22nd
Panic
Markets around the world are crashing on news of the pending US recession. Futures are down 5%-10%. Things are about to get very ugly.
As consumer spending goes down, I think we will see more time spent on the web for entertainment. Whether its ad supported video games (EA’s announcement) or online video - I think more people will turn to the web as an alternative means of entertainment.
Another thought - I would imagine that some financial blogs will see an uptick in traffic. People will start to realize that they should have been saving the past 7 years and will look to the web, and financial blogs in particular, to teach them good habits.
As marketing budgets get slashed, it makes sense to me that more money would be allocated towards online advertising as it provides the most accurate measure of ROI.