Does advertising really work? The curious case of the blank ad!

I have a theory: your advertising dollars aren't working.

Oh, sure, Google tells you those keyword ads you invest in are killing it.

And, yeah, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, even Yelp love to point out how their social networks drive valuable new business your way. But, I don't buy it.

And maybe you shouldn't either.

So, I've spent the last two weeks trying to answer one deceivingly simple question:

Does advertising really work?

It's a question that's troubled me for over a decade. After all, the people who tell us our ads are working are the very same people who rely on our ad dollars to stay afloat.

So on this week's Loyalty Loop, we're embarking on a four-week, 1,500-mile adventure to figure out who (if anyone) we can trust with our precious advertising budget.

Because, as you'll see, there's something fishy going on, and Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, even Wall Street aren't going to like what we uncover.

Is anyone seeing our ads?