Get Local – Ads and Voters!
Are you a political ad buyer who wants to buy ads on local news sites? You should be – more than 70% of local news readers are voters. Local news sites want you to buy ads, too. They consistently miss out on spending that’s diverted to programmatic and social ad buying – mostly because it’s […]
Get Ready – Political Ad Dollars Approaching!
Hey publisher! Getting ready for next year’s big political sales? You’re not? What? It’s not a presidential election year? It’s just a bunch of Congressional elections? The big money comes in 2028, right? Nope. 2026 is indeed a bunch of Congressional elections but those elections are taking place in a political environment that’s white hot. […]
The Google Problem
Let’s talk about how much trouble – real, legal, messy trouble – Google is in with the U.S. Department of Justice. Why? Because the changes that are going to take place in ad tech as the result of two federal court rulings are going to affect the political ad market much more than brand advertising. […]
How Does Your (Walled) Garden Grow?
Chances are good that – as a local news publisher – you don’t think of yourself as a master gardener. You should. Because the walled garden you’ve been building behind your subscriber paywall is filled with data riches, especially for political ad buyers. Political candidates, advocacy organizations and public affairs ad buyers like Spot-On care […]
Siri, Delete All Political Messaging
Wanna see a picture of money burning? Sure you do – it’s a little chilly out there. Take a look at this screen shot (left) from the phone of a kindly small money donor. It’s the list of solicitations she received in the days leading to the election. See the “Spam & blocked” at the […]
Our Mandatory, Cautionary AI Post
Ah, the hype. There really isn’t anything quite like a Silicon Valley generated hypefest and the introduction of Artificial Intelligence technology – most famously in its ChatGPT and (for images) Lensa AI iterations – is as one Silicon Valley pundit put it “a Netscape moment”. It is a dramatic departure that points digital communication and […]
Same As It Ever Was
Social “media” sure isn’t what it used to be, is it? Facebook’s made itself more difficult to use and less reliable for targeting voters. NextDoor, LinkedIn TikTok, Spotify and Reddit either ban election-related ads or have broad policies in place that allow them to reject ads as they see fit. So what’s a small to […]
Google, The Government and The Rest of Us
A few months ago, Spot-On did its usual post-election forecasting and predicted some rough roads ahead of political ad buyers and tech platforms. We may have understated things. Take a look at this story from Bloomberg. Facebook, it seems, changed the technology underlying its political targeting – making it more difficult to find users who […]
Let’s Talk 2024 – Before It’s Too Late
If you’re not in politics, 2024 may seem like it’s a year away. But for folks who make their livings getting people elected and ideas codified into law, the next 12 months are a prep week for the storm ahead. There’s too much still up in the air for anyone to be able to predict […]
Oh, What a Year
We’ve had another election, so it’s time for Spot-On to put on its political reporter spyglass to look (and share!) what we see as important trends for media consultants and buyers. Parties May Not be Dead, But They’re on Life Support The number of voters who refused to affiliate with one party or another is […]
