Personal Democracy Forum – Kerry and Others Use Search Ads to Influence Bolton Nomination Debate

Kerry and Others Use Search Ads to Influence Bolton Nomination Debate
By Kate Kaye, 04/08/2005 - 10:40pm

Wow -- has anybody noticed all the paid links that result from a Google search for John Bolton, Bush's nominee as Ambassador to the UN? It looks like both detractors and supporters are gearing up for a tough match when his nomination is reviewed next week:

There's an Action Alert from Council for a Livable World featuring a online form letter visitors can complete and send to their Senators.

Diplomats Against Bolton want Bolton-bashers to sign an online petition already signed by a slew of ex-US Ambassadors.

Then there's the plea from Citizens for Global Solutions for donations to put their ad, automatically streaming on the site, on the boob tube.

RightMarch.com -- damn, dirty capitalists that they are -- are linking to their paid service to blast faxes to Senators in support of Bolton.

And, get this: John Kerry's got an interesting angle on the Bolton battle. He's asking folks to call Senator Lincoln Chaffee, moderate Rhode Island Republican, to vote against the Bolt. Then, he wants the callers to provide their contact info.

Looks like advocacy groups are realizing the benefits of search advertising, which can be a great way to attract people when they've got something specific on their minds. When I searched for "John Bolton" on MSN and Yahoo, no paid search links came up. Go figure....

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Spitzer in on the Search Ad Act, Too

Hmmm...just catchin' up on a couple newsletters and spotted, this piece from MediaPost about NY Attorney General and wannabe King of the World, Elliot Spitzer's purchase of Google sponsored links for keyword "AIG," the latest firm to feel his wrath.

As it turns out, our very own Michael Bassik was interviewed for the story. Man, that boy gets around....

(Also, for the record, I've written for MediaPost as a daily contributing writer and continue to write for their print pub.)

Kate Kaye
Associate Editor
Personal Democracy Forum

By Kate Kaye at Fri, 04/08/2005 - 23:55 | email this page

Technology and the Internet are changing democracy in America. Personal Democracy Forum is a hub for the exciting conversation underway between political professionals, technologists, and anyone else invigorated by the remarkable potential of technology to engage citizens in the democratic process.