Google Inc (GOOG.O) is to cut around 200 jobs in sales and marketing in order to cope with costs during the global financial crisis, which has resulted in a heavy advertising slowdown.

In a recent blog post, Omid Kordestani, Google’s senior vice president for global sales and business development, said the search giant had simply hired more people than it needed for the current level of business. So 200 jobs in sales and marketing will be cut, though some of the people will be able to apply for jobs that Google is still hiring for.

“So today we have informed Googlers that we plan to reduce the number of roles within our sales and marketing organizations by just under 200 globally. Making changes of this kind is never easy—and we recognize that the recession makes the timing even more difficult for the Googlers concerned. We did look at a number of different options but ultimately concluded that we had to restructure our organizations in order to improve our effectiveness and efficiency as a business. We will give each person time to try and find another position at Google, as well as outplacement support, and provide severance packages for those who leave the company. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone affected for all they have contributed to Google.”

Google employs some 20,200 workers, according to the Associated Press, meaning that the current layoffs represent less than 1 percent of the total.

Google’s move to cut jobs, raises questions about the viability and future of the online advertising industry. Will Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft and others follow suit?

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