The McCain Header at the Top of this Page!
Anyone care to comment on the McCain advertisement that periodically appears at the top of this page? Kudos to TPM for scoring some more revenue, but does anyone here think this is an effective place to advertise? Are they trolling for disaffected Clinton supporters? Will they get any?
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I enjoy seeing the McCain campaign waste money like that. I like to see what he's putting in his ads anyway, and this way I don't have to go far.
June 10, 2008 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actual message that ad is trying to send: "Hey, is that Obama with a beard?"
June 10, 2008 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I keep clicking on it every so often - I click-through all the way to McCain.com figuring if they keep getting clicks, maybe they'll keep buying ad space.
June 10, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think it might be one of those AdSense things. McCain is mentioned enough on this site, that the logic of that program (such as it is) might think this is an excellent place for those ads.
June 10, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Really? So is the campaign automatically debited a certain amount for each ad appearance? I do like to think they are wasting their money looking for Hillary supporters -- especially with that line ""One Man has the Experience"
June 10, 2008 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't even know if it is AdSense placing these or not. Actually, I decided to look up how AdSense works, and I'd say it probably isn't AdSense. (There's no Ads by Google tag for one thing.)
Another theory is that of following old matching commercials. On TV, when one politician negotiates a political ad for a particular price, the station is required to offer the same deal to his/her competitor(s). (The competitor is free to turn down the deal, of course.) I don't know if the same law applies to the internet, but even if the law doesn't apply, Josh might be notifying the McCain camp that Obama just bought an ad for $x and wondering if they want in on the same price. Out of pure habit you might see the McCain camp agree to that.
June 10, 2008 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ben, there are a number of Ad Placing engines out there that publish many of the ads dynamically as you mentioned so it is not necessarily correct to assume that they specifically decided to place an ad on TPM but they in theory would remove it if they didn't think they were getting a good return on that investment (clicks & donations).
June 10, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting, though I'm still betting that they are looking for disaffected Clintonites. It would fit their larger campaign strategy. Anyone from TPM care to comment?
June 10, 2008 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
If we click on it, does it cost MCCAIN MONEY? If so, then I'll just keep clicking on that thing whenever I feel like inflicting a little damage on the Republicans.... :)
June 10, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm pretty sure it does. Space on a popular political blog like TPM costs money. The McCain campaign has to pay for that and if it isn't a contract that pays per click-through, then it certainly is one that will be evaluated and renewed based on successful clicks.
So, as with all the ads on TPM, click on those babies and force McCain to pay Josh for ad space that will never, ever benefit his campaign!
June 10, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink