Digital ad spending data for the week of October 3 - 9
Top spenders last week include LCV, CAP Action, ACE, API, Voices for Cooperative Power
Last week, we saw spending on Facebook ads related to climate, the environment, and energy continue to decline sharply by relevant groups. Several groups that had been spending more than $100k on the platform every week, such as the Green New Deal Network, the American Chemistry Council, and even ExxonMobil have all but stopped running Facebook ads. However, climate groups are still greatly outspending polluters on the platform.
Facebook + Instagram
Before we dig into it, here are the top 25 spenders on climate and energy-related ads on Facebook from last week:
The Alliance for Climate Education - one of last week’s top spenders on climate ads due to other groups pulling down their campaigns - now appears to be running voter registration and mobilization ads targeting young adults in Ohio. They seem to be particularly focused on Portsmouth, where a ballot initiative could give residents more freedom to purchase their energy from clean energy sources.
Third Way was one of the other few groups that still ran ads focused on advocacy. They ran a series of ads thanking Reps. Chris Pappas, Elissa Slotkin, Susie Lee, Sharice Davids, Lizzie Fletcher, Colin Allred, Abigail Spanberger, and Marc Veasey for “fighting for tax cuts that will create more clean energy jobs” in their state and “creating new jobs, securing infrastructure investments, and tackling climate change head on.” These ads ran for just a week, and were mostly targeted at young adult women in the members’ respective states.
Most other climate groups that are still running Facebook ads now seem to be spending their budgets on fundraising and email acquisition campaigns as opposed to persuasion or mobilization campaigns. Among these are Greenpeace USA and NRDC, which are both now running fundraising and acquisition ads using the recent oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach, CA.
On the flipside, we noticed that a couple new groups have started running Facebook ads seemingly arguing against federal energy regulation. Among them is Voices for Cooperative Power, an advocacy group under the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, started running ads this month that are reminiscent of ads deployed by polluters and other right-wing groups, using rhetoric like, “Washington D.C. policymakers don't live here. Why do they control our energy future?” These ads seem to be targeted at older Americans in states including Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and Ohio.
We also found that a group called the American Highway Users Alliance has been running a relatively small national Facebook ad campaign that echoes rhetoric from API. Two of their ads read, “Our roads depend on American energy independence.” These ads were also targeted overwhelmingly at older Americans, but because the spend is so small - just over $11k - and the geographic target so wide, the overall reach of their campaign appears to be quite low.
Overall, here’s how much climate groups, polluters, and other pages spent on Facebook ads last week.
Additionally, here’s how much major groups have spent week-to-week on Facebook ads related to climate, conservation, and energy
Google + YouTube
The League of Conservation Voters spent $205,400 on YouTube ads last week, partially on a new campaign focused on electrifying the nation’s school buses. These 30-second ads target Sens. Patty Murray, Raphael Warnock, Catherine Cortez Masto, Tom Carper, Kyrsten Sinema, Michael Bennett, John Hickenlooper, and Alex Padilla, and also run in Spanish in AZ, CA, and NV. Check it out:
The NRDC Action Fund is continuing to run YouTube ads in Michigan, spending $6,300 on ads promoting clean energy investment like this one. Additionally, the Environmental Defense Fund spent $1,100 last week on a series of highly geotargeted banner ads thanking various Democratic senators “for going bold on clean energy.”
Snapchat
Once again, the only climate group that ran new ads on Snapchat last week was Patagonia. In the past few days, they’ve spent $514 on ads promoting grant funding for environmental leaders of color through the Conservation Alliance and organizing for an environmental justice rally in Ventura, CA this week. However, Vote No to Protect Maine is steadily spending on the platform as it advocates against Question 1 in Maine through the end of the month. They’ve now spent just over $15k on Snapchat ads.
Overall, here are the top 10 spenders on climate ads on Snapchat so far this year: