The US Election: A Nation Divided

The 2024 US election made headlines not only domestically but also around the world. Donald Trump made history by becoming the first Republican to win the popular vote since 2004 and the second president elected to a non-consecutive term. 

🗳 Was the outcome of the 2024 US election predictable? 

While data, polls, and trends can provide some clarity, the inherent unpredictability of the American voter continually keeps us guessing. In an election cycle defined by polarising political figures, social media influence, and changing voter mobilization, reliable predictions remain elusive.  

A lot of our US-based publishers asked their audiences who’ll win the election. After the first projections came in, we took a look at how the users of our US partners voted in the past months: Kamala Harris or Donald Trump? The chart below shows how opinion shifted: While Harris held a steady lead, Trump saw several significant surges. This serves as a reminder of how sentiment can shift rapidly, even up to the last moments. 

After the election, our partner Yahoo asked how their readers felt about the results. As we can see below, the US is divided. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how opinions change during the second Trump term.  

Inflation: Relief at Last? 

While it finally (!) came under control in 2024, consumers began the year still feeling the effects of the international inflationary period, with the increase in prices of everyday costs like food, clothes, and housing hitting wallets particularly hard. These price hikes have made some readers cautious about the future, like those of Evoke in Ireland. 

#MeToo: A Lasting Impact 

Audiences in 2024 viewed the #MeToo movement mostly as “incredibly good” at exposing crimes against women. This sentiment reflects support for its role in amplifying survivors’ voices and driving accountability for perpetrators, from Hollywood to corporate America. 

The movement continues to inspire global conversations. However, critics highlight areas needing improvement, including more inclusive representation and sustained efforts to address systemic barriers. 

Overall, #MeToo remained a transformative force in 2024 as well. 

The UK Election: Labour’s Big Comeback 

The 2024 UK general election saw Keir Starmer’s Labour Party secure a landslide victory, ending 14 years of Conservative rule and handing the Conservative Party its worst defeat in history. Starmer, who overcame Rishi Sunak to become the new Prime Minister, promised that “change begins now” and pledged to steer the country towards “calmer waters” (Let’s hope he can swim.) Looking back, we can see what the readers of Yahoo UK thought about now former PM Rishi Sunak: 

The NHS in 2024: Challenges and Change 

In 2024 the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) faced significant challenges while embarking on developments critical to addressing long-standing issues. Struggling with staff shortages, increased waiting times, and record demand, the NHS prioritized workforce expansion and retention. A newly implemented pay agreement aimed to alleviate strikes among nurses and junior doctors, though concerns about its sufficiency persisted.

On the political front, calls for reform intensified, with proposals ranging from expanded public-private partnerships to a comprehensive review of service delivery. Public satisfaction with the NHS remained mixed, reflecting both gratitude for its universal care and frustration over its strained capacity. 

Israeli Invasion of Lebanon: Divided Opinions Before the Conflict 

It was a somber start to the fall this year, with the ground war in the Middle East expanding into Lebanon. Israel invaded Lebanon in the early hours of October first. But even before this event, readers in the UK appeared to advocate a hands-off approach, as seen in this speculative poll from before the invasion:  

Paris Olympics: Breaking Boundaries 

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics were a show-stopping spectacle, with over 10,500 athletes throwing down in 329 events across 32 sports. This year’s headline? For us it was how breaking (as in dance moves, not bones) grooved its way onto the Olympic stage for the first time! The United States crushed it, topping the medal chart with a whopping 40 gold medals and 126 total medals. France wasn’t too shabby either, snagging its best haul since 1900 with 64 medals, and proudly claiming fifth place. 

But not everything went to plan—cue the infamous swimming debacle! Athletes dove into the Seine for the open-water races, but the water quality? Well, let’s just say bacteria levels were higher than expected, making for a challenge they hadn’t exactly trained for. Still, it didn’t stop anyone from giving it their all! 

And the closing ceremony? Pure magic. The Stade de France lit up as Tom Cruise defied gravity with aerial acrobatics, and Snoop Dogg himself dropped by to wrap up (or rap up?) the games in style. 

UEFA Euros: Spain’s Glory, England’s Heartbreak 

The Olympics weren’t the only big sporting competition this year, the UEFA Euros showcased thrilling matches among the 24 national teams. Spain emerged as the champion, defeating England 2-1 in a dramatic final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion. The tournament featured memorable performances by teenager Lamine Yamal and ended in a bitter second straight Euro–final loss for England and manager Gareth Southgate (so long Gareth!). No wonder the readers of the Times of London were backing England, but it was the RTL readers in Germany who turned out to be right. 

The Questions That Made Us Smile 

Journalists are trained to ask the hard questions, but sometimes it’s the unexpected ones that truly make waves. Case in point: Do you pee in the ocean? (We won’t tell anyone.) Or try this one on for size: Do you think love can work the second time around?

