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davey.bsky.social
Davey Alba
@davey.bsky.social
14K followers 1.2K following 240 posts
Bloomberg tech reporter / Google, Big Tech, misinfo / https://daveyalba.com / ask for my Signal
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davey.bsky.social
Davey Alba @davey.bsky.social · Jan 22
NEW: My colleagues & I analyzed nearly 1.3k hours of footage (>2k videos) from nine wildly popular podcasters and streamers on YouTube to understand how they helped lift Trump to power. Now that he's back in office, the broadcasters are well-positioned to help build support for his political agenda.
How Popular YouTubers Pushed Young Male Voters Toward Trump
How podcasters like Joe Rogan and Logan Paul turned young men, a once apolitical demographic, into a massively powerful voting bloc
www.bloomberg.com
Reposted by Davey Alba
zoetillman.bsky.social
Deep dive by @davey.bsky.social + Bloomberg colleagues into the growing number of small businesses marketing products around conservative political identity and their relationship with the right-wing influencer universe on YouTube
bit.ly/4oR7fcF
YouTube’s Right-Wing Stars Fuel Boom in Politically Charged Ads
YouTube’s MAGA stars aren’t just talking politics—they’re selling it
bit.ly
November 21, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Davey Alba
issielapowsky.bsky.social
A totally fascinating deep dive by my pal @davey.bsky.social and her talented Bloomberg colleagues on the rising economy of MAGA-coded brands advertising on right-wing YouTube channels www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
YouTube’s Right-Wing Stars Fuel Boom in Politically Charged Ads
YouTube’s MAGA stars aren’t just talking politics—they’re selling it
www.bloomberg.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:01 PM
davey.bsky.social
Graphics geniuses @rachaeldottle.bsky.social @elenamejia.bsky.social !!

they are so brilliant 🌟🌟
November 21, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Davey Alba
mastermark.me
This is such a big deal... And so poorly understood / visible to normies - who can only see the outcomes / downstream consequences in our society...

Follow the fucking ad money. Every time
davey.bsky.social Davey Alba @davey.bsky.social · 4d
NEW: For months, my colleagues and I dug into YouTube's conservative airwaves and found a flourishing network of host-read ads on right-leaning podcasts. This phenomenon has enriched hosts, YouTube, and businesses that use ideology to sell. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
YouTube’s Right-Wing Stars Fuel Boom in Politically Charged Ads By Davey Alba Priyanjana Bengani Leon Yin Ashley Carman Julia Love Rachael Dottle Elena Mejía Technology Big Tech November 20, 2025 On YouTube’s conservative airwaves, podcast hosts tout products that let people buy into the MAGA crowd: Republican Red Winery vintages for toasting the “silent majority;” Black Rifle Coffee for caffeinating gun owners; XX-XY Athletics for workout clothes symbolizing opposition to the “lunacy of the left social agenda.” The popularity of YouTube podcasts among conservatives is driving a boom in small businesses tailoring ads to their millions of listeners, paying hosts like Joe Rogan and Candace Owens to read out promotions in the hope that fans will place orders. The phenomenon has enriched both the hosts and YouTube, supporting further growth of the businesses using ideology to sell. A Bloomberg analysis of host-read ads across nearly 1,000 videos from eight of the platform’s top right-leaning podcasters found that advertisers on the shows routinely tapped into political identity in marketing. At least one host-read ad with a political message appeared in 91% of videos reviewed.
November 21, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Reposted by Davey Alba
techmeme.com
Analysis: YouTube's top conservative podcasters drive a boom in host-read ads targeting right-wing audiences; nearly 91% of 876 episodes had political ads (Bloomberg)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
November 20, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by Davey Alba
dannygroner.bsky.social
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
November 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Davey Alba
drewharwell.com
Such a great story from @davey.bsky.social & other star reporters on the politics of consumption and the MAGA ad machine

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
YouTube’s Right-Wing Stars Fuel Boom in Politically Charged Ads
YouTube’s MAGA stars aren’t just talking politics—they’re selling it
www.bloomberg.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:50 PM
davey.bsky.social
Grateful as always to co-authors @acookiecrumbles.bsky.social @leonyin.org @ashleycarman.bsky.social @julialove.bsky.social

