Sourced from marketingvox.com
Beating out Yahoo, Google will gain access to the nearly 100 million users of MySpace, providing web search and sponsored search links for the social networking site, reports CNET. News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media said the deal extends over three years and nine months and grants Google exclusive rights to provide search and ads not only to MySpace but also other FIM properties, including videogame and entertainment site IGN, collegiate and pro sports network Scout.com, movie lovers’ site Rottentomatoes.com, among others.
Google, which has begun selling graphical ads (with modest results), has also gained right of first refusal to sell remnant banner ads on MySpace, points out the New York Times, adding that the size of MySpace’s inventory will make Google a major player in banner ads, according to analysts.
The deal will begin in the fourth quarter, with Google guaranteeing at least $900 million to FIM over three years, so long as the latter meets traffic and other commitments. The companies also hinted at expanding their cooperation.
“The real potential for a home run is combining Google technology with our demographic information,” Peter Chernin, president and COO of News Corp., is quoted as saying. And Google CEO Eric Schmidt is quoted as saying, “It’s important to move Google to where users are, and that is where user-generated content is.”
The announcement comes as Viacom is considering a bid for social networking site Bebo; Viacom failed to defeat News Corp. in the race for MySpace last year, writes the Financial Times.