Politico Confirms an Epolitics Prediction: Online Ad Inventory Getting Tight

A Politico story today confirms something we’ve mentioned here before more than once: this year’s high level of spending by campaigns and outside groups is soaking up online ad inventory, particularly in battleground states. Back in April, plenty of folks at the CampaignTech conference were already talking about a potential drought in advertising space, particularly when it comes to pre-roll video. This morning, Politico’s Steve Friess and Emily Schultheis reported that the potential has become real:

This year’s dearth is the outcome of a domino effect that begins with an unprecedented amount of money being poured into the few states expected to decide the presidency.

“The TV ad inventory has been bought up and there’s only so much direct mail you can send, so the campaigns have to put their money somewhere and the only thing left to purchase is the online space,” said Jim Walsh, CEO of DSPolitical, a firm that places targeted Web ads for candidates both as pre-roll as well as embedded in banner ads.

Congrats on the quote, Jim! (Jim’s a good friend, and he’s also in my recent C&E piece on cookie-based voter-file targeting). Next up: as battleground inventory dries up, will outside organizations try to expand the field and invest in other parts of the country? Watch this space….

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Written by
Colin Delany
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