Political ads on Facebook see 30% rise in a week as polls draw closer

Numbers jump up over thirty per cent in a single week

The world’s largest social media network’s most recent disclosures show that the number of Facebook advertisements related to political issues or those of national importance have risen around 30 per cent over the previous week, signalling a rise in social media activity as elections come closer. 

The total number of such ads now number 41,514 since February compared to around 30,457 the previous week. This is a 36.3 per cent rise in the number of advertisements over the course of one week. 

Advertisers have spent a total Rs 8.4 crore on such promotions. This is an increase of 29.2 per cent over the Rs 6.5 crore in cumulative spends as of the previous week.

All the top five pages in terms of spends all endorse the ruling party. They include pages such as ‘Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat’, ‘Namo Supporters’ and ‘Nation with NaMo’. The largest number of ads were from a page called ‘My First Vote For Modi.’ New voters are expected to play an important role in the new elections. 

Morgan Stanley India Company equity strategists Ridham Desai and Sheela Rathi had noted that social media would be a big factor in influencing this newest section of the electorate.  “Most of these people are heavy users of social media, just like the 120 million voters who joined the electorate in the 2014 elections. So it goes without saying that use of digital platforms will be intense during the forthcoming elections,” said the April 2018 India Equity Strategy report . 

The five pages endorsing the Bharatiya Janata Party account for a quarter of all such ads on the platform. The data is as of the week ending March 23.  

Facebook has begun to make available advertising spends and their source ahead of elections in a bid for greater transparency. It also provides a list of the week’s top search terms. Searches for ‘Congress’ has moved to third place this week. ‘Rahul Gandhi’ has moved to fifth place. Each has moved down by one spot. The list is now headed by ‘BJP’ and ‘Modi’.