Bachmann Ads Bank on Christie News

Michele Bachmann’s digital ad team has already swooped in to capitalize on today’s Chris Christie news. This afternoon the New Jersey governor announced his much-awaited decision not to run for the Republican presidential nomination. Team Bachmann is running Google AdWords targeting searches for Chris Christie related keywords.

“Christie Not Running – Show Support for Michele Bachmann,” states one version of the ads from the Bachmann camp. The effort, which could come to a close as early as later today, is intended to capture would-be Christie supporters in Bachmann’s fundraising net.

It does not appear that any other candidates are targeting Google ads against Christie-related search terms. However, the tactic is used regularly by political campaigns as a means of steering interest in relevant, timely news stories and trending keywords towards generating donations.

Political observers for months have speculated that the tough Jersey chief executive could throw his hat in the GOP ring, and his decision has been highly anticipated in recent days. Knowing this, Bachmann’s online ad team most likely had the Google campaign ready to be turned on whenever Christie made his announcement.

The ads are targeted to people searching for topics like, “Chris Christie for President,” and are targeted nationally in the hopes of grabbing cash from supporters across the country.

The Bachmann ads link to a generic donation page on the Minnesota congresswoman’s campaign site featuring an email signup field and link to donate.