By reputable accounts President Donald Trump is spending more than $1 million a month on Facebook advertising in preparation for his re-election bid. He may well be spending more on other platforms. We just don’t know since there are no legally mandated reporting structure for online ad buys for federal elections.

Yes, we know, it’s 2020 for everyone in politics. But before we rise from our armchairs and really get down in the trenches, let’s take a few minutes to consider how political campaigns have changed. The 2018 cycle was a watershed year for new online and digitally-based tactics that worked

Usually in this space at this time of  year, Spot-On spends a few minutes to make predictions. But this year, we’re putting that aside. This mess with Facebook and political ads is too overwhelming. And dangerous. Let’s begin with a clarification: Facebook is a fantastic tool for elected officials to

Political people all talk about how this cycle – which by Spot-On’s estimates started sometime last year – is going to be different. For everyone. We think that’s a safe bet. But we’d like to take this opportunity to throw some gasoline on that fire. EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT ONLINE

Let’s talk about Russians. Let’s talk about the Russians and online ads and Facebook and what they may have done and what it means for the future of political online ad buying.. Because it’s important. And it’s going to matter to your campaign. First, what happened? Well, start with the

This article appeared in Capitol Weekly. For years, the Silicon Valley mantra was “The Internet changes everything.” These days it’s more accurate to say “The Internet is always changing.” That’s why the conventional wisdom about online ad targeting and other digital means of finding voters can easily slip out of date. Things

It may seem hard to believe but all the talk about online ad fraud, transparency and accountability is – eventually – going to help clean up the political ad market. But first, we’re going to see some serious realignment. Some has already started as established firms run for cover, getting

The great Bette Davis summed it up nicely. Fasten those seat belts, kids, 2017 IS going to be a bumpy ride. But probably not for all of the reasons you might expect. Here at Spot-On we focus on tactics and mechanics. So our year ahead projections – like this pretty

If I had to sum up the problem with online efforts and political people – all political people -, the interaction between the DNC and the FBI pretty much sums it up. Someone calls to talk about their email server being compromised and they’re sent to the help desk.  That

There’s a lot to be said about the 2016 election and it will take a long time for everyone to say it. So let us get our U.S. 2 cents in now. In our yearly predictions, Spot-On said this would be the year that “Pollsters really get kicked around.” We also suggested there

This article appeared in AdWeek  Political professionals will use the word “watershed” when they talk about 2016 for many reasons.  For those of us in digital advertising, 2016 is the year spending went from a river to a flood. But many of the boats lifted in this rising tide were piloted

A few weeks ago, Spot-On wrote and asked you to help us survey the online ad market for political. We’re back this week repeating that request. We know you’re slammed. But when it comes to asking you what you’re thinking about media, advertising and your campaigns, there is no better

You’ve been busy launching campaigns. We’ve been busy helping you build online ad plans. Now it’s time to get on that con-call and talk about it. Or listen. Lots of listening. To pass the time, Spot-On is here with some light reading. You know, while you’re listening. This is our

Every once in a while Spot-On likes to get a little high minded. And no, we are not inhaling. We are instead contemplating trends worth noting for our customers. Here’s the first one, you might say the only one that matters: There are as many smart phones in the country as

The optimists here at Team Spot-On like to point out that this is the first year since 2004 – that’s 12 long years – where political spending hasn’t been hampered by a real or feared economic recession. Which probably explains why everyone is busy, earlier and faster than some anticipated.

First, of course, accept our best wishes for a happy  – and winning – New Year. Last year, Spot-On got some nice notices on our predictions for 2015 – a win! So here’s our take on what political consultants, media buyers and campaigns ought to be looking for in 2016. –

Political folks take a certain amount of justifiable pride in dismissing shiny toys in favor of techniques that attract, motivate and engage voters. That has always made good sense. Voters follow, they don’t lead. But it’s beginning to feel like campaigns could miss out on the power of digital, especially

It’s time to divide up “digital”, the catch-all phrase many campaigns use to describe things that aren’t mail or TV. Why split up all that computer stuff? Well, because the idea of a “digital” budget is misleading. It groups very different tasks – tasks that are normally separated – in

Viewability. Silly made-up word. Important concept. “Viewability” is the shorthand that ad agencies and ad tech outfits are using to discuss a big problem: Many of the ads that run online aren’t seen. There are a number of reasons for this. Since a lot of online advertising is bought by computers

Old habits die hard. Spend 20-some years in a newsroom and, well, you have to read the wires first thing every morning. Because you like it. We like to share, too. So here’s a short list of interesting items that have come across our screen the past few weeks. First