Advertising
The Political Ad Industry Approves This Message
FWIW
“As political spending accelerates, available local inventory gets tighter. And when billions of dollars pour into a finite advertising marketplace over a relatively short period of time, the effects extend well beyond the candidates whose faces are suddenly everywhere.”
Does political texting work?
Impressions to Ballots
“Ad recall in the test market increased by 22 points, a 16-point difference over the control market.”
Campaigns
GOP’s war for eyeballs
Axios
“Democrats generated 245 million impressions supporting former Gov. Roy Cooper, compared with 226 million for Republican Michael Whatley— even while being outspent by Republicans $10.6 million to $9 million.”
As campaign season gears up, AI-generated ads are everywhere
NPR
“Like the Bichler ad showing the yoga instructor in a physically impossible pose, these aren’t meant to deceive. They’re more like parodies aimed at making political points, or as Brennen puts it, ‘AI-generated slopaganda.’”
Data
Everyone’s talking about ‘electability.’ Our poll shows where voters stand.
POLITICO
“The poll found candidates over the age of 70 were nearly 10% less likely to be picked than candidates under the age of 50, with Democrats slightly more likely than Republicans to disfavor a candidate due to age.”
Disinformation
Russia Aims to Inject Chaos Into Elections, U.S. Intelligence Finds
New York Times
“Some of the officials said the main goal of the Russian influence operations appeared to be to sow chaos rather than aid one particular party, though the examples that independent disinformation researchers in recent weeks have attributed to Russia have exclusively attacked Democratic candidates in swing states.”
Iran and China Create First-of-Their-Kind Autonomous A.I. Influence Campaigns
New York Times
“Once hundreds of those A.I. agents were let loose, they autonomously opened networks of fake accounts on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok, the officials and security researchers said. The agents then rapidly seeded the fake accounts with false posts about politics and current events to sway opinions and inflame issues.”
Social Media
California tightens disclosure rules for influencers who post political ads
NBC News
“Though existing laws required someone to disclose whether they were being paid to post, there was no liability provision that officials could use to enforce the rule. Now, authorities will be allowed to impose penalties under the Political Reform Act of 1974 that can include a misdemeanor charge, according to the law’s text.”
An Army of Paid Creators Is Carpeting the Web With Political Content
New York Times
“Functioning more like birdshot than a single bullet, these high-volume social media campaigns represent the new vanguard of modern political influence, saturating the internet with a topic until it is all but unavoidable.”
The wild world of Republican TikTok
Chaotic Era
“Most of their accounts have fewer than 10,000 followers, and their posts have received fewer than 300,000 likes combined. (By comparison, the Democrat running for governor of Iowa has racked up three times as many on his own.)”
The Content Creators Turned Democratic Operatives
POLITICO Magazine
“If 2024 was the first serious influencer election, then 2026 digital campaign strategy will be remembered as the first clipping election.”
Technology
Democratic advisers are warning their candidates not to go too hard at AI
POLITICO
“Voters are increasingly worried about AI: About two-thirds of Americans say there’s a risk advanced AI could destroy humanity in a new POLITICO Poll. President Donald Trump has called that concern a ‘hoax,’ leaving an opening for Democrats to seize on the issue.”