Are large companies actually losing money on internet advertising??

I just want to get others opinions on this...

Before I say anything, know that I am well aware and completely understand customer lifetime values, upsells and backend sales... Even personally I have spent an upwards of $150 on traffic to acquire each $15 sale because I understand what my CLV is and also the backend products I offer.

But lets take the insurance industry for example. These large well known brand companies out there are spending $25, $30 and even up to $50+ per click with Google and Bing PPC on broad insurance keyword terms that get thousands of searches per day.

Even with CLVs and backend sales, I personally don't see how they can be profitable from PPC internet traffic. Even if though they are acquiring a lot of customers from it, they are spending way too much money on the front end.

Yes they are obviously an overall profitable company, for one having the revenue to advertise this massively, and also from offline and direct marketing resources.

So do you think these companies are actually profiting with their internet ads, or is most of the profits coming from offline, media and direct marketing resources?

I could be wrong, but I personally think they are losing money with internet traffic, but it's about acquiring as many customers as possible and beating the competition out of the # 1 and # 2 spots in the search results.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.