Be the Media - Cheap, Decentralized Ad Campaigns

I agree with Kevin that Chris Bowers' latest post outlining how he's running his own online advertising campaign using Google Adwords is awesome, and you should all go read it.

I also want to add that it's a super-cheap strategy. Bowers is spending essentially $10 a day for thousands of impressions arguing against McCain/Palin. With only 50 odd days left before the election, that's peanuts for an organization, and at that price point it's even feasible for college students to run ads for a few days or a week.

I think Bower's claims are a little over-blown about this being the equivalent of a decentralized, grassroots 527 (but hey, maybe I'm wrong). TV and Web Video are probably way more effective than Google Adwords, so I don't think this can have nearly the impact of a Swift Boat or Vote Vets ad campaign, no matter how many people participate. But I think this is still significant and incredibly doable.

If you are volunteering as much as you can but want to do more, or if you are frustrated by the Obama media strategy, as Bowers is, this isn't a bad alternative for doing something useful.