The Congress outspent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to a comparison of the top 20 political marketers on Meta and Google for November by Hindustan Times.
Recall that in November, assembly elections were held in five states.
Why is this story important?
This information was made following the Congress’s crushing defeats in the just-completed state assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
The BJP not only maintained control in Madhya Pradesh but also orchestrated a thunderous resurgence in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
In Telangana, the grand old party succeeded in overthrowing the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and forming its own administration.
In Mizoram, the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) prevailed.
Distribution of ad spending across platforms in November
The BJP allegedly barely spent Rs. 4.16 crore on Google Ads in November, compared to the Congress’s almost Rs. 14.3 crore.
The party, state units, and those running ads on their behalf accounted for Rs. 2.58 crore of the indirect and direct advertisements for the BJP on Meta’s platforms. The amount spent by the Congress came to Rs. 2.24 crore.
Twenty.4% of Google’s ad spend went toward images, while over 80% of the total, or about Rs. 28.9 crore, went into video advertisements.
Google and Meta data on ad spending
The states that are headed for elections in November—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana—accounted for the majority of the online advertising spend on Meta, including Facebook and Instagram.
On the other hand, the HT article said that Mizoram, another state that held elections in November, placed 17th on the list in terms of advertising spending.
It’s important to note that neither Google nor Meta demands that advertisers disclose the political party they support or support.
More information about political advertisement spending by the Congress and BJP
Congress-run Facebook pages account for three of the top 20 political marketers on Meta platforms, with 1,263 advertising worth Rs. 2.05 crore.
Conversely, five Facebook pages—BJP Rajasthan, BJP Chhattisgarh, BJP Madhya Pradesh, BJP Telangana, and Nahi Sahega Rajasthan—directly affiliated with the saffron brigade—placed 3,122 advertisements for a total of Rs. 1.53 crore.
It’s interesting to note that the largest money on Google Ads—roughly Rs. 2.27 crore—was reportedly spent three days prior to the November 27 Telangana elections.