Revved up, aren’t you? 2024 means revenue from political ad sales and, hey, you’re in the news business — it’s that something politicians — and voters — care about.
It is. But before you start knocking on campaign managers' doors preaching the value of supporting local news, take a few minutes to review your disclaimer policies for digital ad buys and placements.
Poorly executed policies — decisions that look arbitrary or capricious to buyers — will kill any deal.
The important thing for all news outlets to remember is that, regardless of size, your website is not the only digital path political campaigns can use to reach voters. No matter how many local eyeballs you collect and count, there will always be another way to advertise in your backyard.
Here are two case studies from 2023 that make that point — to the detriment of the local sites. They’re typical of the mishandling Spot-On’s political and advocacy clients have experienced over the past few years as print-based gatekeeper policies are carelessly shifted to digital.
This fall, Spot-On approached a mountain town outlet owned by a very large news chain to place ads for the town’s mayoral election. Our banner ad carried — as the state’s laws required — a “Paid for by ….” disclaimer on the last static frame of the ad.
The ads were rejected by the outlet, which said the news chain wanted to provide “transparency” in digital ad placements. What was wrong? The disclaimer did not appear on every frame of the three-frame, 10-second .gif. Spot-On’s client disagreed with this decision, which would have required a new creative build and delays. Spot-On was told to spend the funds — $1,500 net to the outlet — elsewhere.
But that’s not all. The day before the election, our client’s opponent ran ads on the same site, purchasing space through an ad exchange. Those ads didn’t carry disclaimers, violating state law and the company’s policies. Even worse? The outlet's political ad policies — which we reviewed after election day — did not include the requirement we were asked to meet.
In the end, Spot-On spent $250 (gross to the DSP) on mobile ads on the site purchased through an exchange instead of the $1,500 (net to the outlet) we had budgeted.
For a high-stakes election in the Northwest, Spot-On was asked to help a third-party organization — colloquially known as an “IE” for independent expenditure — buy ads supporting a city council candidate.
We had $20,000 to spend on the city’s primary local news outlet. We planned to buy run-of-site ads, as well as home page take-overs.
For this campaign, our client was citing reporting from the outlet in the ads to criticize a candidate. We expected a tighter than usual review process and we were not disappointed. Our ads here were subject to two separate reviews. After the first, the ads were approved with a minor change.
After the second — unexpected — review and some extended negotiation, the outlet required us to amend the creative to include the headlines and dates for the editorial citations. Although we came to an agreement, this process took several days and added to the client’s costs.
Meanwhile, anxious to be running ads before election day, Spot-On bought ads on a national outlet with strong local readership. Our ads were approved in a few hours because the national outlet has established policies that we knew and understood.
The campaign buy started at approximately $20,000 net to the local outlet but fell to roughly $9,000.
What’s worse? When we were able to see — post election — the local outlet’s political ad standards, there (again) was no mention of any of the requirements Spot-On was asked to meet. Like the mountain town publisher, this outlet had created rules on the fly to suit their perception of their gatekeep status for digital ads.
Don’t do this. This behavior makes your outlet look arbitrary and unfair. And once a client has that impression it is very hard for Spot-On — or anyone — to remove it.
Set your digital standards and practice now while the pressure’s off and your sales and editorial staff can have clear conversations about what is suitable for your community and what buyers will be required to do.
And please, understand that buyers have alternatives. Your digital site is one of many your readers see every day. And if a sale takes too long to close or becomes more expensive, our clients will put their money elsewhere — often at our recommendation.
Want help creating baseline requirements for your political and advocacy ad sellers? Give us a shout and we’ll walk you through the standards we suggest for all our clients.
