Is Google Recession-proof?

[garbowza]

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2008/01/google_recession

[ALee]

They survived the last burst, they should be fine in this one as long as they focus on innovation and better products.

Usually people say they are immune also because of overseas operations, but it seems that this recession may be a global economic downturn.

Hopefully Google has some things going on in emerging markets.

[webwright]

Um... I think the fact that they are comparing Google to direct mail.

I think a look at how Goto/Overture did during the last downturn (was it around) would be more telling.

[gojomo → webwright]

Goto/Overture IPO'd in 1999 and was thriving on pay-per-click ads when Google was still using CPM for AdWords (2001).

An interview with Overture's CEO after their blowout 4Q2001:

Newsmaker: Who says the dot-com era's over? (February 19, 2002) http://www.news.com/Who-says-the-dot-com-eras-over/2008-1082...

The next month, Google wisely began its shift to PPC:

Google Takes on Overture With Pay-Per-Click AdWords (March 4, 2002) http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2164631

[aston]

Google's money is in advertising. Advertising is not recession proof. Thus Google is not recession-proof. Seems simple to me.

[richcollins]

I wonder how much they were making off of sub-prime alone.