Okay, so two things:

First, regarding tinkling in the ocean: bold move.

Then, the heartstring tugger: Apparently, some people are just as optimistic about love as they are shameless about the sea.

Two questions, one takeaway: honesty is the best policy – whether you’re diving into waves or second chances. 🌊❤️ 

P.S.: As our gift to you, please enjoy our very own Opinary end of year Spotify playlist, made for your ears! 

How Daily Mail Group Ireland Achieved 60% Ad CTR Boost with Opinary Polls

Doug Farrell, DMG Ireland‘s Group Head of Digital Media, explains how polls transformed their advertising strategy by accessing First-Party Data at scale. He shows how polls turn content into conversations that reveal buying intent.

DMG embedded Opinary’s in-article polls, turning readers’ answers into First-Party Data to build targeted audience segments. This resulted in +60% CTRs and +80% Brand Engagement, helping them win more pitches and achieve a +40% increase in CPMs.

Opinary Year in Review 2023

The Holiday season is upon us, and we are excited to share with you our End of the Year Review – what were the most voted on topics in the past 12 months? What were the most heated debates? We definitely don’t know all the answers, but we deeply believe in asking the right questions and supporting more voices to join the conversation.

War in Ukraine – almost two years in

Similarly to last year, the war in Ukraine has deeply occupied the minds of readers and publishers. The readership of The Times of London is stern in its support for Ukraine, while Yahoo News UK’s readers recognise the effects that the war has had on global geopolitical equilibria.

Inflation and living costs

According to the readers of Yahoo News UK, there is a general feeling of disappointment in the political measures adopted to counter this, while large sections of UK readerships say they had to change spending habits. This seems to have affected less the Times of London readers, where around one third of readers share they haven’t changed their spending habits.

Coronavirus Pandemic

MSNBC readers in the US share that they keep taking precautions against infection, as well as testing for Covid when they feel sick, as the majority of Yahoo Canada readers share. And, with the infection rate on the rise again, we imagine more people globally will be asking themselves how to behave in the next months, as the Times’ readership shows.

Trump 

As the 2024 US elections approach, Trump is the absolute protagonist of cross-publisher news headlines. The Times’ readership has no doubt about his defeat, while Yahoo News UK’s readers are sure he will not be a relevant figure in US politics for long. MSNBC’s audience is particularly invested in his legal woes.

We – the Publishers Team at Opinary – wish you a happy new year and a peaceful and relaxing holiday season! We are already looking forward to the new year with you.

Opinary Year in Review 2023

The Holiday season is upon us, and we are excited to share with you our End of the Year Review – what were the most voted on topics in the past 12 months? What were the most heated debates? We definitely don’t know all the answers, but we deeply believe in asking the right questions and supporting more voices to join the conversation.

War in Ukraine – almost two years in

Similarly to last year, the war in Ukraine has deeply occupied the minds of readers and publishers. The readership of The Times of London is stern in its support for Ukraine, while Yahoo News UK’s readers recognise the effects that the war has had on global geopolitical equilibria.

Inflation and living costs

According to the readers of Yahoo News UK, there is a general feeling of disappointment in the political measures adopted to counter this, while large sections of UK readerships say they had to change spending habits. This seems to have affected less the Times of London readers, where around one third of readers share they haven’t changed their spending habits.

Coronavirus Pandemic

MSNBC readers in the US share that they keep taking precautions against infection, as well as testing for Covid when they feel sick, as the majority of Yahoo Canada readers share. And, with the infection rate on the rise again, we imagine more people globally will be asking themselves how to behave in the next months, as the Times’ readership shows.

Trump 

As the 2024 US elections approach, Trump is the absolute protagonist of cross-publisher news headlines. The Times’ readership has no doubt about his defeat, while Yahoo News UK’s readers are sure he will not be a relevant figure in US politics for long. MSNBC’s audience is particularly invested in his legal woes.

We – the Publishers Team at Opinary – wish you a happy new year and a peaceful and relaxing holiday season! We are already looking forward to the new year with you.

Asking the right questions is at the core of Opinary – not only in our mission, but also within our team. Recently, our team members have questioned the status quo of our machine learning systems and therefore were able to improve it significantly.

Our two data scientists Doreen Sacker and ex-Opinarian Hector Otero Mediero, empowered by Torben Brodt, Pavel, Ario and Gleb, re-architected our recommendation engine. Our recommendation engine identifies which poll fits into an article on a publisher site, screening millions of polls and articles. With great hands-on help of people from Google and endocode, they migrated the system and made it faster, more cost efficient.

We migrated our machine learning pipeline from Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) to Cloud Run. After making a few architectural changes, we reduced the time to generate a recommendation from 20 seconds to below one second, and realized a remarkable 50% cost reduction.

Read more about our journey and learnings on the Google Blog.