That effect seems highly relative to the context in which you see an ad, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was intentionally exaggerated when studied. Certain contexts increase credibility with certain people, others decrease credibility.

What it does do is actually put the product in front of your face. People won’t buy your thing if they’ve never seen or heard of it. So I agree there’s value to ads even if people don’t click on them in that moment.

That doesn’t mean their value isn’t inflated.