Google Ads in Election Campaigns

The content of an advert consists of a headline and copy. Adverts are often set up as what is known as a "responsive search ad," where up to four variants of the copy are added, as well as up to 15 headlines, allowing Google to test different combinations of headlines and copy to determine which performs best.

Aside from keywords, the targeting of these ads for political campaigns is limited in comparison to non-political ads. The target category options available are:

• Geographic location (although even then, radius around a specific location cannot be used)
• Age
• Gender

This set of targeting limitations has been in place for political ads since 2019.

How much is paid can vary. For example, when paying per click, the advertiser pays each time someone searches and then clicks through to their website from an ad using a search term they’re bidding on.

How a consultant would work on Search ads

An agency or consultant might be expected to manage an entire search campaign on behalf of a candidate or party. This would include planning the strategy, producing the content, keyword research, setting up the ads and analysing results and performance while the campaign is running. The strategy and content would usually be signed off by the client before going live.

Google Search result showing sponsored content, accessed: 20 December 2022. Source:

If not working on the whole campaign, then a consultant or agency might be employed just to work on one of the following aspects of the campaign:

Keyword research: arguably the most crucial task, as this determines when the ads are shown to users. Negative keywords might also be used so that the ads will definitely not be shown for specific searches known to be irrelevant. Google provides a Keyword Planner tool to help advertisers research which terms users type in to the search engine that they might want to bid on. It gives an estimated number of searches that a keyword receives each month, as well as the average cost for an ad to show on searches for specific keywords. Looking at the search terms used to reach a candidate’s or party’s website in Google Analytics and Google Search Console is another common research technique.

Analyse results and performance: inside the ads platform but also tracking conversions, in Google analytics for example, to measure the full effectiveness of the ads.

Set bid amounts: potentially even to the level of opting for different bid amounts for different keywords.

Display ads

Display ads (also sometimes known as banner ads) are also created through the Google Ads interface, where the Search ads are created. But they are a completely different kind of advert.

First of all, they are not displayed based on user searches. Instead, the ads are shown in and around content on webpages someone visits. This could be news websites, or a Google product such as Gmail, as well as any other part of their network. The sites and apps are all part of the Google Display Network, a whole series of websites and apps that Google claims numbers 35 million. Website owners can sign up to display adverts and receive payment by joining the AdSense programme.

Secondly, these ads are heavily image-based, as opposed to Search ads, which are primarily text-based:

Sample, customised political ads, accessed: 20 December 2022. Source:

There are also two types of Google Display ads. “Responsive ads” allow the advertiser to upload some image and videos, text and logo, and then Google will combine different combinations of the assets and test them with users to see which versions of the ad work best.

"Uploaded ads" allow the advertiser to keep complete control of the combination of image and text by uploading either images or HTML code.

Keywords are then used to determine where the Display Network ads are shown. Google recommends that advertisers “Choose keywords that you imagine could appear on websites where your customers might browse.” What’s also noteworthy is that: “Depending on your keyword setting, your ads instead may show to audiences based on their recent browsing history or other factors, rather than the content of the page they’re currently viewing.”

So the choice of keywords is critical to determining where ads will display – but also in choosing who the ads will be shown to, as a user’s browsing history is also taken into consideration.

How Display ads are used by political campaigns

The use of Display ads falls into four categories, according to OnlineCandidate:

• Introducing the candidate to the general public – photo and logo.
• Specific issue ads – targeted to those who will be ‘most responsive to the message.’
• Endorsements from trusted organisations and individuals – these ads are ‘typically targeted at voters that identify with or have similar interests to help establish credibility.’ Build trust with voters.
• Get out the vote ads – mobilize to get voters to the polls.

AdHang, a political campaign agency in Nigeria, also identify a couple of other categories:

• Comparison campaigns – comparing a candidate with a key opponent, showing why your policies are better.
• Negative campaigns – criticising an opponent’s position on specific issues.

Finally, another use of Display ads is for retargeting – showing additional ads to people who have already visited your website but, for example, didn’t sign up to receive emails or make a donation.

