Who's Behind Shadowy TV Ads?

Political TV Ad Archive gets a makeover to help track who is behind shadowy TV ads

by Libby Watson investigation

Sept. 14, 2016, 2:45 p.m.

Data about political ads isn’t easy to come by. There are several paid services that track political ad buys, like Kantar Media’s CMAG, but they’re expensive. These services certainly aren't an option for most journalists or ordinary citizens interested in tracking political spending on behalf of their elected officials. Also, news coverage of ad buys can lack specifics about where ads are going to run and how often.
But there are tools out there to help you track political ads. The Political TV Ad Archive allows citizens to match the ads they’re seeing on their TVs with information about where those ads are running, and the site just got a makeover.
The new site allows users to see ads being run on national cable and in 12 TV markets – most of which are swing states and therefore, the most likely places we’ll see heavy ad spending. These markets also cover five close Senate races, including Cleveland-Akron-Canton in Ohio, which is shaping up to be the most expensive Senate race this year: by August, more than $43 million had been spent, most of it on ads.
Read more >> http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2016/09/14/political-tv-ad-archive-gets-a-makeover-helps-track-who-is-behind-shadowy-tv-ads/