AOL launched a web portal, AOL Advertising Politics, on July 22, targeting politicians interested in online display advertising, beginning with the 2010 election season.
The politics hub has two main components. One is the Ad Desk for Politics, a how-to guide that provides tips to help campaigns and issue advocacy groups reach voters and what the company calls “key influencers” using display advertising in a targeted manner. These include congressional district targeting, as well as geographic, demographic and behavioral targeting. In addition, AOL created a “Display University” microsite where marketers can create their campaigns or build upon existing ones.
“We want to be the best source for digital content on the web,” said Rena Shapiro, director of political and issue advocacy accounts.
Within the Ad Desk, marketers can choose from categories such as fundraising, camp organization and field management and issue advocacy in order to choose the right track for their objective.
The company created Ad Desk, a self-serve display ad management tool, in April, which fuels the politics hub. AOL created the new site internally.
“Our hope is to be at the forefront of changing the way candidates buy media,” Shapiro said.
