Clive Palmer’s United Australian Party (UAP) has spent millions on YouTube ads only for them to be removed for violating advertising policies – ouch!
But it is still unclear exactly why they were removed. So far we just know they violated YouTube’s advertising policies, still, we are yet to understand the specifics – currently over thirteen videos have been removed.
It is worth noting some of UAP’S videos criticise the government’s response to COVID-19 and allegedly share some unverified information, though we can only guess that may be the problem!
However, we do know, that Google’s transport report has found that UAP spent over 2.5 million dollars on YouTube ads, a pretty penny! Interestingly, the party started spending big on YouTube after Craig Kelly joined the party.
For comparison, The Guardian reported in October that UAP was spending 22 times more than any other political party in Australia.
Before the videos got banned, the investment was paying off. Journalist Ariel Bogle dedicated a whole Twitter thread to breaking down how the spending had made some ads by the political party go viral!
For instance, a video featuring Kelly racked up over 8 million views – a few months earlier a video by the party only racked up 4 thousand views.
https://twitter.com/arielbogle/status/1449960231761428481
To give some context into what the political party represents; Kelly has been very outspoken during the pandemic about lockdowns and refers to Victoria’s Premier Dan Andrews as Dictator Dan – so the videos often reflect these types of views.
Clive Palmer who is the founder of the party has made headlines throughout the year for the texts and letters he sends Australians – warning Australians to not get the COVID-19 vaccine. He also had ads he endorsed pulled from radio stations!
So they are known for having controversial and polarising views. Still, the party has never been cheap about its advertising and it will be interesting to see where they spend their money next, if YouTube isn’t prepared to air their ads!
Perhaps they’ll take to TikTok!
