The vast majority of businesses in the world today are seeing a sharp downturn in their profits.  Consumers are buying less, which means workers are often making less (or losing their jobs), which means they are buying less - you get the picture.

The one segment that seems to be thriving is Internet Marketing.  Why?  According to some, it’s BECAUSE of the failing economy that businesses are looking towards the Internet as an alternative to higher priced television and other forms of advertising.

Last week was a big week for one market segment that has been hit hard by tough financial times: automotive.  With two major conferences, the Digital Dealer AAISP conference in Dallas and the JD Powers Conference in Las Vegas, most of the attention was placed on how to leverage the Internet as a smarter way to advertise.

Joe Turner, Executive Director of Marketing for TK Carsites, an internet marketing and website design firm, said, “Car dealers are looking for a lifeline.  Times are beyond tough and they need a way cut costs without making sales worse than they already are.  They are looking to the Internet to replace much of their traditional advertising.”

Car dealers and their manufacturing partners are notoriously big spenders in tradition media such as television, radio, and newspapers.  With more consumers going to the Internet to do their research, it makes sense to maximize their presence.

For some, it was only a matter of time.  Paul Rushing, a long-time Internet marketer and blog manager for DrivingSales, has seen this coming for a while.  “It just makes sense,” he said.  “The automotive industry has been migrating to an online focus for the last few years.  This economy is just the catalyst that brought the inevitable to pass.”

Regardless of the business or market, advertising online is emerging as the “smart money” for most business types.  It is cheaper, more focused, and easily quantifiable.  The real question is, “What took it so long?”

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Read more about the internet marketing industry on this blog.