How a consultant would work on this

Similarly to Search ads, a consultant or agency might be hired to run an entire display campaign, from content creation through to monitoring of performance, including keyword research, bid management, targeting and overall strategy. This is how the agency AdHang has worked on political campaigns in Nigeria.

SpeakEasy Political have a series of templates that can be used by candidates to create their own display ads. So again, as with Search ads, it could be that consultants are hired to work primarily on the keyword research and ad campaign strategy rather than the content creation, which may also been done by a separate design firm.

YouTube ads

Broadly speaking, there are two types of YouTube video ads:

• Skippable ads: these ads are shown before or during a video and the viewer is able to skip the ad after 5 seconds.
• Non-skippable ads: these are video ads that viewers have to watch before they can view the main video; there’s no way to skip past them, and they are usually around 15-20 seconds long.

Both types of non-skippable ads, the longer ones as well as bumper ads, are paid by impressions, as all users are forced to watch the full advert.

The different types of video campaigns, accessed: December 2022. Source:

The two main methods for targeting video ads on YouTube (aside from age, gender and location) are topics and keywords.

“Topics” are broad overarching categories of videos, such as “News” and “Media.” “Keywords” are much more specific and can be words or phrases related to a YouTube video or channel that the advertiser’s audience is watching or interested in.

An example of a video used as a political advert in Germany by political party Die Linke, accessed: December 2022. Source:

How a consultant would work on this

Video production and editing is a huge task that is often outsourced to agencies.

YouTube ad campaign management is a little less involved than Search or Display Network ad campaigns. The choice of topics and keywords and ongoing management of ads are still tasks that can be handled by agencies and consultants.

Custom audiences

Options for types of customer data that can be uploaded for an ad campaign. Source:

For all types of Google ads, advertisers can also create custom audiences. Using the audience manager, there are three particular features worth mentioning:

1. Customer list: A list of email addresses and/or phone numbers can be uploaded. Users who are matched by Google using the uploaded data file can then be shown adverts across the different Google products.

2. Types of websites: Advertisers enter a list of website URLs and ads can then be shown to people who have visited similar websites.

3. Search Terms: Advertisers can add a list of keywords and ads can then be shown to people who have searched for these words or phrases in Google search.

Google's election ads policies

As well as the reduced targeting options available listed above, since 2018 Google has required election advertisers in specific countries and territories to be verified to use their platform, initially in the US before rolling this out to additional countries. This includes agencies and consultants working on behalf of candidates and parties. This verification process is currently required for advertisers looking to run election ads in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the EU, India, Israel, New Zealand, Taiwan, the UK and the US.

When a verified advertiser creates ads, 'in regions where election ads verification is required [all election ads] must contain a disclosure that identifies who paid for the ad.'

Where is this disclosure visible? For Google Search this disclosure is shown in ads directly. On YouTube, it’s in 'Why this ad?' which is found through the “Info” icon or the 3-dot icon, and for Display ads it’s found in 'Why this ad?' through the AdChoices icon.

AdChoices icons that users can click on to learn more about ad disclosure, accessed: 30 January 2022. Source:

It is unclear whether any kind of verification for political or election ads is required in countries or territories that are not in the list above.

Exploring political ads on Google

Political and election ads shown in the countries listed in the previous section can now be searched and viewed on an ads transparency page made available by Google.

Political ads shown through Google in the United Kingdom: accessed 20 December 2022. Source:

It’s possible to see who the advert is on behalf of, how often it was seen, when it was live, and how much was spent. Clicking on each of the ads also shows additional targeting information:

An example of the detail available for each in the ads transparency tool: accessed 20 December 2022. Source:

It also allows you to see ads that have been removed for a policy violation:

An example of political ad removed for a policy violation, showing information about how often it was shown and when it was live, accessed 20 December 2022. Source:

What is also striking is how many times ads that are removed for a policy violation are shown:

A series of ads by the California Republican party, removed for a policy violation in the United States, accessed: 20 December 2022. Source:

The 12 ads in the image above were shown 366,000 times before being removed. These were ads that contravened Google’s advertising policies, including misinformation.

This is a summary overview of some of the key ways that Google ads can be used for political and election advertising. This is constantly changing, with new features being regularly added and others removed.