They spent 1475 euros on internet advertising and won the Dutch elections

Parliamentary elections were held in the Netherlands last Wednesday. In the run-up to the election, political parties invested hundreds of thousands of euros in internet advertising. However, the winning party, PVV, only spent 1475 euros on such campaigning.

The parliamentary elections in the Netherlands were won by the PVV party. The right-wing Party for Freedom, under the leadership of Geert Wilders, secured as many as 37 seats. Although their budget for internet advertising was substantially lower than that of their political adversaries, PVV only invested 1475 euros in online promotion.

The United Left (PvdA/GL), PVV's strongest competitor, ended up in second place in the lower house parliamentary elections. Just in October, it invested a whopping 508,000 euros in internet advertising.

According to Prof. Fabio Votta from the University of Amsterdam, the belief that the number of Facebook ads directly correlates with the number of votes is a misconception. Votta's theory is seemingly supported by the fact that the Social Contract (NSC) party led by Pieter Omtzigt, which obtained the fourth position with 20 seats, didn't spend any funds on an internet campaign.

A representative of the group informed the weekly "De Groene Amsterdammer" that the new party simply didn't have the financial means for it. NSC also did not invest in billboards, newspaper ads, or television spots.

However, the absence of internet advertisements does not imply that PVV and NSC were not active online. Geert Wilders' social media videos frequently went viral, rendering further advertising superfluous.