Google's stock prices have recently dropped to a low figure that we haven't seen for quite some time, which is a bit of a worry when the largest technology company is feeling the pressure. Google have announced they have freezed their employee base, they're not hiring any more staff and they don't have any plans to lay off staff (at the moment).

Internally, Google are focusing on their major projects which is their search engine, and adsense amoungst a few more. The biggest change they've made is ceasing all research and development on projects that fit under the 'experimental' or 'fun' category, and those projects which haven't gained any popularity.

Projects which have stopped development include Lively which is a 3D avatars and room chatting socialising application. With the statistics below you can clearly see the little popularity this service has received.

The tech industry is definetely feeling the economic pressure with other companies announcing staff layoffs across the board. Techcrunch have recently announced layoffs have reached over 100 000 in the tech industry alone. AT&T having the largest with 12 000 staff layoffs.

Finance experts report we haven't seen the worst of this economic disaster, but I hope this isn't the case. For tech companies finding it hard to keep an active client base, look for clients that will survive the economic issues (such as supermarkets, and businesses that sell everyday goods and services).

Further readings:-
* Google's Lively Receives A Death Sentence
* Tech Layoffs Surge Past 100 000