This Week in Digital Advertising: Google Faces Senate Heat and the Political AdSpend Breakdown

This Week in Digital Advertising: Google Faces Senate Heat and the Political AdSpend Breakdown

Hello, Bidtellectuals!

Congratulations to Bidtellectual of the Week Lindsey Morgenthaler, whose clients and colleagues alike sing her praises!

The Senate is Cracking Down on Google, Who Still Says It Doesn’t Monopolize the Digital Ad Market

“Do you know of any other company that exercises this kind of concentration and dominance across every layer of the ad stack?” asked Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, at the Senate on Tuesday. According to NPR, Donald Harrison, Google’s president of global partnerships and corporate development, faced a bipartisan grilling in the Senate on Tuesday over the company’s dominance in digital advertising. Findings from the United Kingdom’s antitrust regulator show that Google has dominant positions in various parts of the ad technology market, ranging from 40% to more than 90%. the Justice Department is reportedly getting ready to le a lawsuit against the company in the coming weeks.

Politics and Digital Advertising Spend

Each election cycle in recent years has seen a greater shift towards digital ad spend. So here’s how the respective parties are planning to spend, so far:

Last month the Biden Campaign announced a $280 million ad buy covering 15states of which 20% would be devoted to digital spending, Business Insider reported. The Biden campaign has spent more than $9 million a week on Facebook and Google since the middle of August. Before that, the campaign had not spent more than $6 million in a week, according to The Hill. In addition, outside groups such as StopRepublicans and Priorities USA have spent tens of millions of dollars on Facebook and Google this cycle. Priorities USA tracked its digital ads in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and claims that the ads decreased Trump’s net approval rating in those states by 2.5 points between April and July.

The Trump Campaign is focusing on mobilizing its current support network and is currently spending more on digital ads. Since the beginning of August, the Trump campaign has outspent the Biden campaign by $20 million on Facebook and Google, according to The Hill. Other data says they’ve poured more than $170 million into aggressive marketing on Facebook and Google ads, compared to just $90 million from the Biden campaign. Around 20 percent of the Trump campaign’s digital spending, depending on the time frame, has been concentrated in Texas, California and New York, where many donors live.

While we’re focusing on digital, there’s also television: the Biden campaign has outpaced the Trump campaign by $30 million on the television airwaves, according to The Hill. And Mike Bloomberg’s $100 million television ad campaign to help JoeBiden win Florida – a key swing state – will show up on TV screens throughout the state on Friday, according to Sun Sentinel.

5 Ways B2Bs Can Adjust Digital Strategy & Brand Messaging Based on Coronavirus Impact

Facebook Cracks Down on Hate Speech in Groups

Meanwhile, ahead of the election, Facebook is attempting to clean up its reputation. Facebook will shut down all political ads on the site one week before the election to calm fears of nefarious outside meddling and the spread of hate speech and misinformation. The company announced yesterday that they removed more than 1million groups and 13.5 million pieces of content in groups for hate speech in the past year. These figures were released alongside new policies meant to “keep groups safe,” including a new commitment to limit the spread of health advice on the platform, according to Adweek.

Download our One Sheet on Social Media and Native Ads.

B2B Sales Is Still Going Strong, With a Golden Opportunity in Digital Advertising

In the US, B2B digital ad spending is growing 22.6% year over year amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to new data by eMarketer. Adapting to work-from-home, digital events, and ecommerce is key.

Download our one sheet on B2B trends and how to adjust messaging.

Good News: Fall Foliage

Leaves are changing soon?! Check out this Fall Foliage Prediction Map to plan your leaf-peeping trip! It’s the perfect social-distance activity. Bidtellectuals are counting down to our annual All-Hands gathering next week. It will be virtual this year, of course, but we’re pretty excited for some awesome bonding activities and pajama day!

Stay safe, friends,

Charlotte

Want more need-to-know info? Subscribe to our monthly Bidtellectual newsletter!


Charlotte Otremba is Sr. Manager of Communications and Marketing at Bidtellect.

Why You Should Factor Diversity Into Your Strategy This Black History Month

How and why you should make diversity your advertising priority.

Behind the Platform: Using Peer39 For Brand Safety & Keyword Targeting

Bidtellect VP of Product Arthur Hainline demonstrates the three key uses for the Peer39 integration in Bidtellect’s DSP, while offering helpful tips for traders and advertisers to get the most out of Bidtellect’s product.

