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Discuss advertising with anybody and you'll come to the conclusion that apparently advertising works on other people. Who those "other people" are, no idea. I

• Gustomaximus 12y ago
  Other people here. I've been working in online advertising for 10 odd years and have seen advertising working and not. This Ebay example was great showing both sides; bidding for their brand term was a waste of money as they are a brand leader not in a defensive strategy. Finding new customers was profitable. It seems they let the former get out of hand and dominate their spend mix. I see similar situations of excessive wasted spend all the time as companies target the wrong metrics (note: there always is some). Until this study I would bet my house the PPC team at eBay were being largely judged by 'CPA' type metrics. Every year they would have tighter goals in a market that is getting more competitive so they go for cheap wins that look good on paper i.e.grab customers already coming in as you know they will convert. I see this at almost every company. Profitable advertising absolutely does exist but like anything, you need smart people running the program and you can't surround them with targets that make them go for the wins that look good in the short-term reports. As much as we monitor more advertising remains part art, part science. And I say that as a guy that likes his data more than most. Anyway, if you're being told ads only work for other people you're talking to the wrong people. I love my marketing and what it can do for a company when run well. If you have any questions I'll happily talk your ear off.