Paid Facebook advertising recently took a $40 million hit when the world’s largest automaker, General Motors, decided to jettison it, stating a lack of consumer impact.

With such a major player (it is said that the health of the American economy is directly related to the success of General Motors) deciding not to used paid Facebook ads, it begs the question – is paid online advertising worth it?

Facebook, Google and LinkedIn have all used the massive popularity of their online platforms to sell advertising, and each company offers a very specific service. With so much choice the marketplace becomes ever more confusing.

Here, in a nutshell, are the selling points of the three most successful paid online advertising services. 

Facebook ads

Format: The ad format allows for a text title, a thumbnail image, and a brief text blurb.

Cost: There's no set cost for ads or sponsored stories and, as an advertiser, you can control how much you spend for each campaign by setting a daily or lifetime limit. On average Facebook ads tend to be cheaper than both Google and Linkedin ads but this depends on a number of factors.

Targeting: 51% of all internet users with a unique, social reach. Therefore you chose the demographics and areas of interest to target for your ad. You can also choose to buy impressions (views) rather than clicks.

What we think: Angela Wenn, Client Services Director for Creation Media says: “Facebook adverts won’t generate ROI unless people are interested in the product or service being advertised. Facebook can’t create a market but they can target demographics in various ways using the vast array of data they hold.”

Linkedin ads

Format: The ad format allows for a text title, a thumbnail image, and a brief text blurb.

Cost: The cost of LinkedIn ads is usually above $2 per click, but you can also pay per impression. Unfortunately billing options for LinkedIn are currently only available in US dollars so this can cause some unpredictable currency fluctuations.

Targeting: Like Facebook, LinkedIn allows you to optimize your ads according to Click Through Rate. You can chose job title, age range and also collect leads, though the latter is a relatively new feature.

What we think: Robert Frische, SEO specialist for Creation Media says: “LinkedIn advertising is highly effective as you can target by profession and so seek out key decision makers in any chosen industry. The downside is that LinkedIn advertising tends to be expensive.”

Google Ads

Format: Chose from text, image or video ads.

Cost: The cost per click, or impression, is constantly rising as more and more consumers flood into what is now a billion dollar industry. However good keyword research helps you find the best value keywords to bid on.

Targeting: Google reaches 90% of all internet users. Google targets its ads according to search queries, and you can also run ads across the massive Display Network using contextual targeting, i.e an ad for a football kit would be placed on a blog about the relevant football team.  

What we think: David Wenn, managing Director of Creation Media, says: “Google ads are a great way of attracting visitors to your site quickly. Although sometimes costly, at least you know with PPC that the visitors will come, after all they have searched for what you sell! Google ads work more effectively with targeted landing pages giving the user exactly what they are looking for.”