Behind the Platform: Tracking Emissions With Bidtellect Scope3 Integration, Plus What to Know About Supply Path Emissions

Bidtellect VP of Product Arthur Hainline demonstrates the new Scope3 integration in Bidtellect’s platform, how you can take actionable steps to reduce carbon waste, and the current state of the industry’s wasteful supply path emissions.

This Week in Digital Advertising: September 4th, 2020

This Week in Digital Advertising: September 4th, 2020

Hello, Bidtellectuals!

Congratulations to Bidtellectual of the Week Hui Liu – an absolute rock star. Can you believe it’s September already? We’ll keep this short since it’s a long weekend ahead!

Best Practices for Your Holiday Campaigns

Yes, we have more holiday content for you (!). Our Top 3 Holiday Best Practices for digital advertisers and Holiday Creatives Naughty and Nice List give you our top advice for maximum performance and return on your holiday campaign investment, including how to scale, which images to choose, and the device to focus on. This year will look a lot less like this and start a lot earlier. So get those campaigns (and sales) going.

5 Holiday Trends for Digital Advertisers 2020

How the Current Climate is Shaking Up the Fall Ad Marketplace

No traditional back-to-school season, ambiguity around the super bowl, earlier holiday shopping… Advertising (along with the world) is in flux, and it’s leading to real shake-ups at agencies. According to Digiday, it could be “doom and gloom” (I mean, U.S. TV advertising for back to school is down 70% so far this year compared to last year, according to Kantar) or it could lead to necessary changes, like accelerating creative messaging. Ads created six months ahead of time might not be relevant anymore. We discussed this very topic with Bidtellect SVP of Sales Terah Bocchi around brand safety and changes post-pandemic. Advertisers need to be ready to adjust messaging at a drop of a hat with how rapidly news and trends change.

A Conversation With Bidtellect SVP of Sales on Brand Safety, Virtual Sales, and Creative Pivots

eMarketer: US Ecommerce Sales Grew by Nearly a Third in Q2

eMarketer reported new data on US ecommerce sales; it’s both a good prediction for the holiday shopping season and, perhaps, a sigh of relief. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: ecommerce thrived during the pandemic. New sites popped up, some grew larger as time went on and tapped into the available resources like https://ecomitize.com/development/magento/ to build on their brand, there was a lot that happened online. Under stay-at-home orders, US consumers shopped heavily online: In Q2 2020, US retail ecommerce sales grew by almost a third (31.8%) from the previous quarter, or 44.5% year over year, per the USCensus Bureau of the Department of Commerce (DOC) (eMarketer). That’s $211.51billion in Q2 2020, up from $160.41 billion in Q1 2020. eMarketer estimates that ecommerce will make up 14.5% of US retail sales this year, up from 11.0% in 2019-the largest year-over-year increase since 2008. This is great for these businesses that have started online and have their customers fully in their minds to make impactful sales. Incorporating things like ecommerce logistics into the equation can also be seen as a beneficial addition as these sites will be able to distribute and track orders, helping their customers in the process.

Good News: It’s a long weekend.

Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894. It often unofficially marks the “end of summer.” (But is this really the end of summer? What are seasons?) Enjoy!

Stay safe, friends,

Charlotte

Want more need-to-know info? Subscribe to our monthly Bidtellectual newsletter!


Charlotte Otremba is Sr. Manager of Communications and Marketing at Bidtellect.

Why You Should Factor Diversity Into Your Strategy This Black History Month

How and why you should make diversity your advertising priority.

Behind the Platform: Using Peer39 For Brand Safety & Keyword Targeting

Bidtellect VP of Product Arthur Hainline demonstrates the three key uses for the Peer39 integration in Bidtellect’s DSP, while offering helpful tips for traders and advertisers to get the most out of Bidtellect’s product.

Behind the Platform: Tracking Emissions With Bidtellect Scope3 Integration, Plus What to Know About Supply Path Emissions

Bidtellect VP of Product Arthur Hainline demonstrates the new Scope3 integration in Bidtellect’s platform, how you can take actionable steps to reduce carbon waste, and the current state of the industry’s wasteful supply path emissions.