August 22, 2006

Web Ads Help Lobbyists Find Activists

Internet technology is changing the political game. The Washington Post's Jeffrey Birnbaum reports on how the cost of finding activists has diminished because of fine-tuned web advertising:

The first thing you need to know is that the Internet can be watched very closely. OnPoint/DDC's offices in Old Town are filled with cubicles of computer experts who are in near-constant contact with thousands of display advertisements on Web sites. These experts can see when commercials are clicked on -- and when they're not.

That means they can identify which Web sites lure the types of public-policy folks that lobby groups crave and which ones don't. They can also see which ads make the largest number of "sales" -- compel people to sign up as advocates -- and which ones fail to produce.

It turns out that ugly is better than pretty when it comes to lobbying commercials. Elaborate and beautifully colored ads tend to fall flat, said B.R. McConnon III, chief executive of DDC. Straightforward, text-heavy displays work much better.

In addition, the types of sites you might think would draw a lobbying crowd often don't. For instance, when the American Medical Association, the doctors' lobby, went looking for patients who would push for its policies, health Web sites didn't bring the best results. Game and puzzle sites were far superior.

Campaign finance reform/First Amendment restriction maven Micah L. Sifry mocks the advocates found on game and puzzle sites:

In other words, people who tend to be informed about health care are less likely to want to give up their right to sue a bad doctor than others.

Or maybe those that go to health sites care a little more about finding some answers to their current ailment; while game and puzzle fans are more likely to be abstract thinkers who care more about large systems like health care delivery.

Such sophistication by moneyed interests may depress those who see internet political advocacy through utopian glasses. But using Daily Kos as an example we see how nobodies grabbed the new technology and became a political force. Computers and the internet are levelling technologies. With plenty of creativity, passion, and a lot of luck unknowns can shake the political tree for both good and ill.

"Targeting Likely Advocates With Web Ads"

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