Facebook ads don't work

(Getty Images)

Personalised ads on Facebook and other social media sites represent what the Zuckerbergs of this world hope will be the future of shopping; but new research suggests that less than 1% of online purchases can be tracked back to something shoppers saw on their feed, reports Time.

"Social media may be transforming the way people interact with each other", writes Brad Tuttle. "But, at least for the time being, it doesn’t seem to be having much of a direct impact in how consumers decide to buy things."

The study comes from Forrester Research and is based on consumer surveys as well as tracing 77,000 online purchases made by Americans in a two-week period in April.

“We’ve known for awhile that Facebook hasn’t been a direct sales channel for most companies and it never will be,” says Mulpuru, the study’s author.

Another reason to feel smug about not buying shares, then.