Campaigns are increasingly happening online. And digital spending numbers are revealing some trends.
Outside groups are more likely than candidates to spend money on attack ads. That's according to a recent report from the campaign finance group Open Secrets, which looked at digital ad spending for the last presidential election.
"They have some distance from the candidate, and technically the candidates don't control that money. So, the outside group can really go on the attack and, perhaps there's some complaints about the content and what they're saying. The candidate always has a little bit of, you know, plausible deniability," says Brendan Glavin, director of insights with Open Secrets. "They're like, 'Well, I don't control that. I didn't ask them to do that.'"
The numbers also reveal some trends about how Democrats and Republicans used their money online.
"The Democratic Party is spending more money on attack and contrast ads, where they're trying to differentiate themselves from Republicans, whereas Republicans are spending more on promotion," says Jennifer Victor at George Mason University. "So, sort of positive messaging about their party."
Advertisers spent two billion dollars online in 2024 on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google and Snapchat.
