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> We found that two accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency spent a total of $4,700 on our platforms during the

by rdtsc 9y ago

> We found that two accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency spent a total of $4,700 on our platforms during the 2016 election cycle. This figure covers both search and display ads. > Publisher products: We found less than $35 in AdSense and Ad Exchange revenue from ads on associated sites. Then Facebook we found spent $100k on ads. Twitter apparently went directly to RT and implored them to target Americans with an ad campaign. Then made a brave and patriotic move to publicly tell them off recently. Mueller was investigating for months and got Manafort for tax evasion and other corruption mostly around 2014 or so. That was when he was in bed with the Democratic lobby group headed by Tony Podesta, who apparently now is stepping down as well https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/30/tony-podesta-stepping-down-from-lobbying-giant-amid-mueller-probe-244314 https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/30/tony-podesta-stepp.... Clinton campaign: spent $1B+, had most of the large media conglomerates on her side, Wall Street, major tech companies sponsor and support her, debate questions passed to her ahead of time, best campaign managers, sitting president flying and campaigning on her behalf, and somehow some ads on Facebook and $5000 spent on Google overturned the result of the election? Is this enough to convince everyone that there is probably no grand Russian collusion and they have been believing a conspiracy theory? Not really. After heading the wrong way for such a long time, it is hard to swallow ones pride and say "Oops, been driving the wrong way for about half a day, should definitely turn around". That's surprisingly hard to do, and is the reason people end up stranded in the desert or on an unmarked road in the mountains in a snow storm. Or another example would be the people in those doomsday cults, who surprisingly stay with the cult even after the end of the world date passes uneventfully. You'd think it would be pretty clear by then what's going on. But no, there is a new date set, and they stay and start believing ever more fervently than before.

euyyn 9y ago
The existence or not of collusion is independent on whether said collusion was ineffective or unnecessary. The allure of populist retoric is very powerful, and this election showed it's a weak spot in the American system.
- mc32 9y ago
  It's not a weakspot in the system. It's the system reminding politicians not to forget their masses. Even Democrats are looking for ways to get back to their bread and butter blue collar voters[1] (the unionists who went for Trump and Sanders). The Dems (and neocon Reps) forgot about Joe and Jill sixpack and for decades advocated for business elites at the expense of these people. These people have found a voice in populists like Trump and Sanders --they are not going away. It's the 80s with the rusting of American industry but now with a bit of revenge for all the exported jobs and job uncertainty and the advent of "sharing" economy and prominence of the "temp" workforce. Of course, these neoliberal policies had some good, they are responsible for China's rise and bringing modernity and rising living standards as well as more affordable but also more disposable goods (not sure that's a good outcome in the long run --but certainly made some goods more affordable to the now struggling American middle class) It's no secret neocons and Dems were enamored with free trade at the expense of blue collar voters who took stock and saw that their traditional Dem allies had sold them out. [1]https://www.thenation.com/article/what-killed-the-democratic-party/ https://www.thenation.com/article/what-killed-the-democratic...
- ben_jones 9y ago
  Weak spot? Its the administrative password.
- reitanqild 9y ago
  > The existence or not of collusion is independent on whether said collusion was ineffective or unnecessary. Am I misreading you or are you effectively saying that non-existent collusion can be as effective as existing collusion? I've read it three times now. (As usual I guess I should point out the sitting POTUS is and was not my preferred choice.)
  - euyyn 9y ago
    Nah, I'm rebutting the argument of "the effect of any possible collusion was small, so no collusion existed".
thisisit 9y ago
I wonder if these companies can be trusted enough to provide accurate information, they might be tempted to downplay the amount spend on their platforms. An example of this is Twitter. While they kicked RT off their platform, they did not come out openly saying - well we asked them to target Americans.

by rdtsc 9y ago

euyyn 9y ago

The existence or not of collusion is independent on whether said collusion was ineffective or unnecessary. The allure of populist retoric is very powerful, and this election showed it's a weak spot in the American system.

mc32 9y ago
It's not a weakspot in the system. It's the system reminding politicians not to forget their masses. Even Democrats are looking for ways to get back to their bread and butter blue collar voters[1] (the unionists who went for Trump and Sanders). The Dems (and neocon Reps) forgot about Joe and Jill sixpack and for decades advocated for business elites at the expense of these people. These people have found a voice in populists like Trump and Sanders --they are not going away. It's the 80s with the rusting of American industry but now with a bit of revenge for all the exported jobs and job uncertainty and the advent of "sharing" economy and prominence of the "temp" workforce. Of course, these neoliberal policies had some good, they are responsible for China's rise and bringing modernity and rising living standards as well as more affordable but also more disposable goods (not sure that's a good outcome in the long run --but certainly made some goods more affordable to the now struggling American middle class) It's no secret neocons and Dems were enamored with free trade at the expense of blue collar voters who took stock and saw that their traditional Dem allies had sold them out. [1]https://www.thenation.com/article/what-killed-the-democratic-party/ https://www.thenation.com/article/what-killed-the-democratic...
ben_jones 9y ago
Weak spot? Its the administrative password.
reitanqild 9y ago
> The existence or not of collusion is independent on whether said collusion was ineffective or unnecessary. Am I misreading you or are you effectively saying that non-existent collusion can be as effective as existing collusion? I've read it three times now. (As usual I guess I should point out the sitting POTUS is and was not my preferred choice.)
- euyyn 9y ago
  Nah, I'm rebutting the argument of "the effect of any possible collusion was small, so no collusion existed".

thisisit 9y ago

I wonder if these companies can be trusted enough to provide accurate information, they might be tempted to downplay the amount spend on their platforms. An example of this is Twitter. While they kicked RT off their platform, they did not come out openly saying - well we asked them to target Americans.

> We​ ​found​ ​that​ ​two​ ​accounts​ ​linked​ ​to​ ​the​ ​Internet​ ​Research​ ​Agency​ ​spent​ ​a​ ​total​ ​of​ ​$4,700​ ​on​ ​our platforms​ ​during​ ​the​ ​

> We​ ​found​ ​that​ ​two​ ​accounts​ ​linked​ ​to​ ​the​ ​Internet​ ​Research​ ​Agency​ ​spent​ ​a​ ​total​ ​of​ ​$4,700​ ​on​ ​our platforms​ ​during​ ​the​ ​

> We found that two accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency spent a total of $4,700 on our platforms during the

> We found that two accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency spent a total of $4,700 on our platforms during the