Google (NSDQ: GOOG), whose search-based model has thus far stood up quite well, is now making a plea to advertisers as the ad economy begins to tank around it. London-based EMEA SVP Nikesh Arora gave FT.com a preview of a speech he’s making at Ofcom’s Next Generation conference in London today: “We are making a very explicit pitch to clients about using the internet to speed up in a slowdown. We want to make sure people don’t sacrifice the digital imperative because of other issues in their business.”

Digital hubris built on the back of a five-year web ads boom has held that, even in a downturn, online ads will prosper by offering buyers better guaranteed spend than other media. Google’s income has boomed on the back of keyword-based ads, but a good proportion of its business is mere display, too. Now that the economic downturn is biting elsewhere, so the income Google pulls from the UK (stated in dollars) has plateaued, as our chart shows. Arora again today professes the web’s resilience - but “that’s not to say, if there’s a huge cut in advertising spending, it’s not going to filter through to all forms of advertising”.

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