The advertising budget of () destined for and (owner of , and ) exceeded for the first time, in 2025, the amount in paid advertisements for the television networks of and .
The new scenario reflects the PT administration’s decision to reduce spending on advertising campaigns in the .
Digital channels received at least R$234.8 million of the approximately R$681 million distributed in advertisements by Secom (Secretariat of Social Communication) and ministries last year.
The same data, which is still partial, shows the two big techs for the first time at the top of the ranking of the biggest beneficiaries of federal advertising, behind only the groups and .
In the last year, among other actions, the slogan “Sovereign Brazil”, the programs and Agora Tem Especialistas, in addition to the expansion of Income Tax exemption for those earning up to R$5,000.
Advertising actions will still gain greater relevance for the government in 2026, the year in which it will contest re-election to Planalto.
Last year, the government directed around 34.5% of advertising resources to dissemination on the internet. The percentage is around double the 17.7% recorded in 2022, in the last year of management (PL).
Secom states that the increase in funding for digital platforms “reflects the new habits of Brazilians when searching for information”, with an increase in the time dedicated to browsing social networks. It also says that the objective is to expand the reach of public information and services.
The change caused the amount paid to Google within campaigns to rise from R$10.5 million in 2023 to at least R$64.6 million last year.
Government members say that campaigns through Google may include the purchase of advertising space on YouTube and increasing the positioning of government links on the search platform, in addition to the spraying of ads on different websites — a method called programmatic advertising.
For Meta, the value went from R$30.1 million to R$56.9 million in the same period. The platform distributes ads on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The Lula government, however, maintained around 45% of advertisements on TV stations, a percentage close to what had already been adopted at least since the Bolsonaro government. Last year, Globo channels received around R$150 million, while Record had at least R$80.5 million in federal advertisements.
SBT, with R$45.8 million in advertisements last year, and Band, with R$24.4 million, were behind the two digital platforms for the first time.
In his first year as president, Bolsonaro led Globo, which is in the distribution of advertising funds. The situation changed after the TCU (Federal Audit Court) pointed out that there was a lack of technical criteria in the distribution of advertisements. Big tech, however, lagged behind the main TV broadcasters in every year of the last government.
From 2020 to 2022, during the Bolsonaro government, Secom and ministries zeroed investments in advertisements in the Sheetin O Globo and in the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo. The vehicles once again received federal advertising during the Lula government.
From 2023, to Sheet received at least R$3 million, while the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo received R$3.9 million. Globo received at least R$9.4 million in federal advertising in the same period. The newspaper Valor Econômico received R$389,000 in advertisements from the Bolsonaro government and R$6.4 million since 2023.
UOL, a company in which Grupo Folha has an indirect and minority stake, received around R$3 million during the Bolsonaro government and R$18.23 million since 2023.
Under Lula, the Globo, Record, SBT and Band networks led in advertisements in the first two years of the current term, a situation that only changed in 2025. There is still no data on the 2026 campaigns.
The new strategy also promoted a jump from around R$10 million to R$19.5 million in ads on Kwai, comparing 2023 to last year.
The Lula government increased its focus on promoting campaigns on streaming platforms. Prime Video Ads started to appear in media plans in 2025, when it received R$5.5 million. The budget for Netflix last year reached R$3.28 million, compared to around R$1 million paid in 2024.
The PT administration, however, cut funding from
Secom’s communication strategy drawn up by the minister contrasts with the previous guidance, from Paulo Pimenta (PT), who left the government in January 2025, and the investment in radios to reach the poorest population far from the capitals.
Part of Planalto’s current communications team believes that the same results can be obtained by investing in new platforms, such as Kwai. Last year, the platform ran a campaign in partnership with the government with the participation of João Kléber, who promoted a “Loyalty Test to Brazil”, alluding to the popular scenario that aimed to provoke and “catch” potential adulterers.
The government also has to promote its flags. Secom to manage an account worth R$100 million for the production of videos, podcasts and other government advertisements.
Upon taking over Secom, Sidônio appointed Mariah Queiroz to the Secretariat of Strategies and Networks. She worked in communications for the mayor of Recife, João Campos (PSB), one of the politicians in .
In a statement, Kwai said that it is a platform used by public and private advertisers and that it does not participate in the definition of the public budget or the criteria for sharing the funds. Meta stated that it did not wish to speak out about the values of the federal government’s campaigns. When contacted, the other companies mentioned did not respond.
Data on the distribution of propaganda from Secom and the ministries were extracted from the portal managed by the secretariat. The figures, however, do not include payments made for advertising by public banks and state-owned companies, such as Petrobras, which are kept confidential even in processes based on the Access to Information Law.
Updating the Secom portal is still slow, making the value currently available on the advertising distributed over the last year an underestimate.
as to Sheet showed, last year it reached the highest amount committed since 2017, around R$1.5 billion. The majority of this value is used to purchase advertising space — there is no fixed percentage, but it has this function —, while the rest is used for the production of campaigns.
The government also increased the portion of the budget allocated to Secom’s institutional communication campaigns, that is, to promote government flags, which totaled R$924 million last year. The remainder, around R$613 million, was invested in so-called public utility communication, mainly in Ministry of Health actions, such as vaccination.
