Publishers stand at a pivotal crossroads in today’s political landscape in the face of brand safety concerns and misinformation. With less than a month left until Election Day, voters continue to be inundated with political content, and publishers must balance facilitating productive discourse through political ads without compromising their brand. After all, with 2024 political ad spending projected to reach $12+ billion, publishers cannot afford to leave political ad dollars on the table.
Despite these challenges, publishers have a significant opportunity to ensure voters receive reliable, fact-checked information directly from political candidates — and use technology for the better good. By explicitly allowing political advertising, publishers can help create a well-informed electorate across all political persuasions, while simultaneously checking off boxes on their monetization goals. But they must do so in a responsible way.
The onus is now on publishers to open a clearer, safer path to enabling political advertising. For starters, they can manage the spread of misinformation by using advanced vetting tools and allowing ads only from paid-for-by-candidate campaigns or other authorized entities. Technology assists in monetizing ad space that may otherwise go unsold, while fostering a thriving democracy by enabling people to make informed decisions. Additionally, publishers are increasingly looking for new ways to maintain effective ad targeting in today’s shifting digital environment. Political ads offer a unique advantage in predominantly relying on geographic and demographic signals versus cookies. This cements political ads as a stable revenue stream as the addressability landscape evolves.
Empowering Publishers with Fast, Effective, and Impactful Solutions
Many publishers today remain concerned about unsubstantiated claims or contentious political rhetoric on their platforms. We have built a full suite of tools to help you navigate facilitating responsible discourse while keeping their properties and users safe. From scaled, intelligent decision-making at an ad creative level via the Creative Category Manager; complete review and vetting of all ad creatives via the Creative Approval Tool; and unique, curated demand directly via Activate, we offer a holistic solution that fuels better control, confidence, and scale.
At PubMatic, we are continuously helping leading publishers across the U.S. implement fast, effective, and reliable technical setups and optimizations. While every publisher’s use case will differ, we recommend leveraging a range of techniques and solutions including:
- Dynamic Price Floors: Static price floors can leave money on the table during high-demand political events. Dynamic pricing ensures you can capitalize on every opportunity and adjust based on real-time bidding trends.
- Geo-Targeting and Voter Segmentation: Advanced geo-targeting allows publishers to ensure that political ads reach the most critical audiences, such as swing-state and/or undecided voters. Boost relevance and maximize ad effectiveness by tailoring your ad delivery through voter segmentation—targeting specific groups like first-time or swing-state voters.
- Audience Data and Parameter Passing: By passing key data signals like voter behavior, demographics, and engagement history, publishers can help political campaigns craft highly tailored messaging. This leads to higher engagement rates and increased CPMs, improving campaign outcomes and publisher revenue.
- Monitoring Ad Quality and Brand Safety: Maintaining quality control over political ads is critical to protecting your brand. Real-time monitoring tools screen out problematic content like deep fakes, misinformation, or ads that misalign with your brand values. Staying proactive allows your platform to maintain its commitment to transparency, trust, and compliance.
- Inventory Packaging: Bundle premium inventory—such as front-page placements or high-visibility ad formats—during critical political events. Auction packages targeting specific voter demographics or behaviors, like undecided voters, increase demand, allowing you to drive higher CPMs for your ads while delivering maximum value to advertisers.
Whether you already allow political ads or are considering your approach, your role in providing voters with reliable, timely information is critical. Political ads aren’t just about driving revenue; they constitute an opportunity to lead the ad industry responsibly.
At PubMatic, we’re here to help you sustain that lead. Together, we can help you maintain control of your platform and your brand while satisfying users with the information they crave. Now is the time to set up, optimize, and advance your political advertising strategies. Contact us to learn how we can help you run political ads effectively and responsibly.
