by Republicans.…
Wesleyan Media Project
February 27, 2024