Google Falls Short for MySpace

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Google Falls Short For MySpace

By: Jordan McCollum
2009-11-06

There years ago, Google and MySpace signed a search deal. Google agreed to provide web, vertical and internal search and contextual ad sales for MySpace...

...and other Fox Interactive Media properties and pay them $900M (guaranteed as long as Fox met its traffic requirements) in shared advertising revenue over the lifetime of the deal. But it looks like this year, the last of the deal, Google has fallen short.

But, says MySpace execs and owner Rupert Murdoch, thats because Fox has failed to meet its traffic requirements. Meaning traffic is down on MySpace, just a few short years after they fell into the Trough of Disillusionment in the hype cycle (translation: the MSM turned on them).

And just how much are they falling off? Rupert Murdochs initial assessment on the recent earnings call was that they wouldnt see any income from Google this year -a $300M shortfall. But the other execs on the line disagreed, saying that theyd probably fall short by $90-$100M.

And because MySpace/FIM (now Digital Media Group, but whatever) didnt meet their very high guarantees, as Murdoch put it, its their own fault. Interestingly, at first the deal calmed some analyst and investor nerves, and allowed News Corp. to claim MySpace was paid for and then some, says paidContent. News Corp bought MySpcae for $580M in July 2005, and they have seen at least that much in revenue from the Google deal.

What do you think? Was this deal not the good idea it seemed three years ago? Or was this an unforeseeable circumstance?

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Tag: Google, MySpace

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About the Author:
Jordan McCollum is a staff writer for the popular marketing blog Marketing Pilgrim. She has worked in search engine optimization with clients including 3M, Little Giant Ladders and ADP. After graduating from Brigham Young University, Jordan joined the SEO copywriting team at the Internet marketing firm 10x Marketing. After 10x closed its doors in December 2006, Jordan became a freelance writer and Internet marketing consultant specializing in SEO. She also has extensive experience with web analytics, conversion rate enhancement and e-mail marketing.


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