Online paid media has something of a mixed reputation. Many businesses consider it a key component of their marketing strategy and use it for building brand awareness, increasing site traffic, and creating new opportunities. With the right technology and a large enough audience, these businesses can even tie paid media efforts to specific financial results.

But for every proponent and successful adopter of paid media, there’s a vociferous critic and an avalanche of negative data.

Much of this data, although provocative, is filtered through proprietary systems and informed by the bias of companies that favor owned media. The purpose of this study is to provide insight directly from the targeted (not the targeters) about the effectiveness of paid media, including sponsored search results, display/banner ads, social media ads, and native content ads.