Declining response rates and increasing data collection costs are adversely affecting probability-based surveys. Hence, online-based sampling and recruitment methodologies have emerged and have been examined as an alternative approach to address cost, non-response, and coverage concerns related to the probability-based sampling strategies. The dramatic national and global increase in social media use and its potential to lower cost per complete allow this platform to be considered as a potential sample recruitment venue. Previous research has shown that social media sites can be used for recruitment to web surveys yet the findings are equivocal and suffer from two shortcomings. First, they tend to rely on only one social media site (e.g., Facebook). Second, they rarely examine the usefulness of social media platforms for their ability to reach targeted populations. Our paper reports findings from two studies that used social media and search engine ad campaigns to recruit targeted populations for web-based surveys. In our first study, we employed targeted ad campaigns via Google, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit 18-25 year olds to complete a web survey regarding health and social life. Given the success of Facebook reaching targeted populations in our first study, our second studyfocused on recruiting another targeted population (Asian-Americans) to a web survey on financial well-being via Facebook-based ad campaigns. We examine differences in response rates by platform, as well as the substantive responses of our respondents in comparison to similar questions asked in general population probability based surveys. We further explore how each of the social media and search engine platforms perform relative to each other. Ultimately, the results expand our understanding of using social media and search engine ads for targeted survey recruitment both in terms of their strengths and shortcomings.