With a larger chunk of Americans out of work -- larger than have been in a long time -- leading job search sites Monster.com and CareerBuilder will be looking to gain their share of that market with commercials during the Super Bowl (subscription required). The problem is that these companies make their money from charging fees from employers that advertise on the site. The plethora of people looking for jobs doesn't help their earnings. Instead, they are being crunched by the dwindling number of companies looking to hire.

Monster's parent company Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW) is hoping the ads will draw attention to its redesigned website that will debut in January.

According to The Wall Street Journal, many observers question the huge investment required for these ads (as much as $3 million for a a 30-second spot) and believe that since both companies already have strong name recognition, they would be better off investing the funds to attract revenue-generating employers.

Career Builder's chief marketing officer, Richard Castellini, disagrees and says that the ads will also appeal to potential advertisers: "How many of those viewers are corporate buyers? A large percentage."

But surely there are more targeted ways to connect with human resources people for less than $100,000 per second.