Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Ads are everywhere, & find their way into more places every day. Companies spend hundreds of billions of dollars shilling for their products. But there’s a question we haven’t answered conclusively: do they *work?*
-Links for the Curious-
TV Advertising Effectiveness and Profitability: Generalizable Results from 288 Brands - papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3273476
Consumer Heterogeneity And Paid Search Effectiveness: A Large Scale Field Experiment (Blake, Nosco, & Tadelis, 2014) - nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w20171/w20171.pdf
When Big Brands Stopped Spending On Digital Ads, Nothing Happened. Why? (Fou, 2021) - forbes.com/sites/augustinefou/2021/01/02/when-big-brands-stopped-spending-on-digital-ads-nothing-happened-why/?sh=248dbe221166
Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 1: TV) - Freakonomics - freakonomics.com/podcast/does-advertising-actually-work-part-1-tv-ep-440
Agencies Agree; 2021 Was A Record Year For Ad Spending, With More Growth Expected In 2022 (Adgate, 2021) - forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/12/08/agencies-agree-2021-was-a-record-year-for-ad-spending-with-more-growth-expected-in-2022/?sh=4d2242197bc6
On the phenomenon of bullshit jobs - David Graeber | libcom.org - libcom.org/article/phenomenon-bullshit-jobs-david-graeber
Facebook will disable new political ads a week before US midterm elections | TechCrunch - techcrunch.com/2022/08/16/facebook-political-ads-2022-midterms
Advertising budget projections - dmx9040v9xyo8.cloudfront.net/uploads/2021/03/us-media-owners-1024x709.png
Zuckerberg’s mea culpa for Facebook’s effects on the 2016 election - facebook.com/4/posts/10112270823363411/?extid=tRFaoBfBfGLsqIZv&d=n
Facebook bans new political ads in the week before Election Day - POLITICO - politico.com/news/2020/09/03/facebook-bans-political-ads-election-day-408255
Hoover’s declamation of radio advertisements - babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31210015274606&view=1up&seq=1422
What Facebook Did to American Democracy - The Atlantic - theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/10/what-facebook-did/542502
Google Chrome train ads tweet - mobile.twitter.com/AnushaVable/status/1559654560649531392
Google Chrome billboard - flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/5307532591
Ads are everywhere, & find their way into more places every day. Companies spend hundreds of billions of dollars shilling for their products. But there’s a question we haven’t answered conclusively: do they *work?*
-Links for the Curious-
TV Advertising Effectiveness and Profitability: Generalizable Results from 288 Brands - papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3273476
Consumer Heterogeneity And Paid Search Effectiveness: A Large Scale Field Experiment (Blake, Nosco, & Tadelis, 2014) - nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w20171/w20171.pdf
When Big Brands Stopped Spending On Digital Ads, Nothing Happened. Why? (Fou, 2021) - forbes.com/sites/augustinefou/2021/01/02/when-big-brands-stopped-spending-on-digital-ads-nothing-happened-why/?sh=248dbe221166
Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 1: TV) - Freakonomics - freakonomics.com/podcast/does-advertising-actually-work-part-1-tv-ep-440
Agencies Agree; 2021 Was A Record Year For Ad Spending, With More Growth Expected In 2022 (Adgate, 2021) - forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/12/08/agencies-agree-2021-was-a-record-year-for-ad-spending-with-more-growth-expected-in-2022/?sh=4d2242197bc6
On the phenomenon of bullshit jobs - David Graeber | libcom.org - libcom.org/article/phenomenon-bullshit-jobs-david-graeber
Facebook will disable new political ads a week before US midterm elections | TechCrunch - techcrunch.com/2022/08/16/facebook-political-ads-2022-midterms
Advertising budget projections - dmx9040v9xyo8.cloudfront.net/uploads/2021/03/us-media-owners-1024x709.png
Zuckerberg’s mea culpa for Facebook’s effects on the 2016 election - facebook.com/4/posts/10112270823363411/?extid=tRFaoBfBfGLsqIZv&d=n
Facebook bans new political ads in the week before Election Day - POLITICO - politico.com/news/2020/09/03/facebook-bans-political-ads-election-day-408255
Hoover’s declamation of radio advertisements - babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31210015274606&view=1up&seq=1422
What Facebook Did to American Democracy - The Atlantic - theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/10/what-facebook-did/542502
Google Chrome train ads tweet - mobile.twitter.com/AnushaVable/status/1559654560649531392
Google Chrome billboard - flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/5307532591
