Election Advertising on Meta, Google, and Snapchat in 2024

We analyze digital advertising by candidates in federal races (presidential and congressional campaigns) in the 2024 U.S. general election cycle. We focus on election ads placed on Meta (which includes Instagram and Facebook) and Google (which includes YouTube, search, display and banner), and we provide some spending numbers from Snapchat advertising. We consider variation in ad spending across Meta and Google to get a sense not only of how digital spending stacks up across both venues but also to compare spending to television and radio. Beyond spending, we consider the content (including tone, goal, and issue focus) of Meta ads and Google video ads and compare it to television. All told, the analysis in this paper represents a first-cut look at the information environment in digital advertising sponsored by candidates in 2024 federal races during the general election period.