Digital ad spending data for the week of August 1 - 7
Top spenders last week include The Climate Pledge, Exxon, Potential Energy Coalition, API
Spending on climate, environment, and energy ads on Facebook and Google declined over the past week, with some of the biggest climate groups significantly reducing their spending on ads promoting infrastructure spending.
Before we dig into it, here are the top 25 spenders on climate ads on Facebook from last week:
Spending on Facebook ads about conservation, clean energy, and climate change declined last week among climate groups and polluters alike. The League of Conservation Voters dropped their Facebook ad spending by over 60 percent from the previous week, even after they teamed up with Priorities USA on a campaign.
However, LCV did start running a new (albeit smaller) campaign promoting the Build Back Better Agenda - as they’re now calling the infrastructure package moving through Congress - that targets young men and older women in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio.
The Environmental Defense Fund also reduced their spending on Facebook, but we did notice that they started running ads this week touting the Biden administration’s new goal of half of new cars running on electric batteries by 2030. The ads, which are targeted mostly at middle-aged men nationwide, follow President Biden’s messaging to a T:
“WATCH: President Biden has an ambitious agenda for America. One where American ingenuity and innovation helps us create well-paying jobs and allows us to lead the world in the clean economy of the future.”
Spending on Facebook political ads by polluters also decreased from the previous week, in large part because ExxonMobil cut their spending on the platform by more than $100,000. The American Petroleum Institute’s Energy Citizens page, however, spent more on the platform, mostly on a Minnesota-focused campaign arguing against electric vehicle mandates. The ads, which mostly target men and older women in the state, argue that “We should prioritize Minnesota economic recovery and growth,” and that such mandates “could leave farmers stranded in the field.”
Overall, here’s how much climate groups, polluters, and other pages spent on Facebook ads last week:
Google and YouTube
When it comes to spending on Google and YouTube, LCV reduced their spending even more dramatically: the previous week, they spent $68,700 on ads like this pushing for bold climate action, but they only spent $1,100 on the platform last week, having entirely stopped running their YouTube ads targeting individual Democratic lawmakers. That said, LCV and Priorities USA have been growing their New Hampshire campaign, spending $5,800 on ads supporting Rep. Jared Golden and Sen. Maggie Hassan.
We also noticed this week that the Center for Biological Diversity recently started a new YouTube ad campaign last week that called on President Biden to set strong clean car standards. They’ve spent $2,900 so far promoting this ad:
Finally, it looks like Evergreen Action started running a Google Search campaign promoting the creation of the Civilian Climate Corps. They’ve so far spent $500 on ads like these:
Snapchat
LCV’s and Priorities USA’s digital ad campaign also extends to Snapchat, where they’ve spent $790 so far with a spot that’s very similar to their YouTube ads that will run until September 22nd.
The only other climate group to launch a campaign on Snapchat last week was MN 350, which appears to be continuing a campaign holding fossil fuel companies accountable for fueling climate skepticism for decades. They’ve spent $103 on the campaign so far, which will run for another week.
Overall, here’s how much has been spent on Snapchat so far this year on ads related to climate change, clean energy, and the environment: