As the online advertising industry grew exponentially over the past few years, it created hundreds of new jobs. With those jobs came the need to fill them, and with few qualified candidates, the competition for the top talent became all the more fierce.

But the current economic crunch has forced online advertising to slow down slightly, and experts are predicting it will also end the industry's talent shortage.

"All this money was pouring into digital, and there weren't enough people to do it. That led to mediocrity, and mediocrity didn't help the market at large," Michael Lebowitz, founder of the agency Big Spaceship, told Advertising Age. "A slowdown of cash and slowdown in the need for talent will give this industry a bit of space to breathe; too much too fast is bad for a company and bad for an industry."

Several companies such as Yahoo, Heavy and AdBrite have already begun to tighten their belts and reduce their workforces, but major players in the ad industry, including AOL's Platform-A, plan to hire during the downturn. However, experts predict salaries will be lower.

While online may be slowing, there is still a need for killer creative, so things aren't likely to slow down at agencies. "The talent war on the agency side will be as intense as ever," said Interactive Advertising Bureau chairman Wenda Harris Millard. "I don't think there is any agency who won't tell you that they are still starved for interactive talent."