• by Ray Schultz , October 20, 2024

Political advertisers spent more than $619 million on Google and Meta from the start of 2023 until the end of August in 2024, according an analysis by the Brennan Center, OpenSecrets, and the Wesleyan Media Project.

Of the ad buys for specific offices, $248 million (64%) were for presidential candidates. In addition, $73 million (19%) was spent on Senate seats. 

Democrats spent three times as much as Republicans. However, some Republican spending may have been on platforms not included in this study.

Analysis was limited to advertisers that spent $5,000 or more.

Among presidential candidates, $182 million was spent for Kamala Harris and $45 million for Donald Trump.

Third in the spending sweepstakes overall was Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California), now running for a Senate seat, at $7.8 million.