Despite the fact that Meta is poised to ban political ads on their platforms by October 10th, Dutch parties are ramping up spending, about 160k Euro in past 30 days 🇳🇱 As always I will be tracking targeting (w/ @whotargets.me) as long as ads run. Ex.: D66 is heavily trying to reach younger people!

So, is this a good Facebook ad for a German travel agent? Or a bad ad for a German travel agent?

Interesting divergence in ad spend strategy by Norwegian parties for election day last Monday. Everyone's went down (which is normal/logical - as the day passes, there are fewer and fewer voters to reach) except for the Arbeiderpartiet (Labour) whose spend went dramatically up (they also won).

Ben Guerin, whose agency has contributed to multiple winning election campaigns in the UK and beyond, on why the EU's political ad regulation seems to be turning into an own goal.

Rupert Lowe's "Restore Britain" party is the fourth biggest political ad buyer on Meta in the UK over the last month, just ahead of Nigel Farage's page.

The Norwegian election is today. We've tracked about 11m Krone of spending on Meta (around €1m) over the last month. The incumbent Labour Party have spent most, followed by the Conservatives, then the right-populist Progress Party. Charts and leaderboards here: trends.whotargets.me/dashboard/co...

Digital ad spending stacking up ahead of the big German state election in Nordrhein Westphalen in a couple of weeks. The last in Germany (for now at least) where Google and Meta ads will be available to parties and candidates. Data here: trends.whotargets.me/dashboard/co...

Norway's election takes place next Monday, with ad spending starting to surge for the final run in. On Meta, the incumbent Arbeiderpartiet (Labour Party) has so far outspent its nearest rival (the populist Fremskrittspartiet) by 2:1.

In Guyana, the ruling PPP/C were returned to power. During the campaign, they had a significant financial advantage over their rivals online, buying nearly 2/3 of all digital campaign ads on Meta (though most of the spending came from affiliated pages rather than party sources).

Conservative digital ads going on the attack today. One on tax, trying to get the nickname "Rachel Thieves" to stick, another on the government's attempt to appeal the Epping hotel ruling in the High Court.

Four days between this ad and this story...

Not sure of the origin of these anonymous ads targeting France and Germany, sowing doubt in their governments (based on past experience, there’s one state that’s the likely culprit). Meta did shut them and their host pages down, but each ad ran for a day or two and reached a few thousand people.

The Conservatives have spent around £6,000 on this Facebook ad over the last few days, claiming a win over the High Court decision to close the hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping. It's reached nearly two million people.

An interesting thing about Reform's digital advertising is that they barely target ads at all. Almost every ad they've bought since last year's election has been targeted at everyone over 18 in the UK.

Looking at Meta spending over the last month via their main party accounts (official pages + leaders), Reform has outspent all the other UK parties *combined*.

Headlines in the UK press over the weekend about Labour's "attack ad" highlighting Nigel Farage's praise for Andrew Tate. But... is it an ad?

Here's Meta ad spending for the Bolivian election this weekend. Second placed Jorge Quiroga Ramirez was the top ad buyer, spending over $100,000 in the final weeks of the campaign. He goes into October's presidential run-off against Rodrigo Paz Pereira. trends.whotargets.me/dashboard/co...

Superb piece here from @worklesshard.bsky.social of @whotargets.me on unintended consequences for free expression and campaigning of over-regulating political advertising. The response of social media companies is having complex, profound consequences. fulldisclosure.whotargets.me/p/how-and-wh...

Meta and Google are pulling political ads in the EU. But what does that mean for democracy? I spoke with Sam Jeffers from @whotargets.me to break down the seismic shift in digital campaigning. politicaladvertising.co.uk/2025/08/14/t...

Here's an unusual set of Facebook ads using Reform UK's name and branding as a mechanism for a possible housing compensation scam. They spent about £2,000 on ads and reached upwards of 100,000 people.

Former Reform MP Rupert Lowe's "Restore Britain" party have launched their first social media ads, calling for deportations of illegal migrants, cuts to benefits and the NHS, burqa bans and the "restoration of biological reality". Around 100k people reached so far, the majority over 65.

Former Reform MP Rupert Lowe's "Restore Britain" party have launched their first social media ads, calling for deportations of illegal migrants, cuts to benefits and the NHS, burqa bans and the "restoration of biological reality". Around 100k people reached so far, the majority over 65.

Former Apprentice contestant Tom Skinner appears in new Tory ads about tool theft. Also just stopped running a number of petitions on police numbers in London. The party has spent over £5k on Facebook/Instagram this week.

It needs a response because, from a regulator's perspective, political ad money used to flow down a few channels. With Meta and Google gone (and with X likely to follow, and TikTok already out), the same money will instead flow through a thousand tinier streams, making it v. hard to track.

