There has been a lot of noise about whether or not the ad industry will take a downturn because of the economic troubles surrounding the bursting of the housing bubble and the collapse of the subprime lending market. Silicon Alley Insider has been tracking this story for some time, following the theory that the demise of the mortgage market is also going to put a serious damper on the online ad market.

Economic downturns usually hit advertising hard, because whether or not we like to admit it, advertising is discretionary. New and emerging markets aren’t usually hit as hard, simply because they don’t comprise a large enough amount of the advertising budget to be worth cutting. Some people are saying that interactive advertising has matured and doesn’t fit in that “niche” definition anymore, and is therefore not recession-proof.

What about multicultural advertising? Is it still a niche? Is it still small enough to not get cut in a recession? On the other hand, are the demographic trends so compelling that even if other marketing vehicles do get cut, advertisers can’t afford to cut back on advertising to Hispanics and other minority groups?

I don’t have answers to these questions, and I suspect no one else does either, just opinions. Time will tell.

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