Run political or issue ads

An election ad or an issue ad needs a verified sponsor and a declared campaign. This shows readers who paid for the ad.

Type	What it covers
Election ad	By, for or on behalf of a party, candidate, officeholder or referendum campaign, or asks people to vote
Issue ad	Meant to influence an election, a referendum, how people vote, or a law or regulation being decided

Before you start

• You need a verified domain. See Verified Domains.
• MailAdx runs no political ads in the EU and EEA. The Political Ads page lists those countries.
• Political and issue ads aren't available as Interactive Ads.

Step 1: verify your sponsor

1. Open Political Ads. If you're an agency, choose the Advertiser first.
2. Fill in the form. These details appear in public: the "Paid for by" name on every ad, and the legal name, sponsor type, address, country, public contact email, funding and registration on the ad's public notice.
3. Under Countries the ads will run in, enter two-letter codes, up to 30.
4. Under Proof for the reviewer, add links to the registration, or to the party's or candidate's own site naming you. Only staff see this.
5. Select Send for review.

MailAdx reviews the sponsor and emails you the result. It may approve fewer countries than you asked for. A verification lasts 365 days.

Status	Meaning
Waiting for review	MailAdx is checking it
Verified	You can declare campaigns, for the countries under Verified for
Not verified	Read the note, correct the details and send it again
Withdrawn	MailAdx withdrew it. Read the note
Expired	The 365 days are over. Select Edit and send it for review again

Step 2: declare the campaign

1. Open Orders and create the order.
2. Under Is this a political or issue ad?, choose Election ad or Issue ad. Every new order must answer this, including Not a political or issue ad.
3. Under Which election, referendum or issue, enter 3 to 200 characters.

The order then has a public notice. Once a campaign is declared political, only MailAdx support can change that.

Step 3: set up the line items

• Target the countries the ad runs in. They must all be countries your sponsor is verified for.
• You can add states. You can't use cities, audience segments, retargeting or journeys.
• Show the "Paid for by" name inside the creative. MailAdx checks this before the line item can go live.
• An election ad in India also needs its Election Commission (MCMC) pre-certificate. MailAdx records it when it reviews the creative, so have it ready. Contact support@mailadx.com if you're asked for it.

What happens next

• Every ad carries Political ad · Paid for by your sponsor's name, and a link to its notice in the public library. MailAdx adds this label itself.
• Ads run only on newsletters that accept them. In the Publisher Directory, those show Accepts election ads or Accepts issue ads. Some approve each sponsor first.
• Ads pause during any no-ads period around an election that MailAdx has set for that country or state.
• If an open hides the reader's country, the ad serves only if it could serve in every country that newsletter lists for its readers.

If something goes wrong

• "Political and issue ads need a verified sponsor." Finish step 1 first.
• "The sponsor is verified for … not …" Remove those countries from the line item, or update the sponsor and send it for review.
• A message that MailAdx must confirm the creative shows "Paid for by". The creative is in the review queue. Check that it shows the name.
• "This campaign is declared political." Contact support@mailadx.com if the declaration is wrong.
• "Political line items cannot use audience segments or retargeting." Remove them from the line item.
• Your ad has no delivery. Check that some newsletters accept your ad type, that they target the same countries, and that your sponsor hasn't expired.