Facebook now political parties’ main advertiser

As the latest advertising reports  show, in the three months running up to the European elections, the total amount spent on political advertisements on Facebook was approximately 23.5 million euro.

Advertisers in Germany spent the most 3.5 million, followed by those in the UK 3.3 million, Spain 2.7 million, Belgium 2.4 million and Italy 1.8 million.

EDJNet compiled and analysed a data set of all adverts on Facebook registered in the 28 EU member states, by downloading the files from those countries from the 1st of March to Sunday 26 May the final election day.

“The amount of Facebook political adverts spending in the EU elections shows a clear trend towards a greater role for money in EU politics with a total spending of almost 24 million Euros,” says Alberto Alemanno, director of The Good Lobby.

“It also signals the essential function played by the Facebook informational ecosystem Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram in reaching out to the EU electorate. Without doubt, Facebook is drawing the vast majority of political advertising spending both online and offline.”