All political ads running on Google in the US • Hacker News Board

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#121

Post by sangnoir » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:21 PM UTC

lysace wrote: post #16

From the insights tab, with a date range of the past year, the state where the second most ad money was spent was California (after Pennsylvania). California is not even close to being a swing state, afaik?

> California is not even close to being a swing state, afaik?

As the most populous state, California has a lot of political donors - likely the most registered members in a state for both major parties. 1 in 8 Americans are in California. Those many small-value & high-roller donors help finance the swing state operations, but need to be activated. Donors are why both Republican and Democratic party candidates held events in California, when it's not in play.

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#122

Post by karakot » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:22 PM UTC

exe34 wrote: post #76

jpadkins wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what caused this sudden change in greed? Were these actors not greedy before 2019?

boiling the frog slowly. if you start out being more expensive than traditional media, they won't use you. same thing with streaming. start out cheaper/more convenient/more comprehensive than traditional media - and an enormous market to grow into, so your shareholders are happy even with a reasonable price. wait a few years until you have saturated the market, and now the only way to achieve the holy growth is to ra…

https://imgur.com/presenting-recent-findings-by-fucking-magn...

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#123

Post by outside1234 » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:22 PM UTC

primitivesuave wrote: post #105

cedws wrote: post #67

Political advertising just makes democracy look like a total joke. If you can buy votes by shoving ads in peoples’ faces that’s not a democracy, that’s an oligarchy.

Political advertising emerged within a decade of the birth of the republic. Abraham Lincoln famously had his face plastered everywhere, and his campaign monikers like "Honest Abe" are still in use today. The real push toward oligarchy, in my opinion, is the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs FEC. The only available remedy at this point is for the American electorate to stop relying on political ads and make…

This. Something like 5 people are almost entirely funding Trump's slump (hard to call this mess a campaign) towards the White House and for sure they are going to want pay back. This is what oligarchy looks like.

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#124

Post by fakedang » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:23 PM UTC

vharuck wrote: post #112

amadeuspagel wrote: post #90

Fascinating stuff. I went down a rabbit hole with this particlar ad: https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR132650406472... It links to a website called fultongrandjury.com, which I at first thought would be an official government website, and what initially made me curious was the idea of spending money to advertise a government website, getting this additional credibility. Like, if the facts are so strongl…

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Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#125

Post by fakedang » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:26 PM UTC

outside1234 wrote: post #123

primitivesuave wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Political advertising emerged within a decade of the birth of the republic. Abraham Lincoln famously had his face plastered everywhere, and his campaign monikers like "Honest Abe" are still in use today. The real push toward oligarchy, in my opinion, is the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs FEC. The only available remedy at this point is for the American electorate to stop relying on political ads and make…

This. Something like 5 people are almost entirely funding Trump's slump (hard to call this mess a campaign) towards the White House and for sure they are going to want pay back. This is what oligarchy looks like.

5 people? Last time I was on X, nearly every Silicon Valley/tech billionaire was crooning from the rooftops for Trump.

You could argue it's the native X bias, but these were all the famous billionaires and multimillionaires who are top names in the SV space. All rooting for a Trump win, perhaps anticipating a quick Vance presidency.

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#126

Post by sweeter » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:27 PM UTC

unclad5968 wrote: post #82

cedws wrote: post #67

Political advertising just makes democracy look like a total joke. If you can buy votes by shoving ads in peoples’ faces that’s not a democracy, that’s an oligarchy.

Well anyone can buy ads so it's not really an oligarchy. What alternative would you propose for candidates to get they're name out?

anyone can buy ads but who buys the majority of ads and ads with the greatest overall impact and impression? That is very obviously skewed. Campaigns directly have limitations on these things, PACs however, do not.

and to your question there, one example is to look at Japan. They give candidates an allotted minimum amount of time on TV for free. A candidate gets platformed purely by running. Not only that but we already do grass roots calling/texting/door-knocking campaigns... it is all definitely possible, but unlikely given that the current organization of elections heavily favors the entrenched two party system and the structures that back them (corporations, PACs, private interests, party structures etc...)

When our entire system requires billions to run and win an election, we are guaranteeing ourselves that we will continue to live in an Oligarchy.

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#127

Post by FirmwareBurner » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:28 PM UTC

fakedang wrote: post #124

vharuck wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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Population being split on the available options is the basis of democracy and is a feature not a bug. Otherwise we might as well just have a CCP style single party.

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#128

Post by gosub100 » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:29 PM UTC

unclad5968 wrote: post #82

cedws wrote: post #67

Political advertising just makes democracy look like a total joke. If you can buy votes by shoving ads in peoples’ faces that’s not a democracy, that’s an oligarchy.

Well anyone can buy ads so it's not really an oligarchy. What alternative would you propose for candidates to get they're name out?

How about advertising anything other than a product or service is illegal? No more campaign ads, period. You want to know more about a candidate? Go research her yourself!

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#129

Post by Rebelgecko » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:30 PM UTC

SllX wrote: post #103

Rebelgecko wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO this year the ballot props are much more meaningful to the average person than usual. The perennial niche prosp about kidney dialysis aren't making a showing for what feels like the first time in a decade. There are some big proposed changes to how local bond measures work, rent control, and the criminal justice system, IMO those are the ones spending the most time researching and considering the consequences. As…

> there's the same-sex marriage prop (which I believe is purely symbolic and doesn't have an actual impact on same sex marriage in California) It removes an on-the-books clause that was rendered inoperable by a SCOTUS decision. I think it’s a step above symbolic since any future changes in SCOTUS jurisprudence reversing or partially reversing Obergefell (which I don’t think are at all likely with this court on this i…

I think prop 8 was previously nullified by Hollingsworth v. Perry?

Not saying it'll never matter, but if OP has a finite amount of focus IMO it's better to spend it on laws that will have an immediate impact over ones that require multiple hypotheticals to come into play

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#130

Post by GeneralMayhem » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 9:31 PM UTC

Rebelgecko wrote: post #83

johnnyanmac wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm probably going to mail my ballot on Monday. Are there any particular hot button issues in California to look out for?

IMO this year the ballot props are much more meaningful to the average person than usual. The perennial niche prosp about kidney dialysis aren't making a showing for what feels like the first time in a decade. There are some big proposed changes to how local bond measures work, rent control, and the criminal justice system, IMO those are the ones spending the most time researching and considering the consequences. As…

> same-sex marriage prop (which I believe is purely symbolic...

Same-sex marriage is currently outlawed by the California constitution as a result of Prop 8 from 2008. That clause is void as a result of the Hollingsworth and Obergefell decisions, but there are multiple members of the Supreme Court who have explicitly said that they would like to overturn Obergefell, so it's a good idea to get ahead of the potential catastrophe by taking the bad law fully off the books, rather than relying on a capricious and extremist court to stick to a rights-defending decision for any amount of time.