The Mean Season: Internet Ads Disappoint, Smothering Rebound Hopes

It's not just the economy, stupid.

Sure, the shaky business outlook is making it difficult for ad-supported Internet companies to forecast their financial performance for the rest of the year, say advertising industry executives. But something else makes it harder to get a sense of when the online advertising market will turn around, they say: the feeling that agencies and advertisers got burned by previous ventures into Internet advertising.

Comments of these ad executives address a crucial theme articulated by Internet media companies in the first quarter of the year: a lack of visibility. Though Net companies were once able to predict with confidence how business would go for the next two quarters, companies from Yahoo! (YHOO Quote) on down lately have confessed that their outlook is unclear. Meanwhile, people who work at agencies representing online marketers don't see a pretty sight themselves, saying that both the economy and marketers' mistrust are dragging on a recovery.

"It's the cloudiest crystal ball I've ever seen," says Bruce Carlisle, CEO of SF Interactive, an interactive marketing services company. "Lack of visibility is a euphemism for 'I don't have any orders.' "

Jawline Recession

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