Colin Delany

[Commentary] Donald Trump has famously avoided most of the apparatus of a modern campaign in his run for the White House. Relying almost entirely on in-person rallies and media coverage, he's placed strikingly little emphasis on elements like field organizing, data analysis and TV advertising. Until recently, he'd barely even assembled what other presidential campaigns would recognize as a professional staff. But in one area, Trump's campaign so far comes out on top: online ad spending.

While Hillary Clinton has led in the single category of video impressions, Trump ran five online ads overall for every three of the Democrat’s in August alone, according to a tally by the Washington Post. Moreover, Trump recently announced that he would pour $40 million into digital advertising between now and Election Day, complementing a $100 million effort to catch up with his Democratic rival on TV. Trump's main goal so far seems to be to support his successful small-dollar fundraising campaign, with the AOL network, The Drudge Report, Politico and Breitbart dominating his spending distribution. Clinton's ads look to be intended for a different purpose, concentrating on opinion-leader media like the New York Times, Washington Post and Politico, often appearing beside articles mentioning Trump.

[Colin Delany is founder and editor of Epolitics.com.]