by Mark Silva
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is said to be cleaning up on the Internet -- look at all the money he is raising in small denominations from online donors.
Then why is Google making twice as much on ads connected with searches for the name of the Republican Party's presumptive nominee, Sen. John McCain?
At Politco.com, we find an explanation for the top-dollar McCain ads:
Politico cites data from the Google AdWords website, reporting that "advertisements targeted to users searching for "John McCain" on the Internet cost nearly twice as much as those targeting users searching for "Barack Obama."
"Google sells ads in a constant, nearly instantaneous auction in which advertisers bid on individual search terms,'' Politco reports. "The Mountain View, Calif.-based company estimates that the cost for one day of advertising around the search term "Barack Obama" ranges from $150 to $240. But it costs between $250 and $470 per day to buy ads on "John McCain" searches.
"What's more, Google predicts that the term "Barack Obama" will generate 153 to 191 clicks per day on related advertisements. But "John McCain" does much better as advertiser bait: Google estimates that those ads get 213 to 266 clicks per day.
"In other words, the Google advertising market is telling us that "John McCain" is more valuable than "Barack Obama."
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Comments
When it comes to Elections like this Google will always make money. They must be jumping in their seats with all the great exposure this campaign is getting. I do not think their has ever been an election like this.
We will soon be launching a poll on our magazine site http://www.in2town.co.uk Because we would like to see who they feel Barack Obama best running mate would be.
Posted by: diane | August 2, 2008 7:21 AM
Well, duh. According to Yahoo's voting booth, McCain is the next prez.
Like the famous telephone polls that used to show Landon ahead of FDR--forgetting a lot of voters didn't have telephones.
Posted by: ornery | August 2, 2008 9:33 AM
Too bad Gramps McCain couldn't find himself on "The Google" without help!
Posted by: Drewman | August 2, 2008 9:49 AM
Drewman, computers are for dummy's who can't add without a calculator, who can't type without spell check, who can't find phone numbers by reading the phone books. I am in a business where I meet hundreds of people whose net worth is in the millions, and they don't even own computers. Would you say they made it financially even without knowing how to use computers? You obviously own a computer and think you know how to use it. What is your net worth? Also, seeing you own a computer, do you have knowledge of Power Point, Microsoft Word, Micorsoft Excel. Are you proficient in all the different programs that most people who own computers are proficient at? I'm interested in your answers to all the above questions.
Posted by: RFB | August 2, 2008 2:42 PM
Well, Drewman, you and your Obama buddies just keep denigrating older people by calling McCain "Gramps." You are succeeding only in insulting
36.3 MILLION people over 65 and an estimated 70 MILLION over 55, all old enough to be grandparents. AND ALL ARE ELIGIBLE VOTERS!!! Really smarrrrrttttt!
Posted by: Doreen | August 2, 2008 3:20 PM
Computers are for "dummy's" who can't spell? Clearly you belong to that group of dummies then, don't you?
I couldn't care less that McCain is computer illiterate, but your response (via computer) is pretty comical. Nice job.
Posted by: Tom O | August 2, 2008 9:50 PM