"Through sponsored links in search results, the McCain and
Obama camps have driven users seeking information on the candidates to their official Web sites to register for newsletters, volunteer or to donate money," says Kate Kaye. And in her Q&A with
Greenberger, he sheds light on some of the tactics in their winning search strategies.
Both the McCain and Obama camps, for example, used geotargeted AdWords ads in the days leading up to crucial state primaries, and they both also kept pumping a steady stream of dollars into their PPC campaigns. Clinton's camp on the other hand, started and stopped the AdWords campaigns, then started again once the primaries were well under way. "All along, the Obama campaign had been building this huge list and Clinton wasn't even in the game," Greenberger said. "They had already dug themselves into a huge hole in terms of how many small donors they could count on."