Fidesz is running the most expensive political YouTube ads in Europe
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Fidesz has been running the most expensive political YouTube campaign in Europe for a month and a half. These videos, like the one entitled “Gyurcsány Show”, emphasise the connection between possible PM-candidate Gergely Karácsony and former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány.
On May 15, Gergely Karácsony, Lord Mayor of Budapest, announced that he would run in the pre-election of Prime Minister candidates. Fidesz apparently prepared for this and launched a huge communication campaign via Facebook and YouTube within a few hours, writes Telex. The videos shared on these platforms emphasised that Karácsony works for former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány.
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According to Telex, these videos uploaded to Fidesz’s channel are not set to public: users can only reach them through URL links or view them as advertisements before other videos. Thus, Telex suggests that the vast majority of the views come from the paid advertisements.
Telex has reviewed Google’s official Transparency Report, which documents political ads on the company’s interfaces. The system has been in operation since March 2019, and it has registered 2,601 political advertisements in Hungary ever since. The total cost of these advertisements was HUF 114 million.
