featured image via venturebeat.com
Ali’s Team Pick:
Ad Hawk is an app that will listen to a political ad on the radio, on TV, even on YouTube and it will identify the ad and tell you who paid to make it happen. It’s like Shazam for politics. And what with the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that lets corporations (and whoever, really) spend unlimited amounts of money in campaign donations for just such media blitzes, this app is pretty necessary to be an informed voter this election season. That thing is telling Hispanic voters that Romney is on their side? Well, who paid for it? And why are they lying?
I tried it out, and while it didn’t get every ad I searched on YouTube, it got most of them. And there are great visuals at the bottom for how much the responsible super pac has spent in either the Republican or Democrat direction, and also in the negative ads versus positive ad direction.
![](https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ad-hawk-example.jpg?resize=600%2C441)
Ready for exactly how much your vote is worth? The answer is often more than six figures. via mashable.com
Made by the Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan non-profit organization dedicated to making government more transparent and therefore more accountable, this app is free. Free, I tell you! And they also make these other great apps: Real Time Congress, which brings you live updates from the House and Senate floor, and Open States, which tells you what bills they’re voting on in your state capitol.
This is really cool!
I’m so glad you think so! I felt like such a nerd-face when I got so excited about it. :0)
I mean, you aren’t not a nerd-face for being excited about it, but that’s the best kind of face to be, so. :)
This is great. Thanks!
One problem. Using this still requires critical-thinking skills. (‘If American Crossroads paid for that… should I believe this message…?’)
I have a horrible suspicion many of the voting public will not make the connection.
And I don’t say that to be mean.
Just… I think a lot of some of the more wildly extremist stuff that features in American politics would lose its momentum with a bit more of the critical-thinking activity…
Bahahahahahahaha.
Truth.
But I’d like to think a few of us have some mad critical thinking skillz.
*begins lobbying Congress to limit vote to critical-thinking Autostraddlers. Three minutes later falls off chair under weight of own hypocrisy, having realised the civil-rights dilemma this poses.*
You guys, I’m so excited to geek out with this app. It’s downloaded and ready to be whipped out as a fun party trick. (Luckily, I’m mostly friends with fellow insufferable political nerds.)
Awesome! Never thought I’d be looking forward to seeing a political ad!
The only problem with this app that I would have to actually have the volume on while the ad aired.
Disclaimer – All internet product made with: slave labour, child labour, conflict minerals, priviledged americans, stolen ideas, etc. … <3 Ad Hawk.
This is so, so cool, thanks for sharing it with AS!!