 "Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat ad")
With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections drawing close, it appears that parties and politicians have upped their ad game with pro-government ads leading the race on social media. You can view the complete data here.
The monthly report (February 1-March 2) put out by Facebook, in its effort to increase transparency, shows that Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat spent over Rs 1 crore — the highest amount — for running 1,168 advertisements across Facebook/Instagram. Moreover, these ads ran without any disclaimer. According to Facebook, "When an advertiser categorizes their ad as being related to politics or an issue of national importance, they are required to disclose who paid for the ad.If an ad ran without a disclaimer, this field will say, "These ads ran without a disclaimer." This means that after the ad started running, we determined it was related to politics and issues of national importance and required the label. The ad was taken down."
The list also shows that the top three advertisers are all pro-government pages, namely — Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat, Nation with NaMo and MyGov India, the only verified account amongst the top three. They cumulatively spend over Rs 1.7 crore for promoting 1,913 ads, that too, without running any disclaimer.
Screenshots of two ads by 'Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat' Facebook page
From February 2019 to March 2, 2019, the official page “Bharat Ki Mann Ki Baat” spent over Rs 18 lakh on advertising 338 different ads across Facebook and Instagram. In second place is a page called “Nation with NaMo”, having spent nearly Rs 12 lakh during the same month with 443 ads. In third place is “MyGov India” with Rs 9 lakh being spent on nine ads.
Screenshot of two ads by 'Nation with NaMo' Facebook page
A screenshot of the ads put out by MyGov India Facebook page
However, all three pages also sponsored ads with disclaimers and spent over Rs 39 lakh in 840 ads collectively. Interestingly, MyGov India spent Rs 913,786 in just nine ads in February.
At the 10th position in the list is the verified page of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that spent Rs 660,404 for two ads with the disclaimer of its handle name.
Here are the top 20 page names in order of the highest amount spent:
Here are the top 20 page names in order of the highest amount spent:
| Page Name | Disclaimer | Amount Spent (Rs) | Number of Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 10160240 | 1168 |
| Nation with NaMo | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 5224296 | 631 |
| MyGov India | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 2527349 | 114 |
| Dailyhunt App | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 2219395 | 14 |
| Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat | Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat | 1847555 | 388 |
| Nation with NaMo | Nation with NaMo | 1186079 | 443 |
| Dailyhunt | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 1094011 | 2 |
| Great Learning | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 1087656 | 16 |
| MyGov India | Akash Jain | 913786 | 9 |
| Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) | Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) | 660404 | 2 |
| BabyChakra | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 623766 | 1 |
| Karnataka Towards Development | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 620267 | 9 |
| Naveen Patnaik | Sasmit Patra | 448672 | 13 |
| Transforming India | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 373801 | 4 |
| Public | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 321889 | 92 |
| NaMo Merchandise | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 317852 | 41 |
| Inshorts | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 302464 | 30 |
| HousingMan | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 239361 | 89 |
| Amit Shah | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 212071 | 1 |
Naveen Patnaik stands out
Leaving all politicians behind, the official page of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has spent the most — Rs 862,981 — on 32 ads in February. These have been published by Sasmit Patra, Biju Janata Dal Odisha and unknown sources.
Following him is BJP chief Amit Shah's official page that spent Rs 212,071 on just one ghost advertisement.
| Page Name | Disclaimer | Amount Spent (Rs) | Number of Ads |
| Naveen Patnaik | Sasmit Patra | 448672 | 13 |
| Naveen Patnaik | Biju Janata Dal Odisha | 208135 | 14 |
| Naveen Patnaik | These ads ran without a disclaimer | 206174 | 5 |
Top search items
The Facebook report also stated that from February 24 to March 2, the top search words searched on Facebook and Instagram were "bjp, modi, congress, narendra modi and India."
