The idea is being thrown around that the acquistion of Countrywide (CFC) by Bank of America (BAC) may cause ad revenue for the Internet to slow down, but I don't think that will be the case.
This doesn't mean that ad revenue from Countrywide itself won't slow down, but that shouldn't have any negative impact on online marketers generating ad revenue.
Countrywide is the world's second largest online advertiser, spending about $57 million for online advertising in November, the reason they're considered relevant to talk about.
It's being assumed that once Bank of America settles into the acquisition, they'll start doing some surgery on Countrywide and cut away a lot of fat, including cutting back on its ad spend.
While that's a possibility (although not a surety), that shouldn't affect the online revenue generated from ads much. If Countrywide does cut back on its advertising budget, there are plenty of others ready to step in to buy the newly available ad inventory.
In the short term there should be nothing happening at all. Over the long term we may hear about cutbacks at Countrywide, but even if we do it shouldn't be anything we have to be concerned with. The migration of an increasing ad spend to the Internet pretty much guarantees that for the foreseeable future there shouldn't be any concerns about the Internet becoming cyclical in generating ad revenue.
That day may come in the future, but it's still a ways off. Over the next several years we can count on revenue generated from online advertising to continue to grow.
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