Ads are everywhere, but I don’t think I’ve ever bought something because of an ad. If anything they steer me away from their product. The amount of money, effort and bandwidth required to get all of these ads in front of my eyes only to be completely useless must be staggering.
Ads definitely do work, otherwise companies wouldn’t pay millions for them. Sometimes it’s less about influencing you to immediately make a purchase, and more about subconscious brand awareness.