Obama vs. Romney - Who Spends More?

Obama vs. Romney With the presidential elections looming, the nation is eager to learn more about their candidates' policies, life stories, and more. Along those lines, Rise Interactive has taken a look at Obama and Romney's paid search campaigns to see how they stack up. Brought to you by: rise interactive Obama Gold stars will indicate when a candidate is outperforming another. Follow the stars to determine which candidate has the better or Romney? paid search marketing campaign. *All figures are rounded Online Spend Obama and Romney have both released their spend allocations for September 2012. Here's what the data shows. *September Online Spend Obama's online advertising spend in September summed Romney's online advertising spend in September summed $2.51 million. $3.03 million. = $100,000 Obama's FEC filing indicates that online advertising was the highest single expense after media buys and pay roll. Romney's FEC filing indicates that online advertising spend was prioritized after direct mail consulting, digital consulting, and four other expenses. Romney While Obama had a higher overall spend and prioritized online spend higher, Romney still spent more on online advertising overall. Paid Search Efforts A closer look at Obama and Romney's paid search campaigns in 2012 shows what they prioritize, how much they spend, and their bidding patterns. * For June-Aug. 2012 Obama Total PPC Spend Romney Total PPC Spend $1.18 million $0.24 million Impression & Click Comparison 4.5 million impressions 22.3 million impressions 0.23 million Corresponding Click through rates: million clicks 4.93% 5.11%* Obama For overall paid search, Romney has a slightly higher click through rate, potentially indicating more relevant paid ads. However, Obama has invested more money into earning far more impressions and clicks. Keyword Bidding The candidates' keyword bidding strategies also give insight into overall paid search strategy. Below is a look at how each candidate bids on his own name. *Data from June-Aug. 2012 $146k $84k spent on keyword: Barack Obama spent on keyword: Mitt Romney Spend on Keyword * 97.36% Coverage 49.58% If 100 people searched for "Barack Obama," 97.36% would see Obama's paid ad. If 100 people searched for "Mitt Romney," 49.58% would see Romney's paid ad. # of people that would see ad Additional PPC Campaign Details For keyword Barack Obama: For keyword Mitt Romney: 212k Clicks 131k 1.67 million 1.51 million Impressions * 12.69% Click Through Rate 8.68% Obama Obama has more spend, impressions, clicks, and a higher click through rate. Coverage for Obama's name is also almost 2 times more than Romney's. Obama vs. Romney So, who won? Obama Obama excelled in paid search, even though Romney spent more in overall online advertising. Sources www.fec.gov www.adgooroo.com www.searchmetrics.com rise interactive Brought to you by: 7 clicks EE