This isn't even about ads. It's just about basic business metrics.
And no, you can't just "wait 2 weeks and check for the actual sales volume difference". The example I gave requires individual anonymized tracking. Pretty much anything that has to do with correlations in customer behavior requires individual tracking. And that's how businesses improve.
Also, it's not just giving up "some percentage points". There are a huge number of small businesses that can only exist because Facebook ads work so well in targeting very precise customer segments who would never know about their product otherwise. Targeting advertising does actually work, and you'd be putting tons of small business owners out of work if you got rid of it.
Maybe what you say is correct, but without a reference can also be an opinion influenced by your domain of activity.
What I see though is many shops closing, because more and more people buying online. What I hear is people buying crap from Amazon and throwing it very fast, or using fast fashion from the like of Shein. Neither seem to me a great outcome.
I did a cursory look and I found this https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/22/a-look-at... , will quote "The number of high-propensity business applications – those that are highly likely to turn into businesses with payrolls – remained relatively stable between 2009 and 2019,". This for me does not support the idea that of "huge number" that only exist due to Facebook (business exits have also grown over the period, more data at https://data-explorer.oecd.org/), but of course this is an interpretation.
And no, you can't just "wait 2 weeks and check for the actual sales volume difference". The example I gave requires individual anonymized tracking. Pretty much anything that has to do with correlations in customer behavior requires individual tracking. And that's how businesses improve.
Also, it's not just giving up "some percentage points". There are a huge number of small businesses that can only exist because Facebook ads work so well in targeting very precise customer segments who would never know about their product otherwise. Targeting advertising does actually work, and you'd be putting tons of small business owners out of work if you got rid of it.