It's Good to Be Google

"To date, Google has not been impacted or if it has, it has not been enough to materially impact its business," says Friedland, whose firm does not have a relationship with Google.

Working in its favor are advertisers who might be trimming their budgets but seem reluctant to cut back on spending for search ads, which is Google's main source of income. Friedland equates it to the same resilience that direct mail experienced during recessions in the past, with advertisers unwilling to give up ads that resulted in increased revenue.

Friedland considers search ads as the "new" direct mail, essentially serving the same purpose by reaching consumers directly, albeit through a different medium.

The X factor is the consumer, who may end up clicking on fewer ads during a recession. But he or she might also decide merely to click on different ads -- not fewer ones -- which would leave Google unscathed.

It's hard to know what is currently happening, and a recession might be over before we know how Google has matched up against it, Friedland says.

Still, the company has a lot going for it. The acquisition of online advertising firm DoubleClick, as well as Google's efforts to monetize on online video site YouTube could help the company in the future, although results may not be seen until a year or more from now.

As for any deals between the Mountain View, Calif.-based company and its rival Yahoo!YHOO, which recently ran a two-week test where it outsourced some of its online ads to Google, it's unclear how much either side will benefit.