U.S. states with the largest political advertising spending on Google 2018-2020

Based on an evaluation of political advertising spending on Google, the state of California had the highest political expenditure at 70 million U.S. dollars between May 30, 2018, and November 19, 2020. The second-highest spending belonged to Florida, at 69 million dollars devoted to Google ads during the same period.

Political advertising in the U.S.

Political advertising allows candidates to promote themselves and convey their message to millions of prospective voters. By running ads on television, radio, print media, or the internet, politicians can reach large audiences and potentially impact the outcome of an election, making advertising an indispensable tool in the political playbook. As for the United States, where political campaigns have been highly publicized in recent years, political advertising spending reached a preliminary peak in 2020. Looking at the distribution of spending by region, Florida emerged as the U.S. state with the highest TV advertising spending during the 2020 presidential campaign. This could be explained by the fact that Florida ranks third for the number of Electoral votes alongside New York.

Political campaigns adapt to a digitalized world

While traditional media formats such as television remain popular platforms for political promotion, digital channels are seeing the sharpest increase in usage. Between the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, U.S. digital ad spend on political campaigns has more than doubled, amounting to an estimated 1.82 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. That year, Biden for President was the largest political advertiser on Google, as well as the leading political advertiser on Facebook as of October. Seeing how political candidates spend larger sums on Facebook ads than ever, there is no debate whether social media has become a game-changer for political advertising or not.