By\u00a0BETH FOUHY\u00a0|\u00a0AP<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 As potential voters in New Hampshire and Iowa scan the Internet, they probably are seeing ads for\u00a0Republican Mitt Romney\u00a0and\u00a0President Barack Obama\u00a0alongside deals for shoes and holiday gifts.<\/p>\n
The campaign ads will then follow those voters around the Web, popping up on news sites,\u00a0Google\u00a0searches and on social networking sites like Facebook.<\/p>\n
Online advertising, once used primarily as a way to reach young and heavily wired consumers, has emerged as an essential communications tool in the 2012 presidential contest. While few expect\u00a0Web ads\u00a0to supplant television commercials anytime soon, strategists say online ads may be the most nimble, efficient and cost-effective way to reach voters.<\/p>\n
“Online advertising\u00a0cuts through because of its ability to target. It’s unparalleled in any other medium,” said Romney’s digital director,Zac Moffatt. “TV may be more effective for driving a big message, but per usage, the Internet is more powerful. We are probably one presidential cycle from everyone believing that.”<\/p>\n
Web ads can take many forms, from small display boxes to clickable videos to 15- or 30-second commercials known as “pre-rolls” a viewer sees before the start of a news clip or YouTube video.<\/p>\n
While campaigns invest heavily in television ads to reach a mass audience, Web ads are geared specifically to people based on their ZIP code, demographics and, most importantly, their Internet browsing history.<\/p>\n
That means someone who has visited the Obama campaign website probably will start seeing his ads on a number of different Web pages. Those who use Google to search for information on the Republican candidates might notice a Romney campaign pre-roll the next time they watch a TV show online.<\/p>\n
Campaigns also buy ads on websites that cater to the different demographic groups the campaigns are hoping to reach.<\/p>\n
“When someone expresses interest in politics online, it’s an incredibly good time for the campaigns to talk to them,” said Andrew Roos, a Google account leader who works with Democratic campaigns on Web ad strategy. “You want to grab people when they are paying attention and ask them to take another action, like send money or attend an offline event. It’s an old-school organization principle that has been working its way online.”<\/p>\n
Campaigns were slow to adapt to online advertising even as the corporate world flocked to the Web with product ads years ago. Internet ad revenue climbed to nearly $7.9 billion in the third quarter of 2011, up 22 percent from the same time last year, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau, which tracks online ad spending.<\/p>\n
Corporations now spend from 18 percent to 28 percent of their\u00a0advertising\u00a0budget online, while campaigns historically have spent no more than 5 percent.<\/p>\n