FB, Google ads' share less than 1% of overall poll campaign outlay in India
Indian political parties may have spent less than one per cent of their overall spending on Facebook and Google advertisements. This is in contrast to elections elsewhere in the world. The United States of America saw allocations of around 6.5 per cent to the two tech giants. The United Kingdom saw around 10.5 per cent. The analysis is based on Facebook and Google disclosures on electoral advertisements, and estimates from studies looking at political spending in various countries. Indian political parties spent Rs 27.8 crore on Facebook advertisements during 2019. Google advertisements saw spends of Rs 27.4 crore, showed data as of May 22, the day before results were declared. New Delhi’s Centre for Media Studies estimated that Indian political parties’ 2019 election spends reached $8.7 billion (or around Rs 60,000 crore). This would mean allocations to the digital media works out to under one per cent in spends. In comparison, the general election in the United Kingdom