Facebook Ad Report Puts Beto O’Rourke as Top Spender, After Facebook
- Senate candidate, Trump’s PAC lead list of political marketers
- But the company itself spent the most on ads in this category
Facebook Inc. said the top spender on political ads on its sites since May was U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, who is challenging Republican Ted Cruz in Texas.
The social network released a new Ad Archive report as part of an effort to be more transparent about political promotions after Russian operatives used its service to stir up conflict in the U.S. around the 2016 presidential race. O’Rourke, whose Beto for Texas campaign shelled out $5.37 million on Facebook sites from May to Oct. 20, was the biggest spender in that period on ads "related to politics and issues of national importance," Facebook said. He was followed by President Donald Trump’s political action committee, the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, which spent $3.14 million.