How Scott Brown Used Google to Get Results in Mass. Election

The Wall Street Journal ^ | January 19, 2010 | Jennifer Valentino

[2ndDivisionVet]

Politics aside, you can count Google as a clear supporter of at least one aspect of Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown’s campaign — the use of online media. “He has definitely run a model campaign,” Google spokesman Galen Panger said in an interview with Digits. “He has really adopted every single tool in the Google arsenal.”

There’s been a lot of news out today about how Mr. Brown has used social networking tools to help his campaign against Democrat Martha Coakley for a crucial Senate seat in Massachusetts. But amid all the talk of Twitter and Facebook, a slightly less sexy but still powerful tool has often been overlooked — the campaign’s groundbreaking use of Google to drive volunteers and voters.

Beginning Thursday, the Brown campaign began what’s known as a Google network blast, an advertising tactic that floods Google content network Web pages in a particular geographic area with display ads from one advertiser. “If you were in Massachusetts, pretty much all day every day you would see a Scott Brown ad,” Mr. Panger said, adding that earlier ads encouraged people to volunteer for the campaign, while later ones focused on getting out the vote.

--snip--

The campaign also used ads in YouTube, gmail and search. Rick Klein of ABC News sees the use of online advertising as one sign that the Republicans might have closed the technology gap with Democrats that was so evident in the 2008 election. He mentions specifically the Brown campaign’s success in “using Google AdWords to direct people searching for both his name and Coakley’s to his campaign Web site.”(continued)

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UPDATE: This post has been updated to include comments from Scott Brown’s campaign.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Sounds like others need to study his techniques.

[taildragger]

Romney was on Bennett this am claiming he was using some of his people. Define his people, but I am about to Barf...

[freedumb2003]

>>Sounds like others need to study his techniques.<<

I could try a variation — “Vote for me OR ELSE I Pose Nude! I mean it!”

And then use the technology part by threatening to make the result come up first on all the major search engines, no matter what the search phrase is!

[2ndDivisionVet]

Success has a thousand fathers, failure is an orphan.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Don’t give the Democrats any ideas ... they’ll have jourbalists like Helen Thomas or pols like Hillary/Bella Abzug using your plan.

[Navy Patriot]

Seems Scott is good at getting his name out there, and has the charisma to attract campaign workers. Many of whom could work from afar using Internet and Google tools, freeing locals for door to door. Well done.

Google, on the other hand, delivered lefty blogs and "Marcia" ads when searched for "Scott Brown". Not accidentally, I'm sure. Check out the comments on the article.

Considering Google's bias, Brown did an even better job than he gets credit for.

[Navy Patriot]

Seems Scott is good at getting his name out there, and has the charisma to attract campaign workers. Many of whom could work from afar using Internet and Google tools, freeing locals for door to door. Well done.

Google, on the other hand, delivered lefty blogs and "Marcia" ads when searched for "Scott Brown". Not accidentally, I'm sure. Check out the comments on the article.

Considering Google's bias, Brown did an even better job than he gets credit for.

[abb]

Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™ ping

[9YearLurker]

Those aren’t “Romney’s people”—they had been Joe Malone’s people whom Romney subsequently hired. They were about the only game in town at that point, since Weld/Cellucci/Swift had had the ‘other’ MA Republican operative team tied up over the years.

Malone had impressed everyone by running an upbeat, regular working guy kind of campaign (sound familiar?) in an near upset against Sen. Kennedy all the way back in 1998. That campaign took Malone from having been an unknown to subsequently becoming a rare Republican to win statewide office (Treasurer).

Shame on Romney for stepping on the Brown story in order to toot his own horn. Characteristic of Romney, but shameful.

[max americana]

Indeed. They have adopted the “web” sense of the Obama 2008 team and used it to their advantage. I’m still amazed to learn that GOP voters are more Twitter-Facebook savvy that Dems, as learned from a previous article. Like one of our neighbors kids who told me a year ago, there’s more to Google than ad-sense and cloud searches..

[SunkenCiv]

But amid all the talk of Twitter and Facebook, a slightly less sexy but still powerful tool has often been overlooked -- the campaign's groundbreaking use of Google to drive volunteers and voters.

Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.

[dervish]

very interesting article. Thanks.

[ExcursionGuy84]

I’m still amazed to learn that GOP voters are more Twitter-Facebook savvy that Dems

A certain Ex-Governor has done well in unconsciously introducing more Conservatives/ Republicans into a daily/weekly Facebook/Twitter "office" statement.

**Wink**

[Temple Owl]

ping

[Tribune7]

And to think that 20 years ago the Boston Globe would have gotten all that ad money.