India parties lag behind West in spending on Facebook, Google election ads

Indian political parties may have spent less than 1 per cent of their overall spending on Facebook and Google advertisements.

This is in contrast to elections elsewhere in the world. The US saw allocations of around 6.5 per cent to the two tech giants. The UK saw around 10.5 per cent.

The analysis is based on Facebook and Google disclosures on electoral advertisements, and estimates from studies looking at political spending in various countries.

Indian political parties spent Rs 27.8 crore on Facebook advertisements in 2019. Google advertisements saw spending of Rs 2 7.4 crore, showed the data as of May 22 — the day before results were declared.