Banner ads are usually flashy, horizontal advertisements. Clicking on one with a mouse will often take a computer user to a whole new Web site. Yet the first banner ads for political candidates are just appearing. In the days before California's June 2 primary, state Sen. Tim Leslie ran banner ads in his successful bid for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Consultants and political observers agree that Net advertising is the next big thing in promotional politics.
Companies are often willing to risk missing their targets.
But a politician who does so can do himself irreparable harm. Candidates in Orange County, Calif., and North Carolina recently sent unsolicited e-mail ads to thousands of recipients, infuriating many of them. A San Francisco consultant who had planned to dump 500,000 copies of unsolicited e-mail recommending certain Democratic politicians changed his mind at the last minute when the candidates began to fear a backlash.