Expected democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama apparently reaches a far greater Internet audience than the Republican nominee, John McCain. According to a survey released by Nielsen Netratings, Obama’s website counted 2.3 million unique visitors in June while John McCain’s site was the destination of only 563,000 unique visitors, market research firm Nielsen Netratings said today.

Obama’s campaign also leads in Internet marketing, placing nearly 105.7 million image-based ad impressions during the month versus 8.5 million for McCain. The Republican nominee, however, had a lead in search sponsored links: McCain’s campaign saw 5.4 million sponsored link impressions, while Obama had only 1.8 million.

Among active Web users over the age of 18, 89% are registered to vote, according to Nielsen Online’s @Plan. Registered voters who are Internet users are fairly evenly divided between the two major political parties, with 36%Republicans and 35%Democrats. 17% reported being registered Independents with the balance registered as “other” or “not disclosing an affiliation”.

“The fact that so many Web users are registered to vote suggests that online campaign efforts will drive results at the polls,” said Jon Gibs, vice president, media analytics, Nielsen Online. “Campaigns are no longer dabbling online - we expect a candidate’s Web presence to be an integral part of both campaigns.

haha

Jul 07, 2008 19:19     

As I'm reading this article, I look to the top of the page, and to both sides, and I see no fewer than three John McCain ads. Don't tell me they don't pay attention to these things. :)
deucea729 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re: haha

Jul 07, 2008 22:55     

hoho - I never see ads.. but I have visited Obama's website.
Pete Dixon report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1

o rly?

Jul 07, 2008 23:32     

the internet is full of retards; we know this. what's your point?
meh report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +2

Obama's campaign trying to hard?

Jul 08, 2008 08:14     

So, it sounds like Obama's campaign is pushing the internet really hard while McCain's is not and yet, McCain's is still getting the most searches. Of course, maybe that's because Obama's messages are getting crammed down our internet throats so no one has to search for them. So what the numbers really tell us is not who is the most popular on the web, but who is spending the most on web advertising. Although it appears to be working somewhat in Obama's case.

Nick B. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re: o rly?

Jul 08, 2008 08:50     

...And thus comment sections as you've proven. :)
Revrant report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

A sobering statistic

Jul 08, 2008 09:09     

But will it translate to votes? The hardest thing these days is getting young internet-savvy people to vote. They fell for the "voting doesn't matter" lies perpetrated by the GOP. Older people are tremendously reliable voters, they know it matters.
Rick Cain report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

The lead is meaningless

Jul 08, 2008 09:51     

We all know McCain appeals more to older voters and Obama has a younger audience. With all the old people that are still afraid to use the internet this lead is a no brainer.
Task report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0