I took a look at who is buying Google text ads for searches for Democratic contenders in the 2008 presidential election. Let's now look at the Republicans.
Read below for the ads that I found. Here's a few general trends I found:
- Unlike the Democrats, some lower tier candidates had several ads comparable to the front runners. See Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee.
- It seems like Republican searches have more advertisers — Giuliani and Romney.
- YouTube ads are not as prevalent with Republicans. This is probably because less GOP contenders have made deals with the site than Democrats.
- The only two candidates I've seen buying ads for searches for opponents' names are Republican — Giuliani and McCain.
For simplicity's sake, I am using the Washington Post's candidate list and only focusing on the ads that show up when I search for the candidate with the spelling from WaPo. The ads are listed in they appear.
Republicans
Sam Brownback
- JoinRudy2008 from joinrudy2008.com
- Rudy Giuliani is trying to cannibalize is opponents. Politics… don't you just you love it?
- Sam Brownback 2008 Gear from Zazzle.com
- We saw this Cafe Press clone a couple times with the Democrats.
- Your Vote Counts from DeclareYourself.com
- We've also seen this youth oriented site that is, of this posting, still interested in 2004.
Jim Gilmore
- James Gilmore: Speaking from EaglesTalent.com
- Umm… wrong Jim. However, you can $20,000 in speaker fees for a chit chat with the Jim who isn't running for prexy.
Newt Gangrich
- Draft Newt '08 from DraftNewt.org
- He's not running yet, but some want him to.
- Winning the Future - Free from ConservativeBookClub.com
- False advertising! The book isn't free; you have to join to get the book for "free."
- Newt for President from wewantnewt.com
- "We want" seems less militant than "Draft."
- Newt Gingrich from DeclareYourself.com
- All these voting information sites are sure betting that Gingrich will run…
- Watch Newt Gingrich from GenerationEngage.com
- This site thinks young hipsters will want to watch him.
- Newt Gingrich Newsletter from WinningTheFuture.net
- Advertising Gingrich's book makes more
centssense than betting he'll run.
- Advertising Gingrich's book makes more
Rudy Giuliani
- JoinRudy2008 from JoinRudy2008.com
- It seems obvious that a candidate should buy ads for searches of their own name, but this is a rarity right now.
- Giuliani on YouTube from YouTube
- I think that YouTube should advertise for every name searched — kind of like eBay.
- Hilary vs. Rudy? from Marketplace.org
- Public radio's business show Marketplace from American Public Media (not NPR) has bought a link to a story that discusses who is better for Wall Street. This is your NPR pledge dollars at work on Google!
- John McCain for President from JohnMcCain.com
- McCain has bought ads for someone else's name… What a brat! A smart brat that is.
- Your Vote Counts from DeclareYourself.com
- Good thing we didn't hear much about those hanging chads in 2004.
- 2008 GOP Voting Guide from HumanEvents.com
- This seems logical — a conservative voting guide from a conservative site.
- Rudy Giuliani 2008 Gear from Zazzle.com
- Wanna a "Rudy for President" apron?
Chuck Hagel
- Chuck Hagel for 2008? from GenerationEngage.org
- Finally, an instance when a site is explicit that it is unsure if someone who is undeclared is running or not.
Mike Huckabee
- JoinRudy2008 from joinrudy2008.com
- Cool! John McCain isn't the only smart brat to buy ads for someone else's name.
- Mike Huckabee from DeclareYourself.com
- No more attempts at snide remarks about this site.
- 2008 Voting Guide from HumanEvents.com
- This guide is for GOP contenders; I wonder if this conservative organization has one about the Democrats.
- Mike Huckabee 2008 Gear from Zazzle.com
- These Zazzle ads are no long bedazzling to me.
Duncan Hunter
- Duncan Hunter '08 Gear from Zazzle.com
- Hunter isn't a front runner, but Zazzle still loves him.
John McCain
- John McCain for President from JohnMcCain.com
- At least somebody hopes to woo people who search for their name.
- JoinRudy2008 from joinrudy2008.com
- Fight! These two like to advertise with other candidates' names.
- Your Vote Counts from DeclareYourself.com
- John McCain Interview from comedycentra.com
- McCain joked that when he was in Iraq he bought Jon Stewart an IED to go under this anchor desk…
George Pataki
- George Pataki from DeclareYourself.com
Ron Paul
- Who Put Them In Congress? from OpenSecrets.org
- Now this is useful. Use this site to see who is contributing money to pols.
- Ron Paul 2008 Gear from Zazzle.com
Mitt Romney
- Mitt Romney from DeclareYourself.com
- Mitt Romney on YouTube from YouTube
- People say that he's good looking. Why not watch videos of him?
- John McCain for President from JohnMcCain.com
- I didn't see an ad for Rudy under Romney…
- All about Mitt Romney from PewForum.org
- Wait a second! Pew is only talking about church and state issues. There's more to him — like cheese preferences – than that.
- Free Mitt Romney Book from ConservativeBookclub.com
- Getting a "free" copy of Hugh Hewitt's A Mormon in the Whitehouse only costs the fees of joining the club.
- Romney wears ONE band from one.org
- I wonder if Cafe Press, Zazzle, or the other political paraphernalia sites sell ONE bands…
- Mitt Romney for President from proGOPgear.com
- The "Mitt Romney for President" Classic Thong is only $13.99 on this Cafe Press clone site.
- Earn $1,000-$3,000 daily from YourFortuneHere.com
- Huh? Are Mitt Romney searchers desperate?
Tom Tancredo
- 2008 Voting Guide from HumanEvents.com
- Let's hope that illegal immigrants didn't contribute to the publishing of this guide.
Fred Thompson
- Fred Thompson Store 2008 from OfficialThompsonStore.com
- Thompson is not behind this site, but at least Cafe Press and Zazzle aren't daring enough to claim that they're "official."
- Fred Thompson 2008 from grassrootsvoter.com
- The grass roots are routing for a Thompson run.
Granted, the ads display are constantly in flux based upon keyword popularity, a site's relevance to the keyword, time of day, etc., but this analysis gives us an idea of who is trying to bank in on the candidates. If a candidate isn't listed, there were no ads under their name.
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