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Bloomberg ads served by Google and Facebook since you opened this article
Based on 2 billion ads served in 43 days of 2020
Analysis Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events.
Bloomberg’s immense spending gets him 30,000 online ads a minute, and a whole lot more
In case you haven’t scrolled through Facebook, walked past a television, Googled a presidential candidate or watched a YouTube video recently, you should know: Mike Bloomberg wants your vote for president. The billionaire’s self-funded campaign has flooded the airwaves, search results and social media with his ads, helping to propel him into a tie for third place in The Washington Post’s polling average and land a spot on the debate stage Wednesday.
This year, Google and Facebook have served up 2 billion Bloomberg ads, which works out to 30,000 a minute. Of course, the number probably dips when people are offline and rises during big primary events that Bloomberg advertises around. Since joining the race in November, he has outspent all other candidates combined on Google by more than $10 million.
Weekly advertising spending on Google
$6 million
$5.4
million
Bloomberg
$4
$2
Other Democrats
0
Oct.
Feb.
National Washington Post
polling average
30%
Biden
Sanders
20
Warren
14%
Bloomberg
10
0
Oct.
Feb.
Weekly advertising
spending on Google
National Washington Post
polling average
$6 million
30%
Biden
$5.4 million
Bloomberg
Sanders
20
$4
Warren
14%
Bloomberg
10
$2
Other Democrats
0
0
Oct.
Feb.
Oct.
Feb.
But digital platforms like Google and Facebook represent just a slice of his ad budget. When combined with television, Bloomberg’s spending is truly staggering. We’ve done our best to contextualize it below.
The scale of Bloomberg’s advertising budget
How much Bloomberg has spent this year on digital and television advertising as of Feb. 14, according to Advertising Analytics.
Let’s start with a scroll through Bloomberg’s spending on digital ads. As of Friday, he has spent $50 million this year on online platforms, which include sponsored posts in Google search results and Facebook and Instagram feeds, as well as video ads on YouTube.
President Trump’s entire ad spending this year — digital, broadcast and cable — amounts to nearly $20 million. That’s more than most Democratic candidates have spent in 2020. But Bloomberg’s spending is on another level. He has bought more advertising on Facebook alone than Trump has on digital and television.
Bloomberg regularly outspends all other Democrats across platforms. He bankrolled more than $5 million in Google ads just last week, almost ten times as much as any of his rivals.
Campaigns have different strategies for targeting their ads, so simply comparing amounts spent does not say everything. But Bloomberg’s spending cannot be ignored.
Even Tom Steyer, the other billionaire in the race, stops well short of Bloomberg’s spending totals.
You’ve just entered the second phase of the chart, representing how much Bloomberg has spent on television ads.
You may have seen Bloomberg’s ad during the Super Bowl. That 60-second spot cost him a cool $11 million.
Trump also aired a Super Bowl ad, in what could be a preview of an expensive air-wars general election should Bloomberg win the Democratic nomination.
You’re almost halfway there. But first, note this mile marker. This is what all other Democrats still running have spent this year — combined. Including Steyer!
The non-billionaire candidates have become more vocal about their criticism of Bloomberg, accusing him of buying his way into the primary race. They’ll have a chance to push that message in prime time this week, as Bloomberg has qualified for his first debate.
He has missed debates because the Democratic National Committee previously required candidates to prove their grass-roots support by earning a certain number of unique donors to qualify for the debates. Bloomberg isn’t fundraising; he’s spending his own money.
But the DNC changed that rule for Wednesday night’s debate, enabling Bloomberg to qualify based on his strong polling numbers alone.
Bloomberg purposely skipped the early states in favor of going big on Super Tuesday. Not everyone had that luxury, but he can afford to compete — and dominate the airwaves — everywhere.
And by everywhere, we mean everywhere. A recent Yahoo News-YouGov poll found that two-thirds of registered voters have seen a Bloomberg ad on TV.
It might be hard to fathom the millions …
… and millions …
… and millions of dollars of Bloomberg’s wealth he’s spending on TV ads here. Luckily, our Post colleagues created a tool to help you put it in the context of your own budget.
Bloomberg’s rise has prompted more scrutiny of his record as a business executive and mayor of New York, including lawsuits alleging discrimination against women and sexual harassment, and his previous comments blaming crime on minorities.
While Bloomberg has been a prolific political donor, he stepped up his giving after the Citizens United-related rulings that opened up the possibility for rich donors to support specific candidates and issues.
In the 2018 midterms, for instance, the super PAC floated by Bloomberg spent $65 million to get Democrats elected to the House.
