Last week, I optimistically (wishfully) blogged that online advertising will fair okay in the coming year, a perspective shared by other analysts. Following-up on that post, I am especially interested to see how Web 2.0 companies fare in the downturn.

Facebook is reportedly taking its time developing new approaches to advertising, approaches better suited to their ground-breaking site. I applaud the patience. It’s good for the brand – reinforcing its differentiation from MySpace – and great for the industry at large: Innovation around online advertising is a great opportunity to create bridges between online advertising and social media. And while advertisers may reign in spending next year and the social media terrain is new, this is not a trend to ignore.

There are signs that marketers are moving in this direction. According to a study by Shop.org, 33% are adding consumer reviews, and 25% of retailers plan to create Facebook pages to promote their sites. These tactics speak to a growing awareness and experimentation in online marketing in and around social media channels. They are baby-steps, to be sure, but encouraging. Now, whether these steps help to sustain online advertising spends in an economic downturn is another story. Me thinks "not in the short term," unfortunately, but the efforts will eventually pay off in the form of innovative and ultimately more effective ways of advertising.

Promising is a recent report from Razorfish shows that "connected consumers" (read: social media users) are comfortable seeing advertising on social networks and 4 out of 10 made purchasing decisions based on the social advertising.

Btw: I will try to find out how they define “social advertising” and report back here if and when I can find out.