--- title: Political Ads Grow Online, But TV Remains the Mainstay description: Political campaigns will spend a lot more on online ads in 2016 than in years past, but it remains a fraction of the amount spent on TV. canonical: https://time.com/4000365/political-advertising/ author: Aditya Agrawal article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-18T17:55:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:13:46.668Z article:section: Politics og:title: Political Ads Grow Online, But TV Remains the Mainstay og:description: Online ads are still only a fraction of political spending. og:url: https://time.com/4000365/political-advertising/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3304e499301f9238/69885fdaf887dc1f85e91ed4/online-advertising.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Visitors take a photograph of a Hillaryclinton.com billboard before the first 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton campaign rally at Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York, U.S., on Saturday, June 13, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Political Ads Grow Online, But TV Remains the Mainstay twitter:description: Online ads are still only a fraction of political spending. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3304e499301f9238/69885fdaf887dc1f85e91ed4/online-advertising.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Political Ads Grow Online, But TV Remains the Mainstay by [Aditya Agrawal](https://time.com/author/aditya-agrawal/) ## Aditya Agrawal Aug 18, 2015 5:55 PM UTC  Visitors take a photograph of a Hillaryclinton.com billboard before the first 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton campaign rally at Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York, U.S., on Saturday, June 13, 2015. Visitors take a photograph of a Hillaryclinton.com billboard before the first 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton campaign rally at Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York, U.S., on Saturday, June 13, 2015.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Aditya Agrawal](https://time.com/author/aditya-agrawal/) ## Aditya Agrawal Aug 18, 2015 5:55 PM UTC Political campaigns will spend a lot more on online ads in 2016 than in years past, but it remains a fraction of the amount they will spend on TV. According to a [white paper](https://www.borrellassociates.com/industry-papers/papers/2015-to-2016-political-advertising-outlook-august-15-detail) from media consulting firm Borrell Associates, political candidates and special interests at the state and national level will spend more than $1 billion on online ads in 2016, a whopping 576 percent increase since 2012. That puts it on par with cable TV advertising, which is expected to reach $1.1 billion, but far below the estimated $6 billion that will be spent on broadcast TV according to the report. “Despite the allure of digital media, things like banner ads and search advertising don’t do as good a job as television commercials,” the report’s authors note. Political spending will vary by state, with Florida and California getting the most ad dollars. But the presidential election will also benefit some key swing states. Broken down by spending per eligible voter, Colorado and Virginia lead the way. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4000365/political-advertising/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4000365/political-advertising/"},"headline":"Political Ads Grow Online, But TV Remains the Mainstay","datePublished":"2015-08-18T17:55:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:13:46.668Z","description":"Political campaigns will spend a lot more on online ads in 2016 than in years past, but it remains a fraction of the amount spent on TV.","url":"https://time.com/4000365/political-advertising/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3304e499301f9238/69885fdaf887dc1f85e91ed4/online-advertising.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aditya Agrawal","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aditya-agrawal/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3304e499301f9238/69885fdaf887dc1f85e91ed4/online-advertising.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Visitors take a photograph of a Hillaryclinton.com billboard before the first 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton campaign rally at Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York, U.S., on Saturday, June 13, 2015.","caption":"Visitors take a photograph of a Hillaryclinton.com billboard before the first 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton campaign rally at Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York, U.S., on Saturday, June 13, 2015.","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4000365/political-advertising/","name":"Political Ads Grow Online, But TV Remains the Mainstay"}}]}] ```