People-magnet Mitt Romney meets ghost town Google Plus. This ought to be the event of a lifetime, folks.

It’s no surprise that social media is taking up a bigger and bigger slice of our lives all the time, right? So how is the Republican party making sure that as many people as possible tune in to watch Mitt Romney accept the nomination at the party’s convention in Tampa? They’re teaming up with, you guessed it, the people’s choice Facebook Google Plus!

Noting Google has been announced as “Official Social Platform and Live Stream Provider” of the convention, Politico writes, “Google plans to livestream convention events using Google+ Hangouts and show off parts of the convention floor on Google Maps, while teaching delegates and others on hand how to share their experiences online.”

Yikes—we can’t help but feel that Google and the RNC teaming up on social media is major case of the blind leading the blind. The biggest viral hit a Republican has ever had in social media is Mitt Romney’s wife falling into a Twitter war with Hilary Rosen, and Google has been trying to figure out social media for years to compete with Facebook, but this Google Plus thing is just not happening.

But Google has a lot to gain from getting involved in politics: since there are no longer limits on campaign spending, candidates can attract insane new amounts of money through SuperPACs. And where does that money get spent? Ads—a lot of which can fall to Google.

Politico notes, “Google has worked with Republicans and Democrats to demonstrate the impact and use of online ads.” And it looks like they’re catching on. Yesterday, as the Hilary Rosen-Ann Romney debacle boiled over, BuzzFeed noted that the Romney campaign started placing search ads next to the term “Hilary Rosen.” The ads prompted people searching for Rosen to “Stand with Mitt’s better” and donate to the campaign.

As you can see here:

Pretty smooth. Ok Repubs, maybe you’re behind the curve on social media, but it looks like you’re getting the hang of search ads. Welcome to 2003!