Congress last week released 3,500 Facebook ads planted by Russian operatives who planned to create divisions among Americans in the year leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
To many, the ads – paid for by the Russian troll farm Internet Research Agency – weren’t easily distinguishable from the rest. Some were directly about the election, but most of the ads were subtler, created to appeal to people’s race, religion, or other aspects of their personal lives.
In October, the House Intelligence Committee Democrats shared a handful of the ads with the public. This time, it released all the ads that ran on Facebook and Instagram from June 2015 to August 2017, to give Facebook users a more comprehensive look at the ads they’ve been hearing about for almost a year.
Here are some of the ads Russians created on Facebook, specifically in the week leading up to the election:
A few ads were very clearly political. A common thread was to encourage groups of voters to cast their ballots for a third-party candidate, or simply not vote at all.
Cost: $7.54
Impressions 8,498
Clicks: 584
Creation date: 11/8/16
Many of the ads released by the House Intelligence Committee Democrats specifically targeted African-American voters.
Cost: $8.11
Impressions 18,888
Clicks: 1,635
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $4.87
Impressions 31,096
Clicks: 3,516
Creation date: 11/3/16
Other posts were less obviously about the election — perhaps a bid to build legitimacy for the pages created by the Russian troll farm.
Cost: $8.11
Impressions 43,022
Clicks: 6,981
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $6.20
Impressions 18,656
Clicks: 1,918
Creation date: 11/1/16
Cost: $9.19
Impressions 666
Clicks: 25
Creation date: 11/2/16
Cost: $6.49
Impressions 31,308
Clicks: 3,704
Creation date: 11/1/16
Cost: $8.11
Impressions 152,716
Clicks: 19,558
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $3.05
Impressions 5,940
Clicks: 621
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $167.10
Impressions 95,896
Clicks: 6,780
Creation date: 11/8/16
Cost: $4.87
Impressions 24,447
Clicks: 4,022
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $2.83
Impressions 1,739
Clicks: 150
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $8.22
Impressions 22,088
Clicks: 4,372
Creation date: 11/1/16
Cost: $8.11
Impressions 64,032
Clicks: 11,056
Creation date: 11/3/16
The most common kind of ads created by the Russian troll farm were about police brutality, and the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of police officers.
Cost: $2.78
Impressions 3,201
Clicks: 273
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $77.73
Impressions 18,717
Clicks: 1,594
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $1.62
Impressions 1,271
Clicks: 88
Creation date: 11/7/16
Cost: $19.46
Impressions 1,304
Clicks: 65
Creation date: 11/7/16
Cost: $8.11
Impressions 45,404
Clicks: 7,885
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $12.95
Impressions 9,015
Clicks: 443
Creation date: 11/1/16
Cost: $8.11
Impressions 36,295
Clicks: 6,656
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $6.54
Impressions 56,130
Clicks: 11,629
Creation date: 11/2/16
Cost: $6.05
Impressions 9,402
Clicks: 326
Creation date: 11/1/16
Cost: $4.49
Impressions 5,587
Clicks: 496
Creation date: 11/1/16
Cost: $6.49
Impressions 12,398
Clicks: 1,528
Creation date: 11/1/16
Cost: $8.11
Impressions 191,238
Clicks: 11,360
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $4.27
Impressions 1,953
Clicks: 190
Creation date: 11/1/16
Others seemed more promotional.
Cost: $1.62
Impressions 393
Clicks: 11
Creation date: 11/3/16
Cost: $6.04
Impressions 1,926
Clicks: 97
Creation date: 11/2/16
Cost: $1.05
Impressions 714
Clicks: 47
Creation date: 11/2/16