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. This year – the quietest of the ‘off’ years in a political cycle – was a barn burner across the country.
Campaigns that were expected to do well – Abagail Spanberger in Virginia, and California’s redistricting measure – Prop 50 – won with eye-popping margins. Spanberger and her fellow Democrat Mikie Sherrill running for governor in New Jersey beat their opponents with high double-digit margins. In some parts of California – notably, Los Angeles the redistricting prop received more than 70% of all votes cast.
Those numbers are – to put it diplomatically – striking. Unheard of.
And they argue for a lively 2026.
And it’s not just for Congressional or U.S. Senate elections – there’s a domino effect at work. Every change near the top of the ballot generates movement below as local office holders move to statewide and statewide elected officials move to the national stage.
Even before November, estimates for spending by November 2026 topped $10 billion – that’s with a “B” – for all races up and down the ballots. And that number is starting to look a bit conservative.
If you’re a news publisher, you are almost certainly taking this with a grain of salt. After all, local news outlets get only an eyelash percentage of political spends. And yes, much of that $10B – probably around 70% – will go to some form of video ads.
But that still leaves lots and lots of money on the table for local news outlets to grab. And Spot-On’s Pinpoint Persuasion Direct Ad Buying platform will be ready to help local news sites collect those political ad dollars starting in January.
We’re in the final weeks of integrating P3 to Google’s infrastructure so we – and you – can use Google Ad Manager to received orders and ad tags from P3.
We’re looking for publishers to join out platform. There is no cost to publishers. It’s free. To start, we’re focusing on states with March 2026 primaries so if you’ve got outlets, we should talk.
P3 Publishers can set – and protect – their political rates, use the platform to make notes about editorial review or disclaimer policies and see creative before it runs. No surprises – for buyers or sellers – no crazy email threads. Just a clear and transparent marketplace.
Join us, won’t you? Email advertising@spot-on.com for more details about timing and integration.
