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25

GOP Senate hopeful Rob Portman’s Google Ads: What do they mean?


Anyone else see this – look at the bottom of the image:

bnnportman2

If there were ads like that for Ohio candidates throughout 2007 and 2008, I never noticed them.  But I keep thinking about  what Ohio Democratic Party Chair Chris Redfern told me almost exactly three years ago re: no money will be spent on political ads on the Internet for the foreseeable future.

So – are we past the foreseeable future? Or is this a fluke?

That was a week ago and tonight, I just read this post at e.politics which says that:

The ad links through to the main Portman site, which is currently set up with an emphasis on list-building, as the front page demonstrates:
Rob Portman for Senate Website Screenshot

Look familiar? As in, Obama-esque? (clean design, lots of blue, plenty of gradients and fades, that vaguely ethereal feel…). It’s also significant that the site tries to position Portman as the only choice for the seat, using selected media quotes to build that sense of inevitability.

e.politics also mentions how this method of ads and the website will enhance Portman’s “list building.”

Now, another reminder: From July 2008, a Pew report that came out indicating the amount of money being contributed online was increasing in very real terms.  For example, the Washington Post reported that Barack Obama raised $500 million online. $500 million. Online.

From Pew in that 7/08 link:

In addition, says the memo report, three online activities have become especially prominent as the presidential primary campaigns have progressed:

  • 35% of Americans say they have watched online political videos, triple that in the 2004 race
  • 10% say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to gather information or become involved. Two-thirds of internet users under the age of 30 have a social networking profile, and half of these use social networking sites to get or share information about politics or the campaigns
  • 6% of Americans have made political contributions online, compared with 2% who did that during the entire 2004 campaign [emphasis mine]

Smart approach by Portman, and another reason why the Democratic possibilities for challenging the eventual GOP candidate for George Voinovich’s senate seat should be online now – even if it’s just a Google Ad.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:53 pm January 25th, 2009 in Barack Obama, Campaigning, Democrats, Elections, Ohio, Politics, Republicans, Tech, Tools, WH2008, social media 

Comments

6 Responses to “GOP Senate hopeful Rob Portman’s Google Ads: What do they mean?”

  1. 1 Eugene on January 25th, 2009 7:59 pm

    Hey Jill,

    Not to refute your story but I did see a lot of internet advertising this last election cycle on my site and in 2006 one as a matter of fact. The funny thing was in the ‘06 one was that the election was over and there was still some spots up well after the vote had come in.

    Interesting that Portman is already throwing big money in the race when he is the only one who seems to be openly pursuing the seat so far.

  2. 2 Jill Miller Zimon on January 25th, 2009 8:02 pm

    Oh no problem at all! It is my story and I’m sticking with it. :) But it’s also 100% likely that there could have been ads for Ohio or even more local candidates and I just didn’t even notice them.

    Do you have knowledge or recollection about that? I’m not sure what info we can get access to to check – I’d love to see, did Cordray have anything up? Or any of the judges?

    It’s this use by a candidate before he’s even the nominee, and the fact that it’s a statewide and not presidential that interests me. Clearly the cost-benefit has got to be worth it.

    Thanks for reading! That made my night. :)

  3. 3 Eugene on January 25th, 2009 8:16 pm

    I was racking my brain for specific candidates but I am coming up with blanks right now. The first time I remember seeing it was ‘06 in the midterms and it really made me laugh because there was this advert that was up for like a month after the election had ended. It was one of the close ones like Kilroy or Space. I saw more adwords stuff this last time but again I cannot remember for some odd reason. Cordray actually does ring a bell in terms of advertising via the web but I cannot give 100% guarantee that is a fact.

    PS: By making your night, you made my night ;)

  4. 4 Anthony Fossaceca on January 26th, 2009 7:09 am

    Jill, Cordray actually did a ton of Google ads last cycle in the Attorney General’s race. I seem to remember seeing his Google ad everywhere with the same concept – leading to the address gathering, landing page. I don’t know what the budget was, but there was a presence.

    I wonder if Redfern was referring more to banner ads on blogs and media sites as opposed to content generated Google ads like the ones Cordray and Portman used. It does make a lot of sense to do these types of ads. They’re pretty inexpensive and give you a way to stick your nose into your opponent’s press coverage. Every time I mention Ryan, Fisher, etc on OhioDaily, Portman shows up in the Google ads.

  5. 5 team member on January 26th, 2009 7:57 am

    Jill: One problem with Google ads for local campaigns, meaning county-wide or less, is that Google, the last time I checked, lets you target by “region” or by specific zip codes, but not by a list of zip codes.

    For example, you could target the entire state of Ohio, or a specific zip code in Ohio, but not a list of zip codes in Ohio. This limits its effectiveness for ads for local campaigns in counties like Medina or Lake where there are a bunch of zip codes.

    Another problem is that for myself, at least, it is not easy to figure out how much money to spend on an ad campaign. Google offers the concept of paying by clicks on the ad, but there is some link to how much you are willing to spend and how often your ad appears when people do a search, or at least, that was my conclusion when I looked into this.

    Ads on traditional media are much easier to figure out because you are dealing with more finite numbers, IE, a candidate knows how often the PD appears and how many subscribers it has, but doesn’t know how many times an Ohioan will do a search using terms that trigger the candidate’s ad.

    Having said all that, though, I am, like yourself, intrigued by what Portman is doing and I hope that Democrats follow suit. Thanks for noting it.

  6. 6 Pelikan on January 26th, 2009 10:13 am

    The only Ohio candidate I remember with internet ads (google ads specifically) was Cordray in 2008. They’re a cheap way to get eyes on your home site and they can be targeted somewhat through contextual placement. The ads don’t persuade, perhaps they’re a door to persuasion.

    To back up what Anthony said, I wrote a lot about Obama and McCain’s google ads would crop up to the point that I set my adsense settings to block them.

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