WebProNews

At this point, it seems like the majority of finance-related discussions revolve around loss, not growth.  Jupiter Research still sees some positive things happening in the mid- or long-term, however, and has predicted that local online advertising will be worth $8.9 billion in 2012.

Of course, any number involving ten digits to the left of the decimal can sound good, but in the event that you'd like a better breakdown, Matthew G. Nelson gets into the details.  "[L]ocal display and search advertising will grow over the next five years at compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 18 percent and 16 percent, respectively," he reports.

Also, "[L]ocal advertising will grow at a CAGR of 13 percent from 2007 to 2012, a faster clip than online advertising in general, which has an anticipated 12 percent CAGR."

These forecasts aren't phenomenal - before all the recent cuts, a decent CD might have guaranteed an interest rate of around four percent.  Still, given all the talk of the Web 2.0 bubble that was circulating before the entire economy burst, Jupiter Research's conclusions may be comforting.

As a final, FYI-style tidbit: the Dow is down another 45 points just now.