engine - 9:59 pm on Nov 15, 2007 (gmt 0)

A new report from Sanford C. Bernstein Research claims to provide more evidence of online advertising’s resilience in the face of an economic downturn, which the investment bank considers increasingly likely. Though Bernstein’s analysis, titled Advertising in a Time of Economic Downturn, doesn’t foresee any major fall-out akin to what occurred when the dot com bubble burst after 2000, Yahoo and AOL are viewed as particularly vulnerable. Overall, the relative weakness that could afflict Yahoo and AOL are part of what Bernstein sees as a competitive pattern emerging among the major online players that will only become more pronounced if a full-blown recession comes to pass:

Economic Downturn Will Not Hit Online Ad Spending [nytimes.com]