Google appears to be confirming – at least unofficially - Wall Street’s fear that its advertising is not recession-proof after all. This is Tim Armstrong, head of advertising in the US, when asked at a Bear Stearns conference today how search advertising performs in an economic slowdown:

“It does reflect the macroeconomic environment… From a macroeconomic viewpoint, people do search what’s on their mind and what they’re thinking about” (Translation: if they’re tightening their belts, they’ll probably do fewer searches for the latest hot gadgets.) Read more