Freakonomics on efficacy of online ads and organic SERPs

[NickMNS]

Freakonomics | Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 2: Digital) (Ep. 441)
[freakonomics.com...]

This is an episode of Freakonomics radio that talks about digital ads. I posted here because it really touches on many aspect of the industry, relevant to ad buyers, publishers and SEO's alike.

The most interesting claim, by economist Steve Tadelis of Ebay, is that branded ads are worthless. Personally, I think this is a bit of an over simplification but the outcomes of their experiments are very interesting.

[aristotle]

TV advertising is much less effective than the industry says. Is digital any better?

Well I have very little knowledge or experience in advertising, but it seems to me that the effectiveness of an ad campaign could be hard to measure. Years ago I read somewhere that repeated advertising of a new brand name can lead to a steady increase in sales over a long time period by gradually establishing it as a leading brand in the mind of the public. (That could probably be expressed better by someone who has a better knowledge of advertising than I do.)

But my point is that the long-term effectiveness of an ad campaign could be hard to determine.