The media business is interesting and complicated because you often straddle two worlds – the business of publishing and the space your publication covers. While I’m sad that times are tough in the media space (you can’t go a day without talk of declining ad revenues for traditional media outlets), online marketing seems nearly unaffected by the economic downturn.

Every time I interact with online marketers, I ask how the current U.S. economic downturn is impacting their business and their plans for 2009. So far, nearly everyone I spoken with over the last three months has told me that their business is booming. In fact, many online marketers are thriving in this economy as more consumers go online to get better deals on products than they can find at brick and mortar stores. And it’s not just the comparison shopping engines and coupon sites. Maybe, that’s because online marketers are a savvy and innovative bunch that are adaptable to change with lightening speed.

These folks are often among the first to leverage new technologies such as social media tools. Plus, the basic fundamental premise of online/performance marketing is one where advertisers pay only for performance. Thus, advertisers have a proven, reliable, trackable method of measuring success.

Here are some recent indicators (albeit some are unscientific) that online marketing is thriving:

Ad:Tech Buzz
While I didn’t attend the recent Ad:Tech conference in New York, people said the show was packed and the mood was upbeat. Exhibitors I spoke with said they were please with the foot traffic in the exhibit hall. And, there were several large-scale sponsored events and parties. Companies tend not to spend money on renting clubs and plying folks with booze when times are tough.

Growth of Comparison Shopping Engines
According to research published by E-consultancy and DoubleClick comparison shopping engines are benefiting from bargain seekers.

Some of the key findings:
*Approximately 43 percent of retailers surveyed say that the proportion of online sales coming through comparison shopping engines (CSEs) has increased in the last 12 months.
*Retailers surveyed report 10 percent of their online sales come through this channel.
*Retailers rated Google Shopping / Base and Shopping.com as the best comparison shopping engines for volume, with 38 percent saying that Google is “good” and 35 percent saying that Shopping.com is “good”. Kelkoo and PriceRunner are both rated as being good for volume by 28 percent of merchants.

See more details on the study.

Online Marketers Expanding Business
PPC affiliate IMWave last week acquired Move Marketing’s performance search marketing business. As of September of 2008, IMWave announced it had served over 2 billion ads for its customers.

Upbeat Online Shopping Outlook
Market researcher eMarketer estimates that online holiday season sales will reach $32 billion in 2008, up slightly more than 10 percent over 2007.

New Opportunities
One of Revenue’s columnists, Jim Kukral, has recently seen a big demand by companies that are looking to capitalize on interactive marketing. That’s why he’s revamped his consulting business and launched TheBizWebCoach.com, a membership service that provides members with coaching and consulting on how to make your brand or business successful online.

For me, these are all good signs that online marketing is alive and well. Let me know how business is going for you.