Google, YouTube and the 2008 Presidential Campaign
Eric M. Appleman Posted Feb. 24, 2008

One cannot talk about the 2008 presidential campaign without considering Google and YouTube.  YouTube did not even exist during the 2004 campaign; it launched in February 2005 and was acquired by Google in October 2006.  In May 2007 Google brought on Peter Greenberger to build and manage a new Elections & Issue Advocacy sales team.  According to Google, its involvement during the primaries and the election "was an extension of the company's mission to make information more accessible and useful to people all over the world."  Examples of Google's activities:

• Google/YouTube sponsored with CNN two primary debates, a Democratic debate at the Citadel in Charleston, SC on July 23, 2007 and a Republican debate at Progress Energy Center for Performing Arts in St. Petersburg FL on Nov. 28, 2007.

• During 2007 eight of the presidential candidates made the pilgrimmage to the Googleplex at Mountain View, where they spoke to and took questions from Google employees as part of the Candidates@Googles series.  [Clinton  Feb.; McCain  May 4; Richardson  May 14; Edwards  May 30; Paul  July 13; Gravel  Oct. 10; Obama  Nov. 14; and Dodd Dec. 10.  Additionally Ralph Nader visited on May 12, 2008 as part of the Policy Talks@Google series].

• Google provided each candidate with a YouTube brand channel.  [March 1, 2007 press release]

• Google hosted retreats and provided technology to delegates and attendees at both Conventions.  In Denver Google was a major sponsor of the 8,000 square-foot "Big Tent."  Here, in addition to providing free smoothies for the assembled bloggers, Google showed off its some of its new applications.  The Google-Vanity Fair party at Exdo Event Center on Aug. 28, 2008 drew many celebrities.  For the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the system used to register delegates made use of Google technology and the News and Media Portal on the Convention's website was "powered by Google."  Google joined with RedState.com to host two blogger brunches, and, as in Denver, Google teamed with Vanity Fair to host a party on the closing night of the convention, this time at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

• New Orleans leaders joined with Google and YouTube to propose a two-hour forum "America's Presidential Debate in New Orleans" to be held at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans on Sept. 18, 2008; however this event did not happen.

• Google created a number of tools and applications such as 2008 U.S. Elections site, Google Maps Election Gallery, Power Readers in Politics, and the 2008 U.S. Voter Info site which voters could use to find their polling place.
  

• As Election Day approached YouTube teamed with PBS to lauch "Video Your Vote," allowing people to share their voting experiences.  [October 15, 2008 press release]

Beyond these high-profile activities, one must consider the ways in which the campaigns used Google and YouTube day in and day out.  Posting an edgy¹ video on YouTube is a good way to generate buzz.  On a less glamorous note, Google's main source of revenue is search advertising (AdWords), and the campaigns made abundant use of that during the 2008 campaign.

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Peter Greenberger, Team Manager of Elections and Issue Advocacy at Google Inc., helpfully provided these observations on some of the trends of the 2008 presidential campaign cycle:

The 2008 election was clearly a watershed year for the Internet and politics. Friends, tweets, videos, and texts received most of the attention, but 2008 may be remembered most as the election when campaign advertising dollars began the inevitable migration online.

In 2004, less than 1% of presidential ad dollars went online. In 2008, we saw the presidential candidates spend almost 5% of their advertising budgets online. According to analysis done by ClickZ, Obama spent more than $7.5 million on Google in 2008, about 45% of his total online advertising spend. His online investment clearly paid off: Obama collected more than half a billion dollars in online contributions from over 3 million donors, according to data the Obama team reported to the Washington Post. His new media director, Joe Rospars, said publicly that the Obama campaign saw "ridiculously high" ROI from Google AdWords of 15:1.

Both Barack Obama's and John McCain's campaigns used online advertising from early on in the primary season and continued to invest in digital throughout the course of the election to...

1. Raise money

• Both campaigns used search advertising to capture unprecedented levels of online engagement and build their lists of supporters and donors.
• In fact, Google advertising drove what the Obama campaign characterized as "ridiculously high" ROI of 15:1, and search advertising was a core driver of the Obama campaign's 13-million member list.

2. Set the record straight

• We saw both candidates use online ads to clamp down rumors and deliver carefully tailored messages to interested voters.
  
• For example, the Obama campaign used search to counter online and offline rumors that Obama was Muslim with an ad on relevant keywords affirming his Christian faith.We saw similarly savvy efforts from the McCain campaign, which targeted ads about Biden's past criticism of Obama to people reading articles related to the Democratic candidates.
  

3. Persuade undecided voters

• In addition to search and display ads, which both campaigns used to reach undecided voters on hot button issues, YouTube proved to be an incredibly popular and effective tool for political persuasion.
• During the election, McCain's campaign uploaded more than 300 videos to YouTube, while Obama's team added more than 1,800 videos. Of the videos Obama uploaded, 18 were viewed more than 1 million times.
• Clearly, online video played an influential role in this election. YouTube allowed both candidates to bypass traditional media channels and speak directly to voters. In addition to videos from candidates, thousands of people posted their own election-related videos to YouTube, which served to draw more people into the political process and encourage lively public debate. 
  

4. Mobilize local voters

• During the primaries and into the general election, both candidates used search to educate voters about their polling places and drive supporters to the polls.
• For example, Obama used geo-targeted search ads in Texas to educate voters about the complicated Texas Two-Step and remind supporters they had to vote twice (once in the caucus and again in the primary).

About Peter and his team:

Peter joined Google in May 2007 to build and manage a new Elections & Issue Advocacy sales team dedicated to introducing Google solutions to political campaigns, committees, and issue advocacy groups.

Previously, Peter grew the public affairs division of New Media Strategies, a Web 2.0 marketing firm, working with clients such as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Discovery Networks, Ford Motor Company, the Granholm for Governor campaign, Merck, Inc., Wachovia, the Washington Redskins, and XM Satellite Radio.

Prior to joining New Media Strategies, Peter spent ten years working on presidential, gubernatorial, U.S. Senate and Congressional campaigns. Most recently, he managed Congressman Brad Carson's 2004 United States Senate campaign in Oklahoma.

During the Clinton Administration, Peter worked in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs as the Director of Congressional Correspondence. In this role, he coordinated all written communications between the White House and the Congress.