"Ad Growth Still Strong, Google Says"

NY Times says analysts are bullish on text ads

[europeforvisitors]

A New York Times article [nytimes.com] reports that Google "has seen no effect from a slowing economy on its advertising business" and claims that "Analysts believe [AdWords/AdSense-style text ads] are more impervious to a slowdown than banner ads."

Caveat: Just because text-ad sales don't slow down won't mean that publishers are invulnerable to changes in supply and demand (such as more rapid growth in publishers' page views than in advertisers' expenditures).

[Scurramunga]

We will just have to wait and hope that they report the same over the next couple of quarters. I think it's a little premature to assume that they will be immune.

[europeforvisitors]

It's a little premature to assume anything, period, but that doesn't make experts' opinions less interesting. And those opinions may help to quell some of the panic that we occasionally see on the forum.

[koan]

And those opinions may help to quell some of the panic

Wasn't a slowing economy part of your arguments against publishers who experienced diminishing revenues and tended to blame smart pricing or Google taking a bigger share from small publishers?

Now if it isn't a slowing economy, and big publishers like the NYT aren't affected... it seems to me it validates even more their concerns.

[europeforvisitors]

Wasn't a slowing economy part of your arguments against publishers who experienced diminishing revenues and tended to blame smart pricing or Google taking a bigger share from small publishers?

Nope. A slowing economy is one reason why some publishers might be experiencing a decline income. (Obvious examples: Publishers of sites about subprime mortgages and new-home construction.) Other publishers may well be affected by factors that have nothing to do with a slowing economy, such as smart pricing, but such factors aren't the topic of the NEW YORK TIMES article or this thread.

Now if it isn't a slowing economy, and big publishers like the NYT aren't affected... it seems to me it validates even more their concerns.

The article isn't about THE NEW YORK TIMES or big publishers. (Why not read the article before commenting on it?)

[koan]

The article isn't about THE NEW YORK TIMES or big publishers.

My bad. I shouldn't post before my coffee. Glad we can rule out a slow economy affecting all boats, for now.