Chicago (IL) - By now it should be well-known that the Obama campaign is counting on the Internet as a powerful marketing tool in the 2008 presidential race. Comscore’s latest advertising numbers update the online picture of the two candidates and Obama’s dramatic lead in advertising, but it also shows that the McCain campaign is making inroads on Obama – for example in video views.
Barack Obama’s team held the online advertising lead over the first six months of the year with an average of 91.7 million views per month, compared to John McCain’s effort of 7.4 million. Comscore noted that the Obama campaign increased its advertising significantly in May and June to hit 150 million and 244 million views, compared to McCain’s 8.2 and 3.2 million. In June, Obama had a 75:1 lead in this category over McCain.
"Not only have the two campaigns placed a different level of emphasis on the importance of using online advertising as part of the media mix, but their execution also shows stark differences," said Andrew Lipsman, senior analyst at ComScore. "While Obama's ads tend to be 'brand-building' ads encouraging people to join the movement, McCain's ads are often issue-oriented. Additionally, while Obama ads have an almost universally positive message, McCain ads feature a mix of positive and negative messages."
The value of these efforts remain to be seen, but ComScore said that McCain now outpaces Obama in video views - 2.1 million vs. 612,000, while the Obama site still draws more visitors - 2.2 million vs. 583,000 per month.
Comscore also noted that the number of searches including the term "Obama" was approximately four times that of "McCain" (5.4 million vs. 1.3 million). However, Lycos this morning reported that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate, has created the biggest frenzy on its site. Searches for her name were up by 700%. Lycos also said that Palin generated more search activity this week than Hurricane Gustav and the Democratic National Convention combined.
Barack Obama’s team held the online advertising lead over the first six months of the year with an average of 91.7 million views per month, compared to John McCain’s effort of 7.4 million. Comscore noted that the Obama campaign increased its advertising significantly in May and June to hit 150 million and 244 million views, compared to McCain’s 8.2 and 3.2 million. In June, Obama had a 75:1 lead in this category over McCain.
"Not only have the two campaigns placed a different level of emphasis on the importance of using online advertising as part of the media mix, but their execution also shows stark differences," said Andrew Lipsman, senior analyst at ComScore. "While Obama's ads tend to be 'brand-building' ads encouraging people to join the movement, McCain's ads are often issue-oriented. Additionally, while Obama ads have an almost universally positive message, McCain ads feature a mix of positive and negative messages."
The value of these efforts remain to be seen, but ComScore said that McCain now outpaces Obama in video views - 2.1 million vs. 612,000, while the Obama site still draws more visitors - 2.2 million vs. 583,000 per month.
Comscore also noted that the number of searches including the term "Obama" was approximately four times that of "McCain" (5.4 million vs. 1.3 million). However, Lycos this morning reported that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate, has created the biggest frenzy on its site. Searches for her name were up by 700%. Lycos also said that Palin generated more search activity this week than Hurricane Gustav and the Democratic National Convention combined.