Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s advertisement spend on Google and its video sharing platform YouTube accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the expenditure made by all political parties on the two platforms in Telangana, according to the political advertising transparency report for India released by Google.
Out of Rs 30.2 crore spent by political parties on advertisements on Google and YouTube between 1 February 2024 and 27 March 2024 in Telangana, the BJP spent Rs 12 crore or 39.73 per cent of the total political spend.
During this period, 15,690 political advertisements were featured on these two platforms. Of this, 80.9 per cent were video ads posted by spending Rs. 24.4 cr and 19.1 per cent of images posted with Rs. 5.7 crore. In the total ads, the BJP alone accounts for 11,613 ads (62.7 per cent video and 37.3 per cent images).
The Central Bureau of Communication — also known as Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) that handles the Central government’s publicity requirements — is the second top advertiser with ad spend of Rs 8.41 crore.
India PAC Consulting, which handles election management mandates of several parties, is the third top spender and ran ads worth Rs 3.19 crore.
Telugu Desam (TD) spent Rs 2.07 crore on political ads, followed by Shree Cement and Way2News with a spending of Rs 69.2 lakh and Rs 61.9 lakh respectively on political ads on Google and YouTube for the same period.
“Advertisers may run India election ads if the advertiser completes advertisement verification. They must submit for each ad a valid pre-certificate issued by the ECI or anyone authorized by the ECI. An advertiser must first be verified by Google before submitting the pre-certificate for each ad,” according to Google.
The advertisements list consists of government schemes in multiple Indian languages. Among states, Uttar Pradesh tops the list by spending Rs 15.8 crore followed by Maharashtra at Rs 11.1 crore and Bihar at Rs 8 crore.
TOPPERS
Total amount spent on political ads on Google and YouTube (Feb.1 to March 27, 2024) in TS: Rs 30.2 crore
Total no. of ads: 15,690
Videos: 80.9% (Rs 24.4 cr)
Images: 19.1% (Rs 5.7 cr)
Top 6 advertisers
BJP: Rs 12 crore
Central Bureau of Communication: Rs 8.47 crore
India PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd: Rs 3.19 crore
Telugu Desam Party: Rs 2.07 crore
Shree Cement Ltd: Rs 69.2 lakh
Way2News: Rs 61.9 lakh
