The general sentiment is that online advertising is immune from the travails of the economy (obviously, this ignores the depression for the category in the wake of the dot-com bust). The argument is that the consumers' "eyeballs" are moving more to Web-based media.No doubt, this is true. But, this doesn't mean advertisers won't still get skittish.
As a result, eMarketer is toning down its forecast for online ad spending in 2008. Instead of coming to $27.5 billion, the revised figure is now $25.8 billion.
OK, that doesn't sound like much. However, it could be brutal for many companies (especially small ones that rely heavily on ad spending).
Oh, and social networking sites may come under pressure too. Simply put, these sites are having a tough time getting people to click on ads (even though there are many "eyeballs").
Something else: eMarketer's revision shows how fragile the economy has become. In other words, things can certainly get worse -- and quickly.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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