Beyond spending on advertising, Bloomberg has indulged supporters in unique ways, such as offering free food and wine at campaign events.
Whether Democratic voters give the nomination to Bloomberg — the 12th richest person in the world — remains to be seen. But barring an incredible turn of events, he stands to dominate the spending race.
Each rectangle represents
$100,000 spent
$100K
Bloomberg’s advertising on digital
$50 million spent
$10M
$19 million
Trump’s spending on digital and TV
$20M
$5.4 million
Bloomberg Google
spending, Feb. 9 to 16
$71K
Warren
$385K
Sanders
$53K
Gabbard
$556K
$504K
Steyer
Klobuchar
$35K
$365K
Biden
Buttigieg
$49 million
Steyer’s spending on digital and TV ads
$50M
Bloomberg’s advertising on television
$183 million spent
$60M
$11 million
Cost of Bloomberg’s
Super Bowl ad
$80M
$90M
$100 million
Combined digital and TV spending
of all other Democrats still running
$110M
$120M
$140M
$150M
$160M
$170M
$180M
$190M
$200M
$210M
$220M
$233 million
Mike Bloomberg’s spending on digital and TV
Each rectangle represents
$100,000 spent
$100K
Bloomberg’s advertising on digital
$50 million spent
$10 million
$19 million
Trump’s spending on digital and TV
$20 million
$5.4 million
Bloomberg spending on Google,
Feb. 9 to 16
$385K
Sanders
$71K
Warren
$53K
Gabbard
$504K
$556K
Klobuchar
Steyer
$35K
$365K
Biden
Buttigieg
$49 million
Steyer’s
spending on digital and
TV ads
$50 million
Bloomberg’s advertising on television
$183 million spent
$100K
$60 million
$11 million
Cost of Bloomberg’s
Super Bowl ad
$70 million
$80 million
$90 million
$100 million
Combined digital and TV spending of all other Democrats still running
Biden, Buttigieg, Gabbard, Klobuchar, Sanders, Steyer and Warren
$110 million
$120 million
$130 million
$140 million
$150 million
$160 million
$170 million
$180 million
$190 million
$200 million
$210 million
$220 million
$233 million
Mike Bloomberg’s spending on digital and TV
Each rectangle represents
$100,000 spent
$100K
Bloomberg’s advertising on digital
$50 million spent
$10M
$19 million
Trump’s spending on digital and TV
$20M
$5.4 million
Bloomberg Google
spending, Feb. 9 to 16
$71K
$385K
Warren
Sanders
$53K
Gabbard
$504K
$556K
Klobuchar
Steyer
$365K
$35K
Biden
Buttigieg
$49 million
Steyer’s spending on digital and TV ads
$50M
Bloomberg’s advertising on television
$183 million spent
$100K
$60M
$11 million
Cost of Bloomberg’s
Super Bowl ad
$80M
$90M
$100 million
Combined digital and TV spending
of all other Democrats still running
$110M
$120M
$130M
$140M
$150M
$160M
$170M
$180M
$190M
$200M
$210M
$220M
$233 million
Mike Bloomberg’s spending on digital and TV
Each rectangle represents
$100,000 spent
$100K
Bloomberg’s advertising on digital
$50 million spent
$10M
$19 million
Trump’s spending on digital and TV
$20M
$5.4 million
Bloomberg Google
spending, Feb. 9 to 16
$71K
Warren
$385K
Sanders
$53K
Gabbard
$556K
$504K
Steyer
Klobuchar
$35K
$365K
Biden
Buttigieg
$49 million
Steyer’s spending on digital and TV ads
$50M
Bloomberg’s advertising on television
$183 million spent
$100K
$60M
$11 million
Cost of Bloomberg’s
Super Bowl ad
$80M
$90M
$100 million
Combined digital and TV spending
of all other Democrats still running
$110M
$120M
$140M
$150M
$160M
$170M
$180M
$200M
$210M
$220M
$233 million
Mike Bloomberg’s spending on digital and TV
About this story
Numbers in this story come from Advertising Analytics and the Facebook and Google political ad libraries. Most numbers in this story are for ads between Jan. 1 and Feb. 13. The figures for Trump include spending by the campaign and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee.
We calculated the number of impressions per minute using the Facebook and Google political ad libraries. Limiting our search to ads that started running on or after Jan. 1, we added up the total number of impressions and divided it by the number of minutes. Facebook and Google both report impressions in ranges. We used the lower bound of these ranges, meaning our calculation underestimates the true number.