Graphics geniuses @rachaeldottle.bsky.social @elenamejia.bsky.social

And editors @sarahfrier.bsky.social Yue Qiu for all the work behind this ❣️
November 20, 2025 at 8:27 PM
davey.bsky.social
YouTube has eased content rules in the Trump era, narrowing removals & letting controversial creators return—a shift experts say lets more hateful content persist. The platform is now where the politics of consumption flow freely. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
November 20, 2025 at 5:08 PM
davey.bsky.social
There's a lot more reporting in our story & I hope you’ll read. But what I hope isn’t lost is how YouTube’s scale has let this niche content universe flourish. As George Farmer, who runs the Candace podcast told us, “YouTube is the printing press of the digital age, if you want to call it that.”
George Farmer, who runs the Candace podcast and is Owens’ husband, cast YouTube’s role in stark terms. “YouTube is the printing press of the digital age, if you want to call it that,” he said. He added that podcasting has leaned more conservative in part because many right-leaning voices were “pushed out of the mainstream orbit.” That dynamic has also shaped which advertisers show up: “If you’re pitching to a conservative listener, you’re going to want to be a more conservative brand.” Farmer is also the former chief executive officer of Parler, the social media site that had billed itself as a platform for “uncancelable free speech.”
November 20, 2025 at 5:03 PM
davey.bsky.social
Podcast ads are heavily themed, depending on the show: Candace Owens had 90%+ anti-establishment ads; Kelly/Carlson/Shapiro 80%+ ideology; Nelk Boys 96% masculinity/hobbies. Major brands like DoorDash & BetterHelp also appeared on Rogan & Von's shows. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
November 20, 2025 at 4:54 PM
davey.bsky.social
And, using data from Podscribe, a 3rd party podcast analytics firm, we made an effort to quantify spending on right-leaning podcasts. The top 10 conservative brands quadrupled monthly ad spend from 2023 to 2025, reaching ~$5M/month in 2025. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
The top 10 advertisers spending the most on host-read ads on the right-leaning podcasts are investing nearly four times more per month in 2025 than they did on average in 2023. So far this year, those brands have collectively spent about $5 million a month on podcast advertising, according to Bloomberg’s analysis of Podscribe data.
November 20, 2025 at 4:50 PM
davey.bsky.social
We also tracked themes used by the 188 unique advertisers to sell, sorting them into 5 buckets:

3/10 used ideological appeals
~1/4 leveraged alternative health
~1/5 each used anti-establishment or security messages
13% appealed to masculinity

bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
Three in 10 advertisers relied on ideological appeals — emphasizing “pro-life,” Christian, pro-gun, “America first,” or pro-military themes, or attacking Democrats, gender identity or policies they described as liberal. Roughly a quarter promoted the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda or pushed health and wellness products that they framed as natural or an alternative to conventional medicine. About 16% leaned on safety and security themes, while another fifth invoked anti-establishment rhetoric, railing against big corporations, public agencies, or institutions in medicine, education and finance. Several also catered to a distinctly masculine audience, tapping into a segment of the population that, polling data show, came out in force for Trump last year — many of them electrified by the podcasts that were part of this analysis. The strategy of using ideology to persuade someone to make a purchase — especially through an influencer — is powerful, said Emerson Brooking, a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who studies online networks. “American culture has built up the idea of brand choice as a political act,” he said. The rise of political — and often right-wing — podcasts, which are an extremely influential force in listeners’ lives and opinions, has “opened the door to a whole industry of politically coded kitsch products that seek to target this exact demographic,” he said.
November 20, 2025 at 4:09 PM
davey.bsky.social
The ads we reviewed were fascinating. They revealed products like Republican Red Winery, Black Rifle Coffee, and XX-XY Athletics—all targeting ideological consumers. Other advertisers included gold companies, debt services counseling for issues like porn addiction, and more bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
November 20, 2025 at 4:06 PM
davey.bsky.social
This was a follow-up to our story in Jan when we dug into how YouTube’s conservative podcasts led young men to the right. We listened to 876 episodes from 8 popular podcasters, noting every host-read ad. At least one ad with a political message appeared in 91% of videos reviewed. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
YouTube’s Right-Wing Stars Fuel Boom in Politically Charged Ads
YouTube’s MAGA stars aren’t just talking politics—they’re selling it
bloom.bg
November 20, 2025 at 3:41 PM
davey.bsky.social
NEW: For months, my colleagues and I dug into YouTube's conservative airwaves and found a flourishing network of host-read ads on right-leaning podcasts. This phenomenon has enriched hosts, YouTube, and businesses that use ideology to sell. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
YouTube’s Right-Wing Stars Fuel Boom in Politically Charged Ads By Davey Alba Priyanjana Bengani Leon Yin Ashley Carman Julia Love Rachael Dottle Elena Mejía Technology Big Tech November 20, 2025 On YouTube’s conservative airwaves, podcast hosts tout products that let people buy into the MAGA crowd: Republican Red Winery vintages for toasting the “silent majority;” Black Rifle Coffee for caffeinating gun owners; XX-XY Athletics for workout clothes symbolizing opposition to the “lunacy of the left social agenda.” The popularity of YouTube podcasts among conservatives is driving a boom in small businesses tailoring ads to their millions of listeners, paying hosts like Joe Rogan and Candace Owens to read out promotions in the hope that fans will place orders. The phenomenon has enriched both the hosts and YouTube, supporting further growth of the businesses using ideology to sell. A Bloomberg analysis of host-read ads across nearly 1,000 videos from eight of the platform’s top right-leaning podcasters found that advertisers on the shows routinely tapped into political identity in marketing. At least one host-read ad with a political message appeared in 91% of videos reviewed.
November 20, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Davey Alba
techmeme.com
In its Q3 earnings, Alphabet said the profit included "net gains on equity securities of $10.7B," in part from a private company, which sources say is Anthropic (Bloomberg)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
October 31, 2025 at 9:36 PM
davey.bsky.social
Here's confirmationnnn

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
October 23, 2025 at 8:54 PM
davey.bsky.social
Kind of a crazy scoop (given the amount money involved here) with colleagues @rachelmetz.bsky.social & Ed Ludlow: Anthropic is in discussions with Google for a massive cloud deal — computing power valued in the high tens of billions

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Anthropic, Google in Talks on Cloud Deal Worth Tens of Billions
Anthropic PBC is in discussions with Alphabet Inc.’s Google about a deal that would provide the artificial intelligence company with additional computing power valued in the high tens of billions of d...
www.bloomberg.com
October 21, 2025 at 9:55 PM
davey.bsky.social
also liked the interview with the kid tbh! that one was good, what a fun assignment
October 16, 2025 at 4:54 PM
davey.bsky.social
Cybertrucks: Creating Divorced Men Since 2023
October 16, 2025 at 4:54 PM
davey.bsky.social
this story is fun lol @zoeschiffer.bsky.social

www.wired.com/story/owning...
Spit On, Sworn At, and Undeterred: What It’s Like to Own a Cybertruck
“We were the targets.” WIRED spoke to seven Tesla Cybertruck owners about their most controversial purchase and why they're proud to drive it.
www.wired.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Davey Alba
agordon.me
The amazing thing about the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on AI development is it doesn't even include all the externalized costs like higher electricity prices for hundreds of millions of people.
AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring
Wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers. That’s being passed on to customers.
www.bloomberg.com
September 30, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Davey Alba
karenattiah.bsky.social
Some news.
nytimes.com The New York Times @nytimes.com · Sep 24
Karen Attiah, a Washington Post opinion writer fired this month for her social media posts about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, has filed a grievance arguing that she should have been allowed to share her views on news events under the company’s labor agreement and social media policy.
Karen Attiah Says Firing by Washington Post Violated Labor Agreement
The company fired Karen Attiah this month for her social media posts related to Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
nyti.ms
September 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Davey Alba
npr.org
Duterte was arrested in March by Philippine authorities on a warrant issued by the ICC. He is now being held at an ICC facility in the Netherlands.
ICC charges former Philippine President Duterte crimes against humanity
Duterte was arrested in March by Philippine authorities on a warrant issued by the ICC. He is now being held at an ICC facility in the Netherlands.
n.pr
September 23, 2025 at 11:40 AM