Parties spent more than 3 million lei on Facebook advertising in the first three months of the year / Top political pages with the highest expenditures

îPolitical parties spent over 3 million lei on Facebook in the first three months of the year through official pages of members/candidates/elected officials at the local or central level, according to an analysis published on Tuesday by Expert Forum (EFOR).

The EFOR report also shows that 2.4 million lei, i.e. over 75% of the expenses, were used by USR, PNL (700 thousand lei each), PSD (650 thousand lei) and AUR (325 thousand of lei), in the period January-March 2024.

Also, the pages of the USR, PSD and AUR leaders were among the ones that recorded the highest expenses, compared to the same period last year.

In the top of the political pages with the highest expenses are those of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu (265 thousand lei), USR (155 thousand lei), Cătălin Drula (147 thousand lei) and Nicușor Dan (102 thousand lei) ).

“In addition to these expenses, almost another 600 thousand lei were promoted through Facebook for online publications, non-governmental organizations or other entities, through advertisements marked as political/electoral/social”, notes EFOR.

Expert Forum also states that it has identified pages that appear to be online publications, but which are associated with parties, and the most visible and numerous are found in connection with AUR and have a high number of advertisements.

Moreover, political parties spent about 600,000 lei on Google, and half were used by PSD and almost 40% by USR.

“Most of the spending was related to advertisers who promoted the party itself; the cases where the advertiser is a person are fewer”, writes EFOR.

The report also indicates that spending on Google decreased compared to the same period in 2023, while advertisers associated with PNL and USR spent significantly less, and those associated with PSD spent six times more, compared to the same period.

We present below the main conclusions of the EFOR report:

Facebook

• The parties spent over three million lei on Facebook through official pages or pages of members/candidates/elected officials at the local or central level. In addition to these expenses, almost another 600 thousand lei were promoted through Facebook for online publications, non-governmental organizations or other entities, through advertisements marked as political/electoral/social.
• More than 75% of the money (2.4 million) was spent by USR, PNL (700 thousand lei each), PSD (650 thousand lei) and AUR (325 thousand lei).
• The combined total spending of the four parties did not increase compared to the same period last year. Punctual, PNL expenses increased, and those of USR associated pages decreased. The expenses of the pages associated with AUR increased almost 20 times.
• In USR, PSD and AUR, the pages of the leaders were among those that recorded the highest expenses. At PNL, the page of the party president is lower in the list in terms of expenditure.
• In addition to the politicians’ pages, we have identified pages that appear to be publications, but which are associated with parties. The most and visible ones are found in connection with AUR, they have a large number of ads, even if they do not invest very much.
• An interesting result of the analysis is that we discovered a number of 42 pages that promoted 127 advertisements worth 20,000 lei in Neamț County. Although the amount is not large, it is interesting how information is transmitted in very similar formats in several localities in Neamț County, promoting PNL candidates and denigrating PSD local elected officials. This kind of concerted campaign actually shows that the PSD-PNL alliances are not as strong at the local level as the party leaders at the center make them out to be.
• We cannot conclude whether or not the ads are paid for by subsidies. However, we notice that promotion in the online environment occupies a very small percentage of the total investments made by parties from subsidies.
• Political migration or the candidacies of former party members as independents influenced some of the changes mentioned above. In the context of the June elections, this migration will intensify.

Google

• Political parties spent approximately 600,000 lei on Google.
• Half of the money was spent by PSD, and almost 40% by USR.
• Most of the spending was related to advertisers who promoted the party itself; the cases where the advertiser is a person are fewer.
• The expenses decreased compared to the similar period in 2023, when payments of almost 700,000 lei were recorded.
• Advertisers associated with PNL and USR spent significantly less, and those associated with PSD six times more.