If the U.S. presidential election were determined on the basis of the real-time bidding volume of each candidate’s campaign, Mitt Romney would be the winner. Romney’s campaign dominated the RTB marketplace during the third quarter of 2012, according to Rubicon Project’s just-released RTB report. According to the report, Romney dominated Obama by a margin of seven percentage points of total RTB political category spending. Obama's campaign actually trailed a U.S. government campaign on child abuse by nearly as much of a margin. Both candidates' campaigns more than doubled their RTB spending in the third quarter versus the second quarter. Overall, the political category was one of the fastest-growing during the third quarter, with total volume growing 43.6% from the second quarter of the year, and eCPMs declining 5.1% during the same period. Top 10 Political RTB Advertisers During Q3 Advertisers % Spend % Change 1. Romney for President 19% +1137% 2. US_Child Abuse 18% NA 3. Barack Obama 12% +108% 4. US Department of Health & Human Services 11% NA 5. National Guard 4% NA 6. Americans for Prosperity 4% +779% 7. US Department of Homeland Security 4% +1355% 8. United States House of Representatives 2% -8% 9. Restore Our Future 2% +102% 10. American Crossroads 2% NA Source: Rubicon Project. NA = Not available.