• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, November 7, 2024

The mistaken notion that people were uninterested in Tuesday’s election is belied by the sheer turnout — and by the traffic on publishing sites. 

Not only did publishers see a boost, but so did businesses that served consumers with food and other items on election night, according to statistics provided by Taboola.

But there is a timeline.

Global publisher traffic actually fell at the start of the day, possibly because people were voting. But traffic spiked later to 45% as Americans awaited the results. 

On Wednesday, by which time the results were finalized, 88% of total publishing traffic went to topics related to the election. 

And, voters credited Joe Rogan's podcast episode featuring Trump as why they voted for Trump. And Rogan's readership skyrocketed 292% after the podcast dropped in late October.

Meanwhile, brands were busy getting pre-election promotions out. Restaurants and food services offered freebies or discounts. For instance, Krispy Kreme offered a free Original Glazed doughnut and an “I voted sticker” at participating shops, according to USA Today. And Lyft and Uber promoted discounted rides. 

Did any of this work? The following brands achieved big gains from their Election Day promotions:

• Grubhub — 666%
• Krispy Kreme —208
• Lyft — 155% 
• Uber — 145%

We may have to wait until the Super Bowl to again see these kinds of numbers.