US Elections today: Over $10 billion pumped into Harris vs Trump campaign battle

As the US gets set for its big Election Day, the world waits with bated breath to see if the Republican candidate trumps, pun entirely intended, Brand Harris. Donald Trump with his larger-than-life persona makes headlines with every statement. In a media landscape, where there’s no such thing as bad publicity, over the last month, Kamala Harris's campaign has emerged as a dominant force in advertising, spending approximately $246 million compared to Trump's $192 million.

This includes significant investments in digital advertising , where Harris outspent Donald Trump by a substantial margin—around $72 million to $16 million. Overall, the combined total for both campaigns and their respective super PACs has surpassed $500 million in just a few weeks, reflecting an intense focus on media buys across various platforms. Cumulatively, this 2024 US Presidential election cycle has seen political ad spending cross $10 billion for the entirety of the period.

In the last two weeks alone, according to various reports by US media publications and election watchdogs as well as transparency reports by Meta and Google, Harris spent about $27 million on both Google and Meta platforms combined, while Trump spent approximately $8.6 million. Notably, Harris's spending on Google was significantly higher than Trump's throughout the campaign period.

Juxtaposing these figures against the political ad spends by Indian political parties during the last 30 days before the General Elections, held in April 2024, reveal a vastly different landscape. Major parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), fronted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi , and the Indian National Congress (INC), which spearheaded the INDIA alliance under the stewardship of Rahul Gandhi and regional allies, collectively spent over Rs 10,000 crore, translating into approximately $1.2 billion during the 2024 election cycle. The spend was on advertisements across various media channels.

The BJP, with its flair for showmanship and bombast, alone accounted for a significant portion of this spending, focusing heavily on digital platforms and television ads to reach voters in key states. As previously reported by e4m, “ BJP spent Rs 100 crore on Google ads in five months. Out of Rs 100 crore spent since January 1, BJP put in Rs 40 crore in 20 days of May alone. Google has earned a whopping Rs 256 crore between January 1 till May 20, 2024 from political ads alone. Of this, April and May (till 20th) account for over Rs 160 crore. More than two third of ad spends went to video ads, data shows.”

While comparing the spending figures between India and the US might be akin to contrasting apples and oranges, they tell a larger story, of the differing political landscapes of the U.S. and India. US campaigns rely heavily on media buys to sway voters in a relatively short election cycle, while Indian parties engage in a broader spectrum of outreach efforts across diverse media platforms over an extended campaign period. Size does matter, after all.

This comparison underscores how electoral strategies could vary widely based on the political context and voter engagement practices in different democracies. The massive expenditure by Indian political parties highlights their need to connect with a diverse electorate across multiple states and regions, while US candidates focused on targeted messaging aimed at key demographics.

As both nations navigate their respective electoral processes, the impact of these advertising strategies will undoubtedly play a crucial role in shaping voter perceptions and outcomes.