That's like the 1000th ad-targeting article I've read, but the first time to hear this perspective. Absolutely fascinating, thank you!

Here's one question though: If you're the established player in one field and don't really need the online ads other than for staking a claim, would it really influence your sales that much if a competitor takes over that space? Probably just a downturn in number of sales to new customers? (Who presumably haven't heard about the other players in the field and just go with the one that's shown to them in online search results?)

Okay, that's more than one question, but maybe you'd like to elaborate a bit.