‘A Bloomberg Console’ for Campaigns: Firms Unveil Ad Data Tool

A pair of ad tech and data firms are rolling out what they’re touting as a “Bloomberg Console” for political ad tracking. 

Kinetiq Political Insights is the result of a partnership between the political ad agency National Media Insights and the media intelligence firm Kinetiq. The platform is intended to combine Kinetiq’s real-time ad detection data with National Media Insights’ political ad spend data to create an all-in-one system that campaigns, advocacy groups and agencies can use to tailor their media strategies.

“It redefines how we do creative capture across mediums, to understand in real time who’s doing what and where, like a Bloomberg Console,” Adam Wise, the chief innovation officer at National Media Insights, told C&E, joking that Kinetiq Political Insights is “like the [National Security Agency] for campaigns.”

As the paid-media landscape continues to expand – and quickly – campaigns are under more pressure than ever before to ramp up their competitive data operations, Wise said. In other words, “what you’re doing matters, but what other people are doing is more important,” he said.

An $11 Billion Business

Megan Saunders, the chief marketing officer at Kinetiq, told C&E that the partnership fills a void in the political advertising industry. The 2024 elections saw billions of dollars spent on advertising, and the 2026 midterms could also set a record for ad spending. Saunders said that combining Kinetiq’s ad tracking and performance data with National Media Insights’ spend data has immense value for campaigns.

“We saw something like $11 billion spent on political advertising last year, so there’s obviously a huge demand,” Saunders said. “There’s a lot of spend in this market.”

Wise said that National Media Insights has offered similar research and ad spend data to its clients in the past. But the firm’s partnership with Kinetiq means that the platform will be made available on the open market for the first time, and users will have access to a larger suite of features, including insights into exactly when and where an ad ran, performance tracking tools and the video creative.

At a practical level, campaigns and agencies that use the platform will be able to see in real time, not only how much their allies and opponents are spending or scheduling on television – including CTV – but what kind of content they’re airing. 

“Imagine you wake up at five in the morning and look at your email inbox and you see every new ad that started running that day,” Wise said. “Then you can go and log into the dashboard and you see exactly where your deficits are, and use that to inform what to do.”