WideOrbit Launches Populist Political Ad Site VoterVoter.com
Web Site Lets Citizens Sponsor Political Ads
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/27/2008 7:33:00 AM
The run-up to the last big primary push for the presidential candidates brought another political ad-targeted online site into the mix and created something of a mini-campaign for clients among online ad companies.
San Francisco online media company WideOrbit is launching VoterVoter.com Thursday, looking to grab some election ad business by targeting "passionate citizens" and letting them sponsor TV campaign ads themselves -- either ready-made, customizable, or their own submissions.
The announcement came one day after another online-ad-production and media-buying company, Spot Runner, backed by CBS and some big ad agencies, announced that it was ramping up its online-political-advertising business, although it was targeting campaign coffers.
WideOrbit's backers include Hearst -- it got a new infusion from Hearst Ventures just last month -- and its media-buying-client list includes The New York Times, NBC, Hearst-Argyle Television, Gannett and Meredith.
Unlike Spot Runner, which is providing TV, radio and online political-advertising services, VoterVoter is focusing on TV advertising for now, although a source said it has plans to expand. VoterVoter is also targeting individuals who want to place ads directly on TV rather than the campaigns, saying that it allows those individuals to avoid the $4,600 limit on campaign contributions to a candidate.
"Some individuals sponsor cocktail parties to meet their favorite candidates," VoterVoter.com founder Eric Mathewson said in announcing the new service. "Now, with VoterVoter.com, passionate citizens can influence literally millions of their fellow voters by purchasing TV time.”
VoterVoter is an equal-opportunity advertiser, planning ready-made ads in support of Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), as well as congressional and gubernatorial candidates and issues. But like Spot Runner, VoterVoter.com will provide end-to-end services for those looking to produce and place ads, including providing demographic targeting and even filings with the Federal Election Commission.
WideOrbit said it has already generated "several hundred-thousand dollars" worth of passion in the form of insertion orders in its "pre-launch" phase.
Elsewhere on the online-ad-placement front, Internet-radio ad company TargetSpot was looking to get campaigns to jump on its online bandwagon by offering them matching funds, pledging to match up to the first $500 of any money that a "valid electoral committee" applies toward its online platform for purchasing radio campaign spots.
TargetSpot was pitching its new site as ideal for local campaigns.
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