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A New Search for MySpace
garzpacho writes "Businessweek is reporting on MySpace's new strategy. They're going to pit the large engines against each other in a bidding war to provide the popular social networking site with a new search engine. From the article: 'Search is a driver of traffic and advertising revenue for other major Web destinations, but it's a largely untapped source of growth for MySpace and other Fox Interactive Media properties such as online gaming site IGN and sports site Scout. Given MySpace's power, Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are expected to compete fiercely for the right to be the search engine of choice for MySpace and the rest of Fox Interactive. News Corp. won't say how much money it expects to derive from a deal, but industry experts say it could conceivably boost MySpace's annual revenue several times over.'"
Although there are millions of active users on Myspace, most are teenagers with little buying power, that are therefore less likely to click on the adverts that gain the search engines revenue
Teens, schmeens. Fox is going after the fat-walleted 40ish pedophiles who are using MySpace like it was their own web-based rolodex. I was recently part of a tech-and-law-enforcement seminar, and was blown away by how easy it was to (a) locate your underage victim of choice, and (b) find out exactly where s/he would be when (softball/cheerleading practice at Acme Field, Tues and Thu from 3:30 to 4:45, etc.) If you're a perv, than MySpace is a virtual, virtual smorgasbord.
Fortunately, from what I have recently learned, the Good Guys are stepping up to the plate and starting to educate kids about exactly how NOT to fill out their online profiles and other narcissistic blog droolings. The aim is to make it tougher to find people.
Now, Fox is going out of its way to create search mechanisms to counter such obfuscations, presumably. Fascinating.
Gee, I wonder what Fox Interactive's Sister Company Pundit Bill "Who's Looking Out For Your Kids?" O'Reilly what have to say on this topic...?