BJP dominates political ad spending

The BJP has emerged as the primary investor in political advertisements, allocating Rs 39 crore, constituting one-third of the total expenditure, towards Google ads between January 1 and April 10. Following closely is the Central Bureau of Communication (CBC), the government's principal advertising agency, which invested Rs 32.3 crore in ad campaigns during the same period.

With the imminent Lok Sabha elections, political parties and their affiliated bodies have significantly escalated their Google advertising endeavors, collectively investing around Rs 117 crore since the year began, as per data from the Google Ads Transparency Centre.

This sharp surge stands in stark contrast to the mere Rs 10 crore spent by verified advertisers on political ads on Google between January 1 and April 10, 2019, preceding the previous general elections.

Video ads have emerged as the preferred format for advertising on Google, constituting over 82% of all ads aired during the period. Industry experts and advertising agency executives underscore the advantages of digital advertising, which offer more targeted reach opportunities at relatively lower costs.

In addition to conventional advertising methods, political parties are now leveraging social media influencers for digital campaigning. Google defines 'election ads' in India as those featuring or sponsored by political parties, candidates, or members of legislative bodies such as the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha. These ads are distributed across various Google platforms including search, YouTube, and the Play Store, as well as third-party apps and websites utilizing Google Ads for monetization.

To combat misinformation during elections, Google collaborated with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to provide information on political advertisements via Google search and YouTube. Additionally, Google mandates advertisers running election ads on its platforms to undergo identity verification and provide pre-certification from the ECI or authorized entities for each ad, along with in-ad disclosures of the advertiser's identity.

The upcoming elections for 543 parliamentary constituencies will be conducted in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. During the January 1 to April 10 timeframe, the BJP ran a total of 76,800 ads on Google. The highest-spending ad promoted the Jan Dhan scheme in Hindi and ran for 49 days from February 10 to March 29. The party's second-highest expenditure was on a Tamil language video ad promoting the Mudra loan scheme.