The news that AdBrite is closing its on-line ad business surprised much webmasters. A few days ago I was one of the receivers of the company-letter that says the management team deeply regrets, but it is not possible to continue the business. In personal I am not much influenced, because my sites didn't work well with AdBrite, so I used it a very limited period of time.

But something else is more interesting. I will reveal you a secret - another similar ad-operator has stopped paying publishers since months up to now. And also - I have some rumors of Google inventing different types of excuses to throw out some publishers from AdSense. So combining all this information we can ask the logical question what is happening on the market of Internet ads? Has the crisis came here too?

Most of the people know Google as a search giant, distributor of Android OS for smartphones and tablets, and provider of much and useful free on line services. But in fact, Google is just an ad-agency. It is the biggest advertising agency in the world, connecting millions of small publishers with millions of small advertisers. This is the business that brings money that support the other and more popular activities. The ad business and the mediation between publishers and advertisers is the heart of Google miracle. If this business model goes down Google will simply bankrupt. Can you imagine Google bankrupting? It will be something like a Lehman Brothers crash, but in Internet.

Of course Google is the Internet ad Godzilla and is far from bankrupting. But the problems of smaller players like  Adbrite indicate some turbulences on the market. In fact Google created the real pay-per-click Internet business. It existed before that, but with AdSense it became a mega-business. Google followers have taken some niches by offering similar to Google services. So if the crisis is coming, it is normal the followers to be hit first.

It is possible the crash of the smaller competitors to help Google and other top players. But if there is a strategic change on the market, Google will not avoid the problems. And being bigger, may be even "too big to fail" it will have much more difficulties in restructuring.

If Google and AdSense go down, this will crash also the enormous SEO business. Another part of the post industrial "economy of services". An economy that is hardly to find what exactly is producing, but is having the big money in exchange... :)))

Dobri
Jan 29th 2013