The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party in India, has become the first political entity to surpass Rs 100 crore in political advertising expenditure on Google and its video platform, YouTube. This significant investment in digital campaigns places the BJP far ahead of other parties, with its spending exceeding the combined expenses of the Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) since May 2018, when Google initiated its Ads Transparency report. According to an analysis by India Today, the BJP’s share in Google ads published between May 31, 2018, and April 25, 2024, constitutes an impressive 26% of the total spending, which amounts to Rs 390 crore on advertisements categorized as “political” by the search engine giant. However, it’s important to note that Google’s definition of political ads is broad, encompassing not only those placed by political parties but also ads from news organizations, government publicity departments, and even commercial ads featuring actor-politicians. Google’s revenue from “political” ads has reached Rs 390 crore over the past six years. An overwhelming majority of the content pieces (73%) described as “political advertisement” by Google were published by the BJP, totaling over 161,000 out of 217,992. The party’s ads primarily targeted residents of Karnataka, where it spent Rs 10.8 crore, followed by Uttar Pradesh (Rs 10.3 crore), Rajasthan (Rs 8.5 crore), and Delhi (Rs 7.6 crore). Interestingly, Tamil Nadu emerged as the most targeted state for political ads on Google, followed by Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh. The Congress party stands as the second-largest spender on political advertising on Google Ads and Google Display & Video 360, allocating approximately Rs 45 crore, according to data from the transparency center. However, the grand old party published a significantly lower number of online advertisements during this period, with only 5,992 ads compared to the BJP’s much larger tally. Congress’s ad campaigns were primarily focused on Karnataka and Telangana, where it spent over Rs 9.6 crore in each state, and Madhya Pradesh, where it allocated Rs 6.3 crore. Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, DMK, is the third-highest political advertiser on Google platforms, having spent Rs 42 crore since May 2018, including Rs 16.6 crore spent on its behalf by political advisory firm Populus Empowerment Network since February this year. Outside of Tamil Nadu, DMK spent relatively small amounts on digital ads in Karnataka (Rs 14 lakh) and Kerala (Rs 13 lakh). The Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) ad expenditure on Google was limited to the Assembly elections held in November 2023, during which it spent over Rs 12 crore but ultimately lost to Congress in the race for power. Poll strategist Prashant Kishore’s Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) has spent Rs 6.4 crore on Google ads for the YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh and Rs 4.8 crore for the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, according to the data. During the second phase of campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, political parties collectively spent a substantial Rs 14.7 crore on Google alone to promote their manifestos, policies, and achievements. From April 18th to April 24th, Congress emerged as the top spender on Google ads, allocating Rs 5.7 crore, closely followed by the BJP with Rs 5.3 crore. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress was the third-largest political advertiser on Google during this period, spending Rs 1.76 crore, including Rs 6 lakh paid by IPAC on its behalf.
BJP Emerges as the Leading Political Advertiser on Google in India, Surpassing Rs 100 Crore
