ChasNote

According to the Economist, a recession (whether it’s in 2008 or 2009) will hit TV and print advertising sectors much harder than online advertising:

“In rich countries the internet is claiming a growing share of advertising—at the expense of traditional media, such as TV and print. There is still a gap between the time people spend online as a fraction of their media consumption (about a fifth) and the fraction of marketing budgets spent on the internet (about 7.5%). Many companies are trying to narrow the gap, which will sustain internet advertising during a downturn. Search advertising, the most effective kind of all, should be safest.”

While I agree with the obvious part — that anything done online is more trackable than something done offline — I hope a recession doesn’t serve as a time machine, pushing the online ad industry back to its roots as a blunt instrument for harvesting clicks and leads.