Google Signs $900m MySpace Deal

deadmantyping writes "Google has signed a $900m deal with Fox to provide search capabilities for Fox sites, the most noteworthy of which is MySpace. This deal does not include FoxSports.com, which already has a deal with MSN. Google claims that 'MySpace was an important site to be involved with given its rapid popularity growth.' Google also signed a deal with MTV earlier in the week."

Comments

I just hate it when...

[Anonymous Coward]

Rupert Murdoch ($500M for myspace.com) gets to tug on his suspenders and say, "Guess I'm not so dumb after all."

Myspace taking over......

[matts-reign]

I don't see the attraction of myspace.

It seems like everybody is using the website now. I can understand that people want to host their own content.

Why then, are movies using myspace? Talladega nights advertises its offical url as http://myspace.com/rickybobby. Why? Why not just have a regular website? Or is there something i'm missing?

Re:Myspace taking over......

[YrWrstNtmr]

I don't see the attraction of myspace.

You're evidently not 14.

Re:Myspace taking over......

[0100010001010011]

Don't tell her that.

Re:Myspace taking over......

[Ruff_ilb]

Regardless, many films are doing this... it's really a moot point as to whether or not this particular film does it.

The bottom line is that a myspace link is familiar to lots of people, easy to access, easy to create, and plays into the social networking scheme that myspace yields. If someone can add "Ricky Bobby" to their myspace friends account, or whatever (I don't use myspace, so I don't know exactly how it works), but for a very small amount of effort, and likely no funding (they can rehash their own promotional materials) they can reach a number of people, and then (and this is where MySpace has another significant advantage) reach the people those people have friended on myspace, because the friends will see the user's like for the movie. Thus, for almost nothing, the marketers can reach people that wouldn't normally access the site.

Re:Myspace taking over......

[apflwr3]

Why then, are movies using myspace? Talladega nights advertises its offical url as http://myspace.com/rickybobby [myspace.com]. Why? Why not just have a regular website? Or is there something i'm missing?

For one thing it's potentially a marketing goldmine.

"Rickybobby" has 60,000 "friends." It could be 600,000 in a couple of months. Almost all of these "friends" are in the coveted teens-and-twenties demographic. The fact that they are willing to be friends with a movie means they're susceptible to advertising. They will be getting messages and emails and "friend invites" from upcoming movies and who-knows-what-else from Sony Pictures for a long time to come.

Why do you think Myspace is worth so much to Fox? It's a database of millions of teenagers who proudly list their interests and hobbies.

Re:Myspace taking over......

[shawb]

And probably more importantly than just reaching people, the marketers can find what interests the people they reach have. Looking into it a bit can show that some unexpected demographic might be into the movie/band/whatever. Or they might find larger interest in certain geographic regions than expected... in theory this could allow companies to bring products (including movies and art) to people that actually want them. This is probably more important for something like a band planning out a tour schedule, but larger companies can use it to concentrate their marketing as well.

Re:Myspace taking over......

[jb.hl.com]

Most people who avoid myspace are either old farts who criticize anyone under 30, or slashdotters living in their parents basement.

Stolen for sig. :)

Re:Myspace taking over......

[SilentChris]

Actually, most people who avoid Myspace can't stand piss-poor webdesign, pages that take forever to load and endless tirades by teenagers. Never mind the fact that most kids "grow out of Myspace", apparently, when they head off to college (Read this in a CNN article recently. Google it).

I still don't see the attraction of hosting on Myspace. It costs, what, 5 bucks to rent a box nowadays? And you have total control of your content, not what News Coporation deems is appropriate.

All Myspace is a virtual gym class from high school. A place to socialize and learn people skills (albiet online) before heading off to a work environment. In that regard, it's a success -- but by those standards any social networking site that gets large enough is a success. In every other instance (design, marketing, etc.) it's a failure.

Excellent!

[ScentCone]

Vapid, self-obsessed, score-keeping emo-inanities will now be even easier to find! And that's just the garage bands.

Wait... did you feel that? A great disturbance in the workforce, like millions of voices crying out... like it just became easier than ever for HR departments around the world to sift through that stack of resumes.

Re:Excellent!

[andrewman327]

it just became easier than ever for HR departments around the world to sift through that stack of resumes.

Agreed. Just look at this cover my HR department got the other day! (Hey, they're using it for movies, and I think that most of its individual users are dumb enough to do this.)

drear employr,
if u want 2 see my resume', chec out my MySpace. ignore the pix of me (hehe, i was so drunk) and the awesome muzic (i wuz 9 when Maroon 5 relesed that song) and clic on the "CLICK ME" link.

Re:Excellent!

