Products

EMARKETER delivers leading-edge research to clients in a variety of forms, including full-length reports and data visualizations to equip you with actionable takeaways for better business decisions.
PRO+
New data sets, deeper insights, and flexible data visualizations.
Learn More
Reports
In-depth analysis, benchmarks and shorter spotlights on digital trends.
Learn More
Forecasts
Interactive projections with 10k+ metrics on market trends, & consumer behavior.
Learn More
Charts
Proprietary data and over 3,000 third-party sources about the most important topics.
Learn More
Industry KPIs
Industry benchmarks for the most important KPIs in digital marketing, advertising, retail and ecommerce.
Learn More
Briefings
Client-only email newsletters with analysis and takeaways from the daily news.
Learn More
Analyst Access Program
Exclusive time with the thought leaders who craft our research.
Learn More

About EMARKETER

Our goal is to unlock digital opportunities for our clients with the world’s most trusted forecasts, analysis, and benchmarks. Spanning five core coverage areas and dozens of industries, our research on digital transformation is exhaustive.
Our Story
Learn more about our mission and how EMARKETER came to be.
Learn More
Methodology
Rigorous proprietary data vetting strips biases and produces superior insights.
Learn More
Our People
Take a look into our corporate culture and view our open roles.
Join the Team
Contact Us
Speak to a member of our team to learn more about EMARKETER.
Contact Us
Newsroom
See our latest press releases, news articles or download our press kit.
Learn More
Advertising & Sponsorship Opportunities
Reach an engaged audience of decision-makers.
Learn More
Events
Browse our upcoming and past events, recent podcasts, and other featured resources.
Learn More
Podcasts
Tune in to EMARKETER's daily, weekly, and monthly podcasts.
Learn More

Political Advertising Year in Review: Pressure Builds on Digital Ad Sellers

The first primary contests for the Democratic presidential nomination are not happening until February 2020, but the heat is already on the biggest digital ad sellers to restrict what they allow political and issue-oriented advertisers to do.

In November 2019, Google announced it would allow political advertisers to use only three types of audience targeting when buying media: age, gender and location down to the ZIP code level. Contextual targeting is also still allowed, but other types of audience targeting, including retargeting and behavioral targeting, have been shut down for these types of advertisers—first in the UK, ahead of their parliamentary elections, and soon to follow elsewhere worldwide.

That announcement came after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced in a Twitter thread that the microblogging service would be disallowing all types of political and issue-related advertising—a position the company later backtracked on, saying it would allow cause-oriented ads from registered buyers.

Twitter’s move was widely hailed as a PR victory because of the widespread popularity among consumers of banning political ads. In an October 2019 poll from researcher CivicScience, 69% of US adult internet users agreed with Twitter's decision at least somewhat—including a majority (56%) who agreed strongly. Responses were similar when respondents were asked whether Facebook should ban political ads.

In a June 2019 survey by over-the-top (OTT) video service Sling TV and video-focused supply-side platform (SSP) Telaria, almost two-thirds of US internet users ages 18 to 29 had negative opinions of political ads on social media, with the most common description among respondents being “untrustworthy.” Only 6% characterized political ads on social media as “honest,” though more were willing to say they were “informative.”

It’s important to note that people are hostile to political ads nearly everywhere. CivicScience found that more than two-thirds of respondents also thought these types of ads should be banned on TV. And it’s not just about ads, either: Last November, CivicScience asked internet users how they felt about political posts on Facebook, and 54% agreed with the statement, “I would gladly do away with all political posts on Facebook if I could.”

Of course, many respondents would probably like to ban certain political posts—the ones they don’t like—while allowing others they do like, or consider uncontroversial. The general media environment in the US has been highly polarized for years now, and partisans of all stripes continue to engage with this type of content and advertising. In other words, it’s still successful, so it’s not likely to stop anytime soon.

Kantar Media expects US digital political ad spending to reach $1.2 billion next year, or 20.0% of political ad spending. Advertising Analytics and Cross Screen Media expect $1.60 billion in US political ad spending on digital video placements alone next year.