Title: 'Senator, We Sell Ads': Analysis of the 2016 Russian Facebook Ads Campaign,
Abstract: One of the key aspects of the United States democracy is free and fair
elections that allow for a peaceful transfer of power from one President to the
next. The 2016 US presidential election stands out due to suspected foreign
influence before, during, and after the election. A significant portion of that
suspected influence was carried out via social media. In this paper, we look
specifically at 3,500 Facebook ads allegedly purchased by the Russian
government. These ads were released on May 10, 2018 by the US Congress House
Intelligence Committee. We analyzed the ads using natural language processing
techniques to determine textual and semantic features associated with the most
effective ones. We clustered the ads over time into the various campaigns and
the labeled parties associated with them. We also studied the effectiveness of
Ads on an individual, campaign and party basis. The most effective ads tend to
have less positive sentiment, focus on past events and are more specific and
personalized in nature. The more effective campaigns also show such similar
characteristics. The campaigns' duration and promotion of the Ads suggest a
desire to sow division rather than sway the election.