Louisiana votes for governor this month*, and intrepid Times-Picayune political reporter Julia O’Donoghue decided to see what happens when local voters Google the two surviving candidates, Republican David Vitter and Democrat John Bel Edwards. The results? Plenty of paid advertising, some of it linking to hit pieces: both candidates will find negative ads bought by the opposition if they search for their own names. Tactically, I love the one linking to “JohnBelObama.com”…even if someone doesn’t click, they may pick up the association subconsciously.
I point this out because 1) I was born in New Orleans and care what happens there, 2) I loathe David Vitter** and would love to see his political career crash and burn baby burn, and 3) I’m quoted in the article. A couple of paragraphs down, I got to highlight the fact that you can buy Google Ads cost-effectively if you do it wisely, for instance by the testing processes described in a certain ebook.
O’Donoghue also notes the high volume of Google searches on the candidates’ names leading up to Election Day, particular for Edwards. His relative search popularity may be an artififact of unfamiliarity, though: Louisiana voters already know Vitter well, while Edwards is less familiar. Let’s see what happens tonight.
– cpd
*Louisiana fooled me — I thought they voted today, but it’s in three weeks. Post edited to reflect.
**Perhaps I’m harsh; what’s NOT to love about a self-professed Christian man who votes to defund Planned Parenthood but also once pressured a prostitute to have an abortion after he got her pregnant. I mean, for real.