BJP takes an early lead in political ad spends on Google

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken an early lead in political advertising spends on Google, even as regional political parties in Andhra Pradesh accounted for around 67% of the total ad spends since February 2019, according to the data shared by Google on Thursday.

The BJP spent around Rs 1.2 crore across 554 ads since Feb 2019, followed by YSR Congress Party that spent around Rs 1.04 crore across 107 ads. The Indian National Congress was a distant sixth with an ad spend of Rs 54,100 across 14 ads.

In terms of geographies, Andhra Pradesh was the largest spender with Rs 1.73 crore ad spend, followed by Bihar with Rs 1.05 crore and Delhi with Rs 9.96 lakh.

Google has made the data public as part of its transparency report for election ads, which was announced in January this year. Google is also expected to roll out a searchable political ads library in the country, in an effort to bring more transparency to online election ads ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections.

Besides Google, BJP and it's affiliates have also spent nearly Rs 5 crore (Rs 4.9 crore to be exact) on Facebook as of 30 March, according to its ad archive report.