Google scoops lion's share of Obama's millions

by Noelle McElhatton, Marketing Direct 06-Jan-09, 10:20

LONDON - Barack Obama's presidential campaign spent over $16 million on internet advertising in 2008, dwarfing losing candidate John McCain's $3.6 million. This is according to figures presented by Obama's campaign team to the US Federal Election Commission.

Google took the lion's share, an estimated $7.5 million of campaign funds raised by Obama in 2008, about 45 percent of the campaign's digital ad spending. Some went toward display and text ads in Google's AdSense network, as well as for ads appearing in search results on Google's site. Such is Obama's high regard for the search engine that he appointed Google CEO Eric Schmidt as a member of his transition team.

Yahoo was the second highest recipient of Obama campaign funds, earning $1.5 million in 2008 for display and search ads. Microsoft and AOL also figured in the campaign schedule, as did local media sites.

Social networks were a key element of Obama's marketing strategy, with Facebook founder Chris Hughes seconding himself on Obama's team for the latter part of the campaign. The campaign spent $643,000 on Facebook ads in 2008.

The president-elect was the first candidate in more than 30 years not to use public financing for an election campaign. It meant that Obama's team was free to raise funds and spend how they liked, laying out £157 million on TV adverts during the two-year election campaign.