Whatever sort of recession we’re in hasn’t yet resulted in any soup lines (or at least not any soup lines that made the evening news).  It also hasn’t had any horrible effect on online advertising.

It’s more than a little ironic, but WebMD isn’t looking too healthy; the company has cut its 2008 financial outlook.  On the bright side, there’s a possibility that this is only WebMD’s problem, as opposed to something representative of the online economy.

The economy’s not good, and the powers that be at Penton Media seem sure it’s going to grow worse.  As a result, the company will not grant raises or hire new employees, and it’s looking for other places to save money, as well.

I had my next few purchases all planned out – a nice alarm clock, a new TV, and a big bookcase.  Then signs of a recession began to pile on, and setting aside extra mortgage payments started to seem like the better idea.  Many companies are thinking similarly.

An interesting article in the New York Times today – Is It a Recession? Marketers Seem to Think So – highlights how that the marketing industry is ramping up spending, even if this might be a recession (and, well, we cannot say we are in a recession yet, according to statistics).

According to the article:

As financial commentary continues to suggest a recession is inevitable, we’ve decided to run a series of blog posts detailing ways small businesses can leverage the power of search engine and online marketing to weather the recession storm.

In this month’s Target Marketing Magazine, a TopRank authored article on how small businesses can gain a competitive marketing advantage by leveraging content promotion, blogs, social media and universal search was featured.

It should be the Frau Blucher of words and if we believe in that marketing genius that was "The Secret" we shouldn’t dare throw it out there. Nonetheless, the braver the media gets at using the "r" word, the more people are searching for it.

Thus, they’re all putting the energy out there like seeds and are waiting to reap the harvest.

Recession. There, I said it, now let’s get on with it.