With an advertisement spent share of around 32%, the BJP has topped the chart of political advertisers on Google. Its rival Congress, however, is ranked sixth with 0.14% share.

According to the internet giant’s Indian Transparency Report released recently, Rs 3.76 crore has been spent on advertisements since February 19, 2019, by political parties and their affiliates.

What does the report say?

The report said that the  Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP turned out to be the top advertiser with Rs 1.21 crore as its total advertising expense, which accounts for around  32% of the total advertisement expenses on Google. Congress, on the other hand, ranked sixth with a total expenditure of Rs 54,100 on Google.

The report further said that Andhra Pradesh’s Jagan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party came after BJP, with a total expenditure of Rs 1.04 crore on advertisements. To promote candidates of YSR Congress Party, another advertiser, Pammi Sai Charan Reddy, spent Rs 26,400.

The third rank was taken by Pramanya Strategy Consulting Private Limited, which was promoting the Telugu Desam Party or TDP and its chief Chandrababu Naidu, with a total expenditure of 85.25 lakh on advertisements.

Another entity that promoted Naidu and his party, Digital Consulting Pvt Ltd, was ranked fourth with an advertisement expenditure of Rs 63.43 lakh.

The report said that advertisement of four of 11 political advertisers was blocked by Google because of violation of its ad policy.

Earlier, Facebook had announced rules to change the way political ads appear, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election. It had said that posts will only appear with “Published by” or “Paid for by” that advisers have specified. An Ad Library being developed by Facebook will allow users to learn more about politics-related ads. This would include a whole range of impressions and spend and demographics of those who saw the ad.

Also Read: Facebook Announces Transparency Rules To Change The Way Political Ads Appear