Labor spends more than Coalition on election TV ads but Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots leads YouTube outlay

The Australian Labor party has outspent the Coalition on television advertising this election, but Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots has spent more than everyone on YouTube, where he has forked out more than $4m. However, Trumpet of Patriots is not far behind the ALP, spending $5.6m on traditional TV ads. Spending on YouTube by political parties rose significantly during the early weeks of the campaign, potentially reflecting the platform’s capacity to be used for tactical seat-by-seat messaging. “This election has seen a twenty-fold increase in political advertising spend on YouTube compared with the last federal election,” Lohman said. On YouTube, as of the start of this week, the Coalition was behind Trumpet of Patriots’ spend ($4.2m) on $2.3m, but ahead of the ALP’s $2m.