Political ads use your “voter score” in their ad valuations
When we think about targeted advertisements, the first thought that usually comes to mind is for a pair of jeans, perhaps a food delivery service, or whatever else we recently Googled. Yet, as this recently-published New York Times article reminds us, we live in a time where ads are not just used to entice us with a closet upgrade or an Alaskan cruise. Now, advertisements are tools to the political world, instruments to subtly influence individuals’ mindsets (and votes).
“Why Am I Seeing That Political Ad? Check Your ‘Trump Resistance’ Score.” by Natasha Singer discusses how ad tech firms help political campaigns target specific individuals based on a “voter score.” These voter scores are calculated from a slew of factors, such as socioeconomic status and online activity; then, advertisement firms use these scores to determine what political advertisements to show these individuals across various online platforms (e.g., video streaming, podcasts, apps).
The idea and use of a “voter score” are not new; however, given the exponentially growing tech industry and amount of online activity, the issues of privacy and ethics are definitely in question here. Motive to get the ideal advertisement slot goes beyond maximization of monetary payoffs; it includes political incentives (and no, the two are not mutually exclusive). Advertisements are purposed to persuade consumers to not only make financial purchases of certain goods or services, but to also vote in favor of a certain candidate or platform. But, how do advertisers value these advertisement slots? How do valuations of slots for financial gain differ from those of slots for political gain? Which is higher? Should slots for political incentives be allowed? If so, should there be an extra fee or tax for leveraging advertisements in such a way? And how much user information should be incorporated into these voter scores?
It is undoubtedly alarming to even consider how our information is being used to calculate voter scores and, thus, cultivate what we are scrolling past and subconsciously absorbing every day on our screens. The payoff for these advertisements must be great enough to support the market and ongoing operation of this voter score system, but the actual valuations, prices, and downstream consequences of the slots are still unclear and should be thoroughly explored. One can only hope for greater transparency in the political world and tech algorithms, not to mention their intersection. Until then, may we have the bandwidth to question the advertisements we are bombarded with, whether they are trying to get our money or our votes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/23/technology/voter-targeting-trump-score.html