Google’s massively successful online advertising platform AdWords is now able to show ads to Web users in specific congressional districts across the country, the search giant announced on Friday. The new feature will give Congressional campaigns yet another means of targeting voters.
The new ads, which can pop up on any Google websites or millions of other partner websites (Google says its ads reach 80 percent of U.S. web users), will be visible even in new and irregularly shaped districts that cut across multiple zip codes. As Google’s head of elections Charles Scrase wrote in an official company blog post:
“Now, with congressional district targeting in AdWords, campaigns can quickly and easily target their search, display, mobile and video ads *solely* within that particular district’s border…
We’ve built a sizeable team that is working around the clock to help all candidates get the most from their online advertising efforts. Congressional District Targeting in AdWords is just one more way that we’re working hard to deliver better ads for users and voters and better tools for political campaigns.
It remains to be seen just how creative Congressional campaigns get with these online ads. Stay tuned.
