Google Launches Searchable Database on US Political Ads

The new site offers an eye-opening view of how online political ad spending through Google can work. It offers a breakdown on individual ad campaigns, including a catalog of what ads were served and to which demographic groups.

Political ads on Google are getting more transparent. You can now easily find them all cataloged on a new company website that tracks who is buying what and for how much.

Launched on Wednesday, the new site offers an eye-opening view of how online political ad spending can work. It offers a breakdown on ad spending by state, who the biggest buyers are, and which popular Google keywords the ads have appeared with.


Google Political AD Transparency


Google launched the new site amid ongoing concerns over US election security. Last October, the company said it uncovered evidence that Russian operatives had bought political ads over the platform to influence the 2016 presidential race. "Tens of thousands of dollars" were spent on the ads, which were displayed on YouTube and over Google Search and Gmail.

To prevent future interference, Google in May said it would launch an upcoming transparency site on election ads. The company also began demanding all political ad buyers confirm they're a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident. To do this, buyers must first submit a government-issued ID and other "key information" to the company before they can place any ads. Those same ads must also clearly display who paid for them.

The data on Google's new political ad transparency site covers video, image and text-based ads. However, the site does have some limitations. For instance, the database only covers advertisements that mention a candidate or a federally-elected office holder. It also doesn't show you where the ad was displayed on Google or with what keywords, although the video-based ads probably appeared on YouTube.
