Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) may be the best internet company in the world. It is certainly one of the most admired. It has 65% of the U.S. search market and similar dominance throughout much of Europe. But its stock hit a three-year low Monday at $309.44.

What's that about? The analyst consensus is that the search company's revenue will grow 27% in the next quarter and the EPS will rise to $5.17 from $4.43 last year.

The answer is probably that earnings forecasts are now considered at risk for even the most dominant company in the industry.

But the market may be wrong about Google. There is a powerful case to be made that, in a recession, marketers cannot cut all of their advertising dollars. They still have to keep customers coming in. While print, TV, and internet display ads may not be effective at doing that, Google's search product has proved, time after time, it can bring in result that are better than any other medium.

Google may shock analysts. Its product may be so good and so efficient that even in a recession it is the marketing platform of last resort and the one place advertisers cannot afford to do without.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.