• by Shankar Gupta , August 3, 2005

The confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, the first such hearings since 1994, also will be the first nomination battle since the advent of search advertising.

And, so far, Republicans and Democrats, as well as retailers and even news organizations, have started buying keywords such as "Roberts," "John Roberts," and "Supreme Court."

For instance, the conservative Judicial Confirmation Group--a group founded in February to oppose the filibuster of nominees to the judiciary--has purchased pay-per-click ads to drive traffic to ConfirmJudgeRoberts.com. At the same time, the abortion rights group NARAL Pro Choice has bought search ads that take users to StopJohnRoberts.com.

Similarly, merchants looking to sell party-boosting materials have purchased keywords relating to Roberts. RepublicanGear.com, whose motto is "Where REAL Americans Get Their Gear," and RWInsanity.com--which sells t-shirts bearing the slogan "Overturn Roe? No! Stop the Right Wing Insanity"--have both purchased keywords such as "Roberts," "John Roberts," and "Supreme Court."

News outlets also have gotten into the act. The Washington Post, for instance, has purchased "Roberts," "John Roberts," and "Supreme Court" on Google. Users who click on the Post's text link are taken to a July 20 story covering Bush's announcement of the Roberts nomination.

Peter Hershberg, a managing partner at search engine marketing company Reprise Media, says the appeal of these search ads is that they catch viewers when they're engaged and looking for more information. "You're able to reach people with a very specific goal in mind, and you're presenting them with relevant and useful information," he said. "These are people who are explicitly expressing an interest in this process."

Thus far in the search space, sites supporting Roberts' confirmation seem to have outbid those opposing. In several Google searches, two pro-Roberts sites routinely turned up at the very top of the listings--ConfirmJudgeRoberts.com and ElectJustice.com. The anti-Roberts political sites to turn up in the paid listings tend to turn up lower, with StopJohnRoberts.com and ProtectOurCourt.org usually appearing in the bottom three rankings.

Eric Porres, vice president of the Republican political consultancy Pericles Consulting, says the anti-Roberts movement hasn't gained much momentum because Roberts isn't especially controversial. "If Roberts was a more contentious nominee, we'd probably see more 'Defeat John Roberts' messages than 'Support John Roberts' messages," he said.

But Aaron Ament, co-founder of ProtectOurCourt.org, says the anti-Roberts camp has not yet begun to fight. "You're not going to see anyone come out strong against him 'til the hearings really start," he said. "The conservative interest groups are going to take direction straight from the White House, whereas the Democratic interest groups are independent of Democratic officials."

Ament's group began its campaign with search ads opposing Roberts' nomination when the nomination was first announced, and will expand the online campaign next week, with BlogAds linking to a site streaming a TV spot they've created and hope to raise money to air. One of the things that attracted Ament's organization--a small grassroots affair made up of former staffers to the Wesley Clark for President campaign--to search ads was their low cost. "We wanted to spend as little as possible, but also get the most bang for our buck," he said. "We're just kind of unsure when we buy banner ads how much traffic they really have, and with this, we get what we pay for."