Digital Ad Spending
Political advertising spending on Meta/Facebook and Google platforms by U.S. election cycle, 2018–2024
Last updated: 2025-02-06
Spending by Platform per Election Cycle ($ Millions)
| Date | Meta / Facebook (M) | Google (M) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 354 | 122 | [1] |
| 2020 | 1,100 | 600 | [2] |
| 2022 | 590 | 390 | [4] |
| 2024 | 1,000 | 846 | [3] |
Context
Political advertising on digital platforms grew substantially between the 2018 and 2024 U.S. election cycles. Facebook (now Meta) was the dominant platform for political ads through most of this period, but Google's share increased significantly over time. In the 2024 cycle, Google's political ad revenue reached $846 million, approaching Meta's roughly $1 billion and narrowing a gap that was far wider in earlier cycles.
Spending patterns differ markedly between presidential and midterm election years. The 2020 presidential cycle saw combined Meta and Google spending of approximately $1.7 billion, which dropped to roughly $980 million during the 2022 midterms before rebounding to an estimated $1.85 billion in the 2024 presidential cycle. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 accelerated the shift toward digital campaigning, contributing to that cycle's sharp increase.
These figures represent an undercount of total digital political spending. Platform ad libraries, which began in 2018, capture only ads that platforms classify as political or issue-related, and not all platforms publish this data. Connected TV, programmatic display, and other digital channels account for additional political ad spending not reflected here. Data prior to 2018 is excluded because platform ad transparency tools did not yet exist.
Sources
- OpenSecrets. Online Political Ad Spending. Accessed 2026-03-05. Facebook Ad Library data available from January 2020; Google Transparency Report data from May 2018. The 2018 Facebook figure ($354M) covers political and issue ads reported through the Facebook Ad Library from May to October 2018.
- Brennan Center for Justice, OpenSecrets, Wesleyan Media Project. Online Political Spending in 2024. Accessed 2026-03-05. Joint analysis reporting combined Meta+Google spending of approximately $1.7 billion in the 2020 election cycle. Platform share ratios from the Wesleyan Media Project (Meta received 59% and Google 18% of all digital platform spending in 2019–2020) used to derive per-platform estimates.
- Brennan Center for Justice, OpenSecrets, Wesleyan Media Project. Online Ad Spending in 2024 Election Totaled at Least $1.9 Billion. Accessed 2026-03-05. Final 2024 analysis: Meta received more than $1 billion, Google $846 million, Snap $27 million, X $24 million. Total $1.9 billion across four platforms through November 9, 2024.
- Wesleyan Media Project. Digital Advertising in the 2022 Midterms. Accessed 2026-03-05. Combined Meta+Google spending of approximately $980 million in the 2022 cycle, a 45% decline from the 2020 presidential cycle. Per-platform split estimated from available candidate-level spending patterns.
- Google. Political Advertising on Google — Ads Transparency Center. Accessed 2026-03-05. Google's transparency report showed $122 million in political ad spending from May 31, 2018 through the 2018 midterm elections.
- Wesleyan Media Project. Election Advertising on Meta, Google, and Snapchat in 2024. Accessed 2026-03-05. Academic analysis of election advertising across digital platforms in 2024, with historical comparisons to 2020 and 2022 cycles.