The survey of 1,340 people showed that 48 per cent of consumers trusted the ads found on Yahoo! and MSN compared to 39 per cent who trust those on social media sites.
It was also revealed that ads on original content sites are three times more likely to increase positive brand awareness than those displayed on social media sites such as Facebook.
About 32 per cent of those interviewed cited that they felt more positive towards a brand on a content site compared to 17 per cent on portals and 14 per cent on social networks.
Sarah Messer, chair of the firm's research committee and head of commercial research at ITV, commented: "Users will visit social network sites daily and for long periods of time, yet by visiting a B2B, consumer or business site and obtaining relevant information or news quickly, doesn't make the user any less 'engaged'."
According to a recent survey by Ofcom, the internet accounted for 27 per cent of advertising spend in the UK last year.
