Armenian political groups spend heavily on Meta ads ahead of election campaign
Election ad spending in Armenia
Even before the official start of Armenia’s election campaign, local political groups had already spent thousands of dollars on advertising across Meta platforms.
“Over just three months, from 8 February to 8 May, political advertising on Facebook and Instagram exceeded $309,000,” Armenian outlet Factor TV reported.
The “Strong Armenia” party of Russian dollar billionaire Samvel Karapetyan spent roughly two-thirds of that amount, allocating $210,322 to political advertising. The figure also includes ads placed on pages linked to the party.
The ruling Civil Contract party ranked second in advertising spending. However, the party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spent almost three times less, allocating $47,882 to advertising.
Factor TV, one of Armenia’s leading multimedia outlets, gathered the data using the Meta Ad Library.
The report examined which political groups spent the most on advertising over the past three months.
- What’s behind Russia’s hostile response to Armenia’s deepening ties with EU?
- ‘Everything has limits’ – Pashinyan vows to sue Samvel Karapetyan
- ‘It is false to claim that former Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan is not taking part in election’ – Nikol Pashinyan
The “Strong Armenia” party and pages linked to it occupied the top four spots among the 10 biggest advertisers on Meta. These included the pages “Youth Structure / Strong Armenia”, “Samvel Karapetyan” and “In Our Own Way”.
The page “In Our Own Way” shares its name with a movement founded by supporters of Samvel Karapetyan after his arrest in June 2025.
Karapetyan used the phrase while commenting on worsening tensions between the Armenian authorities and the church. He said: “If Armenia’s political forces fail to deal with this situation, we will have to intervene in the campaign against the church in our own way.”
Authorities later arrested Karapetyan over the remark, which they interpreted as a call to seize power. He is currently under house arrest while continuing an active election campaign.
Together, these pages paid Meta $210,322 over three months for 168 advertisements.
The ruling Civil Contract party spent a total of $47,882 and published 146 advertisements.
Together with affiliated pages including “C News”, “Civic”, “Tigran Avinyan” and “Youth Structure / Civil Contract”, the party ranked second in political advertising spending.
Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan ranked third. His page spent $27,958 on 86 advertisements.
Fourth place went to the “Wings of Unity” party, led by former ombudsman Arman Tatoyan. Between February and May, the party ran 54 advertisements and spent a total of $15,043.
The “Country to Live” party also advertised активно in recent months. The party and its representatives, Mesrop Arakelyan and Mane Tandilyan, published 540 paid posts. Together, they spent $9,923 on advertising.
The civic initiative “HayaQve” paid Meta $4,298 for 648 sponsored posts over three months.
Other political groups and candidates planning to take part in the 7 June parliamentary elections spent more modest sums:
- the “Republic” party — $3,081 for 79 posts,
- the “National Democratic Pole” — $698 for nine posts,
- Andranik Tevanyan — $513 for 47 advertisements,
- Hayk Marutyan — $503 for one post,
- Arman Babajanyan — $282 for 30 sponsored posts.
“The closer the election, the more money goes into advertising,” Factor TV wrote.
For example, the “Strong Armenia” page spent $183,548 over three months. However, most of that amount — $128,550 — went on advertising during the last month alone.
Over the same period, the ruling Civil Contract party spent $44,444. Of that amount, $35,212 went to Meta during the final month.
Former President Robert Kocharyan showed a similar trend. His page spent $27,958 on advertising over three months, including $21,630 during the final month alone.
Election ad spending in Armenia
