For the past year, friends of mine have asked, "How's business? Is the downturn hitting you hard?" My standard response has been and will continue to be that when times are tough economically, times are good for online. And today, the IDC bolsters this theory with its report that online advertising grew by 24% in the first quarter this year over the same quarter in 2007.

Why? This quote wraps it up: "Weide said that, during economic downturns, chief financial officers "decide that money needs to be saved" and usually cut the marketing department first "So the pressure is on for the marketing guys to provide the same marketing effectiveness with less money," said the analyst. "And when they look around which medium is more effective than others, they look at the Internet."

I just love that.

Online marketing and advertising is the Toyota Prius of marketing. When gas prices are sitting at $4/gallon, no one wants to drive an SUV... and no one wants to blow their limited cash on unmeasurable, unaccountable media either.