In contrast, when Facebook or Google sells a political ad, there is no public record of that sale. During the 2016 election, over $1.4bn was spent in online advertising, which represented a 789 percent increase over the 2012 election. However, while regulations governing television, radio and print ads are long established, there is little oversight in place for digital political ads. Broadcast television and radio stations are legally mandated to record who bought political ads and how muchthey spent. The FEC has reopened a comment period on its rule on disclaimers for online political advertising.

Source: The Guardian September 17, 2017 11:26 UTC