Doubleclick, the online ad network, just announced survey results that prove online ads influence people to buy stuff.

The company clearly hopes that its report will influence online ad buying. But influence is best expressed when it comes from third-parties that do not have a self-interest, which is not the case here. 

The DoubleClick Touchpoints IV survey results revealed that influencers consider online advertising a key factor of their shopping process, second only to websites, as a source of further learning about purchase decisions. Nineteen percent of influencers cited web advertising as a source of information when they were researching a purchase, compared to 8 percent among the remainder of the sample.

Both segments cited websites as their top source of research when they are shopping, but influencers clearly rely more on the web than non-influencers, with 40 percent of influencers citing websites for this purpose versus 31 percent of non-influencers.

This part is curious: "influencers consider online advertising a key factor of their shopping process, second only to websites."

Aren't most online ads found on websites? Isn't context important in advertising? Will we get free floating online ads with no website needed?!