New Delhi: Political parties have spent more than Rs 37 crore on 831 election advertisements since 19 February on Google platforms, according to the search engine giant’s Indian Transparency Report released today.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the top advertiser with a total advertisement expense of Rs 1.21 crore for 554 ads, which accounted for 32 per cent of the total ad expenditure on Google.
Rival Congress ranked a distant sixth with an expenditure of Rs 54,100 on 14 ads, accounting for a meagre 0.14 per cent share.
At the second position is Jagan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party, which spent over Rs 1.04 crore on 107 Google ads. Pammi Sai Charan Reddy, another advertiser which spent Rs 26,400 on 43 ads to promote YSR Congress Party candidates, emerged seventh on the list.
Pramanya Strategy Consulting Private Limited and Digital Consulting Pvt Ltd, which promotes the Telugu Desham Party (TDP) and its chief Chandrababu Naidu, ranked third and fourth on the list respectively. Pramanya Strategy advertisement expenditure stood at Rs 85.25 lakh for 53 ads, while that of Digital Consulting was Rs 63.43 lakh for 36 ads.
The highest amount on election advertisements of Rs 1.73 crore was reported from Andhra Pradesh, followed by Telangana where parties spent over Rs 72 lakh, Uttar Pradesh over Rs 18 lakh and Maharashtra over Rs 17 lakh.
Google also blocked the advertisement of four of 11 political advertiser due to the violation of its ad policy, it said.
“Our goal is to provide greater transparency in political advertising on Google, YouTube, and partner properties. This report includes information about Lok Sabha election ads that feature or are run by a political party, a political candidate, or a current member of the Lok Sabha,” said the tech giant in a statement.