[Bronster]

Slashdot falls into the "good enough not to be totally worthless, and nothing else is so significantly better that it's worth switching" bracket. Plus, everyone else[tm] is here.

I think it's largely the "there's enough going on to keep me distracted for an entire workday" factor that makes slashdot so... um... slashdotty.

Yeah, something like that.

Google paid Fox?

[emjoi_gently]

Google paid Fox nearly a BILLION dollars to provide Fox with a Search Engine? Isn't that kind of backwards?

Re:Google paid Fox?

[FlyByPC]

It's part of Google's charitable "Don't be evil" motto. They're trying to help all of those poor Fox customers see both sides of the current-events issues. That's why they paid Fox; it's not as if Fox has ever actually been interested in disseminating information. Now they'll be able to find all of the FUD-mongering blogs on BOTH sides!

Question

[antifoidulus]

How can you index a site where 90% of the words are one or 2 meaningless letters?

Re:Question

[Tokin84]

Forget letters... what about numbers replacing whole words! it hurts my brain even thinking about it!

Oh, and lets see, from a business stand point, this is probably a good move my Google. granted, $900M is a ton of money, but with myspace generating over 27.4 billion page views per month (article here), that's a huge income stream for Google. Even if only 1% of those people even click on a link, which is probably an underestimate, thats 274 million ad clicks per month. At a minimum of $0.01/click, that's $2.74M. Also, don't forget that Google does Cost Per Impressions, or per 1000 ad views. Lets assume you use minimums, as I have throughout this post, and you will see that Google generates another $6.85M/ad displayed. Since Google usually puts up about 5 ads per search, you can assume that they are making $34.25M/month at a minimum. Total, they have a revenue of appoximately $37M/month, all at minimums. Now, this doesn't take into account the fact that most advertisers pay more than the minimums since Google uses cost competitive advertising. However, at minimums, it only takes Google a little over 24 months to recover their costs and start making money. Seems pretty smart to me!

Then again, what do I know!

better ways

[spykemail]

I can think of a lot of better ways to blow $900 million dollars, for example, on vodka and hookers.

Clarification :: Google paid, not was paid

[LordOfTheNoobs]

"Under the terms of the agreement, Google will be obligated to make guaranteed minimum revenue share payments to Fox Interactive Media of $900 million based on Fox achieving certain traffic and other commitments"

Requote from the Register article pertaining.

Google paid News Corp to be the sole advertiser. Not News Corp paid Google to provide search.

Thank you, that is all...

Re:finally something

[MikeWasHere05]

hopefully google with their vast infrastructure will speed up some of the site by using some sort of distributed computing for the search features, which i'm sure requires a lot of cpu speed to search close to 100 million users

I wish there was a "Im trying to sound smart but am not at all" mod option.

"I'm Feeling Lucky"

[Hamster Lover]

Combining MySpace with Google takes "I'm Feeling Lucky" to a whole new level.

Ang how long before Google lets users "customize" their Google home page into an illiterate pile of horseshit featuring blaring Boy Band background "music", with hot pink on orange text all on top of some weird, annoying Anime/Sailor Moon/rice mobile backround?

wow...

[marleyboy]

Look what Google just did. They cornered the advertising niche for the largest single techno-social group on the web. They are going to put ads for brand new cell phones in the myspace addicts hands, deliver performing equipment ads to bands, and they will probably turn around and let bands advertise their gigs for next to nothing.

As we watch it, google is inventing the new economy in the new society. They will establish themselves in such a way that a severe impact on Google's functions will be visibly noticed, and by everyone. So they collaborate with MTV, the largest major youth/indepedant media business in the myspace nation. One metaphor would be that MTV is the natural gas that these kids cook things up with.

This now becomes political, especially with Google where it is on the net-neutrality issues. Say the government forces Google to do something that adversely impacts these members of myspace. Voices begin to be heard, and these people will be voting soon.

Here's a couple of questions. How many members of MySpace will be turning old enough to vote by the time Bush is to be replaced? Is that enough to sway a victory? And, what's going to happen when the myspace nation finds a political leader?

The shit's boiling over and the fans are on high. I don't want to be in here but I'm wearing my yellow slicker.

Why all the hate?

[crotherm]

As I read these replies where the majority are negative on MySpace, it reminds me when AOL first had access to usenet, but not as bad. Back then, everyone was worried about the influx of nubes. And rightfuly so. But with MySpace, they have their own place, they are not making the haters go there, they are doing what the internet promised. I think it is a good thing. Kids today are treating the internet like a tool and not some secret society. If you all don't like it, do what we have been saying for other forms of media you don't care for, turn the damn channel!