LTO Links #313

Senate Dems' Lopsided Online Advertising Lead

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Issue #313 |

Advertising

Republican candidates falling far behind in digital ad spending

"Obviously, the digital battle for control of the Senate is the most lopsided, with Democrats spending 5 times more on Facebook and Google ads than their opponents. In the increasingly competitive Ohio Senate race, for example, Republican JD Vance hasn’t spent more than $3,000 over the past 30 days, compared to over $300,000 from Democrat Tim Ryan. In Pennsylvania, John Fetterman has spent $170,000 to his opponent’s $7,000."

Rumble Launches Beta Version of Ad Platform

"The beta version of the new platform will allow advertisers to access a portion of the user traffic on Rumble's website, create campaigns, view analytics, and much more. The platform will be launched initially for display advertisements, with video and native advertisements to follow in the next quarter. The platform also supports the ability for Publishers to access advertiser demand. Select Publishers will be granted access to the Beta version of the platform this quarter."

Truth Social to join Rumble's advertising platform

"Former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, will join the video-sharing company Rumble's new ad platform as its first publisher, the companies said on Tuesday, as the Trump venture seeks to sell ads while circumventing Big Tech firms like Google."

Campaigns

Md. GOP nominee Cox deletes account on Gab, site known for hate speech

"Cox deleted more than 1,000 posts in striking his profile from the site, which welcomes users banned from other platforms. A web archive page of his activity did not preserve any of the posts themselves, and the Cox campaign would not discuss them."

Fundraising

How Lindsey Graham Raises Money Online for the Top Senate Races in America

"Lindsey Graham has helped more than a dozen of his Republican colleagues and other senate nominees this cycle using Slates. He’s also supported: Herschel Walker, Adam Laxalt, Dr. Oz, Ted Budd, JD Vance, Ron Johnson, Marco Rubio, John Kennedy, Chuck Grassley, and the NRSC. Last year, we highlighted how he helped raise money for fellow South Carolina Senator Tim Scott."

Social Media

TikTok preps for midterm misinformation chaos

"First, TikTok will begin rolling out its Election Center this week in order to provide authoritative voting information in the coming weeks and results from the Associated Press once they are reported. TikTok says it will link out to the Election Center through labels placed on midterm-related content, including videos posted by governments, candidates, and political parties."

Facebook parent Meta seeks to kill transparency requirements in Washington’s campaign finance law

"Meta wants to eliminate the provision that commercial advertisers — such as Meta and any other company that runs campaign ads in Washington — keep records on campaign ads that are available to the public, according to a news release from Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office."

Technology

Can computer simulations help fix democracy?

"Known as algorithmic redistricting, the technology has persuaded judges to throw out gerrymandered maps in several states, including New York and Ohio. And it will be part of a case before the Supreme Court in October that could play a role in the 2024 election and the future of voting rights."

Google Search Is Quietly Damaging Democracy

"The trouble is, many users still rely on Google to fact-check information, and doing so might strengthen their belief in false claims. This is not only because Google sometimes delivers misleading or incorrect information, but also because people I spoke with for my research believed that Google’s top search returns were “more important,” “more relevant,” and “more accurate,” and they trusted Google more than the news—they considered it to be a more objective source."