Okay Google, How Should I Vote?

Voice search could be the next frontier in political advertising

As I filled out my mail-in ballot during the recent midterms, smartphone in hand, I used Google to pull up a ballot guide from New Era Colorado. Then I remembered my Google Home Mini was in the room, and I thought to myself, Is anyone asking Google Voice who to vote for? Who would it suggest? So I asked.

As our dependency on voice search increases, it will likely affect voters’ perceptions of candidates. We’re are already beginning to trust Alexa’s voice as a subject matter expert. An Adobe Analytics survey reports that as of August, 32 percent of consumers own a smart speaker, and adoption is trending up. Of the consumers surveyed, 47 percent report using the devices for online searches, and another 46 percent ask for the news. Between 2010 and 2016, aggregate voice search queries grew more than sevenfold.

Facebook, Google, and Amazon are running out of places to run ads. This isn’t a new problem: Facebook sold out advertising space in its news feed in 2016. Couple that with tech giants recently taking huge hits in the stock market, and it’s likely that we’ll see voice search monetized to increase revenue. With a record-breaking $8.93 billion spent on advertising in the 2018 midterm elections — and digital ads making up nearly 22…