(Image source from: Patrika.com)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bombarded Internet users in India with a multitude of political advertisements on various Google platforms, such as Google Search and YouTube, during February 2024, leading up to the general elections. Interestingly, the party spent over double the amount it had previously spent in the four-month period leading up to the 2019 elections. However, Google removed over 50% of these video ads due to policy violations.

According to data from the Google Ads Transparency Centre, the BJP invested Rs 29.7 crore in just 30 days (from January 29 to February 28), showcasing more than 12,600 ads, with the majority being videos (75%). These ads were primarily aimed at promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government's initiatives in various Indian languages. In contrast, the party had only spent Rs 12.3 crore in the same four-month period prior to the 2019 elections. On the other hand, the main opposition party, Indian National Congress (INC), spent Rs 2.99 crore during the same time frame, but did not utilize Google ads in February 2024.

The expenditure of nearly Rs 30 crore in just 30 days is a strong indication of the increasing prominence of online political advertising in India, particularly when considering the BJP's overall spending of Rs 79 crore thus far. In the span of four years, from February 2019 to February 2023, the BJP invested a substantial amount of Rs 33 crore in Facebook ads, as reported by Business Line. Majority of the Google ads in the recent month were strategically aimed at voters residing in north Indian states governed by the BJP or its alliance partners. However, it is worth mentioning that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) holds power in Delhi and Punjab, making them the exceptions to this trend.