“We’re in the position where tech companies
can’t even apply their own policies to what we’re
seeing,” said Mark Jablonowski, chief technology
officer at DSPolitical, a digital advertising firm
that has worked with several Democratic
campaigns this year. “It’s a different paradigm,
and this mix is likely to be effective.”
Bloomberg’s self-funded campaign allows him
to try out new online tactics and quickly buy an
online community that other candidates have
spent years building out.
Bloomberg has so far spent $55 million on
Facebook and Instagram ads, $9 million of that
in the past week. That compares to $33 million
spent so far by Republican President Donald
Trump, and $10 million overall spent by Vermont
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic rival.
Bloomberg even leads on Snapchat, an app
popular for sharing photos and short videos,
where political ad spending is negligible. All the
presidential campaigns combined have spent
roughly $788,000 -- with Bloomberg’s campaign
spending almost all of it: $686,000.
Earlier this month Bloomberg exposed
a loophole in Instagram’s policies to run
humorous, self-deprecating messages
promoting himself on accounts of popular
Instagram personalities with millions of
younger followers.