While I think those are both great points, a major part of this article was about how difficult it is to quantify the value of advertising and how it's effectively a shot in the dark for pricing and that with the exception of Google and fb, all other advertising firms are shrinking.

The use of eBay has some pros and cons for the article. It's useful as it's a large, well known brand that probably doesn't need to advertise as much, especially since there isn't really a product there, just a mode of communication. There isn't really that much to advertise now that they're as well known as they are. I do think it could have been improved by looking at ads selling things. Car ads are a great example. I'm on my phone and it's late so I'm not going to go searching, but I recall reading something about how car companies spend so much on advertising because you'll be more likely to remember their commercial because the sheer volume. But as the article points out, are those translating into advertising effect or simply selection effect? And that's the part that matters. How effective are these ads really, and how can that be measured?