Bangalore: The jury is still out on whether Facebook ads work or not. Being a company that earns all its revenue from advertising, this question is crucial. The future of the social network depends on it. If we go by the different studies and poles undertaken by Reuters/Ipsos and ComScore the answer would still go unanswered because both the studies had contrasting outcomes.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll concluded that 5 out of 4 users had never bought anything influenced by Facebook ads and comments. The study also said that more than 1/3^rd users now spend less time on the social network. These results could spell doom on the company that is already struggling. Recently General Motors decided to stop advertising on FB although they continued the unpaid activity on the site.

But if we go by another study by ComScore the results reverse. Named “The Power of Like 2: How Social Marketing Works,” is a continuation of a 2011 study. It clearly states that paid and earned media help brands to increase sales. The study also said that fans of brands buy more and also their friends buy more because of the ‘latent branding impact’.

The study used Starbucks and Target as examples to show how user activity was affected after being exposed to Facebook ads in contrast to the control group.

The ComScore results hold more authenticity than the Reuters’ because the latter was a survey of what people think they do. “People generally don’t like to believe that advertising actually has an effect on their behavior.” The latter also takes into account the online as well as offline behavior of users.

The results are out, now it is up to the advertisers to decide which study they want to trust.