Gillibrand holds a big lead over Republican Rep. Peter King, but would face a more difficult race if former Republican Gov. George Pataki entered it, according to a recent Siena College poll. The poll showed Gillibrand leading King 47-23 percent and she is tied at 41 percent apiece, when matched up against Pataki. Search is a natural tool for political rapid response, said Peter Greenberger, team manager for elections and issues advocacy at Google. "As news breaks, people go online to find more information. Savvy political advertisers take advantage of that spike in interest to get their message in front of voters and lawmakers at the exact moment of relevance," he said.

President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., led the way in 2008 by using search for crisis communications, and now other political campaigns and issue groups are adopting the same strategies, Greenberger added. Google expects to see a lot more of this in 2009 and beyond. He said his team is already seeing political campaigns use Google earlier and to a greater degree than ever before. For more on politics and Web ads, read National Journal's recent article here.