Posted on 12/25/2007 9:36:20 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Hate campaign ads? Now you can't even Google safely.
With the 2008 elections already heating up in North Carolina, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor have started paying for ads on the popular Internet search engine.
And political observers say it's only the beginning.
The ads are short and unobtrusive, but they're also dirt cheap compared to TV or radio ads. They show up when you search for key terms on Google or read Web sites that have signed up for Google's AdSense program.
Search for Democratic gubernatorial candidate "Beverly Perdue" on Google, and you'll see ads from five sponsors: Her campaign; her Democratic rival, Richard Moore; the state Democratic Party; Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Pat Smathers; and a conservative think tank pushing its poll results.
The ads are as terse as a classified ad with a link to the sponsor's Web site: "Richard Moore 4 Governor," reads one. "Fixing North Carolina's problems with fresh ideas. www.RichardMoore.org"
Moore's campaign has been running the ads for several months, said campaign manager Jay Reiff. He said they are more common in states like Virginia and Pennsylvania, which have lots of political blogs and online campaigning.
"North Carolina is a little behind other parts of the country," he said.
Moore has also run more targeted ads under search terms such as "Mike Easley" and "nc governor," as well as "subprime mortgages," and "north carolina climate change" -- two issues he has been outspoken on as state treasurer.
Google ads have even gone negative.
Several weeks ago, Perdue's campaign joined the fray with its own ads touting her Web site. They also started running a Google ad linking to a Perdue-sponsored site attacking Moore.
The Moore campaign responded with its own negative ads linked to an anti-Perdue site.
In recent weeks, the state Democratic Party has begun running ads under searches for the name of state Auditor Les Merritt. The ads claim that Merritt, a Republican, has conflicts of interest and link to an anti-Merritt site.
"Mr. Leslie Merritt," the ad reads. "The Fox is in the Hen House: Merritt Has Conflicts of Interest."
Frank Williams, campaign manager for Merritt, said he has a plan to respond to the ads. For now, he said, he's not concerned.
"It's one of those things we're aware of and we're confident in our plan," he said.
None of the GOP gubernatorial candidates have run Google ads.
Andy Taylor, a professor of political science at N.C. State University, said Google ads are part of the "second wave" of Internet campaigning. In the first wave, candidates provided information about themselves. But that only works for people who go online looking for the candidate, he said.
"The real trick now is to divert traffic to your Web site," he said. "Getting someone who's out there on the Internet and bring them to you. That's what this more aggressive advertising is designed to do."
In the presidential campaigns, Republicans Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee and Democrat Bill Richardson have promoted their own campaigns, while anti-Mormon sites have attacked Republican Mitt Romney.
In North Carolina, the candidate who has made the most use of Google ads is Smathers, the longtime mayor of Canton who is running for lieutenant governor.
Smathers began running ads Sept. 18 to promote a fundraising concert with bluegrass player David Holt. The ads ran when people searched for Holt's name as well as more abstract phrases like "nc mountain music charlotte."
Though only a few thousand people saw the ads, almost 10 percent clicked to Smathers' Web site to buy tickets, said his political coordinator, Hanna Raskin.
"One of the things I'm trying to do with my campaign is show that there are different ways of campaigning than what we have traditionally done," Smathers said. "It used to be loading up with a lot of monied interests and then doing a big TV push."
Smathers, who has the smallest campaign war chest among his competitors, said Internet advertising allows him to compete.
The total cost of his Google ad campaign to date: $98.
PING!
Even blocked FR's Merry Christmas banner,but I unblocked that one;)
Merry Christmas!
I use Firefox and an add-on called CustomizeGoogle that among other things blocks all Google ads.
Do not class lists don’t apply to political calls. Soon, all those popup blockers will have to ignore political ads, and allow them to pop up.
Let’s enjoy our freedom while we can.
I use CustomizeGoogle also,works great.
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