Here is Google's response to the forthcoming EU regulation on political advertising. In short, from October, they're banning a much wider range of ads than was covered by the definition of "political advertising" they've used for the last seven years. support.google.com/adspolicy/an...

Here is Google's response to the forthcoming EU regulation on political advertising. In short, from October, they're banning a much wider range of ads than was covered by the definition of "political advertising" they've used for the last seven years. support.google.com/adspolicy/an...

Reform's digital ad spend is pretty variable, but the last month has been busier for them, driven by relatively expensive ads on law and order (£9k), and selling tickets for their conference next month (up to £15k).

Must read! "People are starving in Gaza, yet Meta will cut off Medicins Sans Frontieres, UNICEF, the Red Cross and many others from fundraising for their work there in less than two months. Money for vital causes will be lost, with serious consequences."

A long(ish) piece on what follows from Meta's forthcoming political ad ban in the EU: open.substack.com/pub/whotarge...

1/ Last Friday, Meta announced it will ban all “political, social and issue” ads in the EU starting in October. This decision is a direct response to the new EU regulation on political advertising (TTPA), and it will have wide-reaching consequences for democratic communication online. 🧵

Highly recommend this piece on the impact of Meta pulling back on political advertising in the EU.

Blimey. This has got very little pick up in the UK. "Last Friday, Meta announced it would ban “Political, Social and Issue” ads in the EU, starting in October. "This has likely been coming for a while, but is a huge decision and will have a large effect on the way European politics is done online"

A long(ish) piece on what follows from Meta's forthcoming political ad ban in the EU: open.substack.com/pub/whotarge...

One like = one chart about online political ads in an election somewhere in the last few years.

We're going to be putting out a newsletter on Meta's decision to ban political ads in the EU later today. We've tried to cover as many details as we can think of. Sign up here: fulldisclosure.whotargets.me/subscribe

Good piece from Ireland on what Meta's political ad ban in the EU will lead to, and how citizens, campaigns and democracy will lose out. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

The Dutch election (Oct 29th) hasn't really got going yet, but from Oct 1st, parties won't be able to buy ads on Meta or Google. So what's their plan? Not bother at all? Spend earlier (when spending late is normal)? Focus on video/organic/virality? trends.whotargets.me/dashboard/co...

When Meta bans political ads in the EU in October, they won't disappear. They'll just go underground. Join tens of thousands of people who have installed the @whotargets.me browser extension to help better understand what's going on. whotargets.me/install

When Meta bans political ads in the EU in October, they won't disappear. They'll just go underground. Join tens of thousands of people who have installed the @whotargets.me browser extension to help better understand what's going on. whotargets.me/install

Meta ends political ads on their platforms in the EU by October because they don't want to comply with new transparency and targeting regulations. The reasons given here are really weak. And if you do *not* allow these ads, you still need to define what they are. about.fb.com/news/2025/07...

Banning political ads harms smaller campaigns, and privileges those whose more extreme speech is favoured by engagement-driven algorithms. First Google, then Meta, leaving the political advertising market is actively harmful to democracy.

Meta's decision to discriminate against paid political speech in the EU is misguided and wrong. If you accept ads, you should accept political ads, it's as simple as that. The company can afford the cost of ensuring proper transparency and verification. www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

Meta's decision to discriminate against paid political speech in the EU is misguided and wrong. If you accept ads, you should accept political ads, it's as simple as that. The company can afford the cost of ensuring proper transparency and verification. www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

You can see the different UK party digital ad strategies outside of election campaigns right here. Labour's consistent daily layer, talking about their first year in government, Reform and the Tories using tactical spikes (e.g. over the last few days) to capture data about potential supporters.

Reform UK has launched new ads, fronted by Nigel Farage, on the "cover up" that led to thousands of Afghans being relocated to the UK after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. In the ads, he claims those relocated include "convicted sex offenders" who pose an "incalculable threat to women".

The Conservatives just launched a Facebook ad asking people to sign a petition in favour of the two child benefit cap. The ads mostly target the over 55s (who are unlikely to have been directly affected by the policy).

Spending data for the 2024 UK election is out. Of £68.6m total declared, the parties spent £8.03m directly with Meta and £2.72m with Google (other spending may have gone through agencies).

Quick reaction to the UK government's new democracy strategy is that automatic voter registration is good. Better protections against political intimidation, making donations loopholes smaller (though not eradicating them entirely) and bigger fines for abusing the rules are all welcome. But...

Labour spending on Facebook/Instagram ads to try and highlight "the difference a Labour government is making". They're spending around £500 a day.

Excellent, comprehensive paper (and thread) on the lack of impact of generative AI on elections so far. There was so much hype around it in 2023-24, mostly fuelled by AI people with no understanding of elections, politics, the information environment or how persuasion works (or mostly doesn't).