From the Financial Times:

Kamala Harris has spent 10 times as much as Donald Trump on digital advertising since becoming the Democrat’s presidential candidate, a sign the campaigns are diverging in their tactics to reach voters and small-dollar donors. Harris has spent $57mn on Google and Meta ads since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, compared with just $5.6mn by Trump, according to a Financial Times analysis, as the Republican conserves cash and relies on traditional media to carry his message. The Democratic candidate’s digital ad blitz is part of $139mn spent on the tech platforms by the Biden-Harris campaign since the start of the year, compared with $22.5mn from Trump and groups supporting his run. The digital spending surge from Harris has in turn helped draw money into her campaign war chest for an election battle against Trump that is expected to be the costliest White House race ever….

Trump’s digital operation this year contrasts with his campaign in 2020, which had spent $91mn on online ads by this point in the year. All told, he spent $275mn on Facebook and Google adds during his failed campaign in 2020. Trump’s spending gap between last cycle and this one has raised eyebrows among advertising experts who spoke with the FT….

Katie Harbath, a tech policy consultant and former political strategist and elections director at Facebook, said adverts on the platform had also lost some significance. “Meta in particular has made [changes] deprioritising politics, and also now has fewer options for how you can microtarget the data,” Harbath said. “From what I’ve been hearing, Facebook ads are not performing as well for getting emails or donations.”