The time has finally arrived. MySpace, the social media phenomenon, launched its self-serve advertising platform last month. With an overwhelming 78% share of the top searched terms on the internet, according to Hitwise, I say, it is about time. The big question now is, “Can MySpace monetize from its immense popularity?”

MyAds lets marketers quickly and easily create ads and serve them on MySpace, potentially reaching millions of customers. Just like any typical pay-per-click program, MyAds allows users to create an ad, select a target audience, choose a budget, and even track your results. 

Similar to Facebook Ads, MyAds lets advertisers tap into the MySpace network based on interest, demographics and location. MyAds currently allows display ads only.  Create an ad with pre-built templates and Flash tools or upload your own. You can choose between 728×90 or 300×250 ad unit. Facebook only allows text ads. MyAds operates on a cpc basis, while Facebook gives the option of cpc or cpm. There is no activation fee; however there is a minimum budget of $25 and a minimum cpc of $.25. Advanced hypertargeting technology is another feature that sets the two social media giants apart. MySpace builds out a profile for each user based on what they do on MySpace over time. With 1200 different ways to categorize each user; advertisers can target very specific groups with particular interests in a geo-targeted area. Facebook’s targeting capabilities are limited to what information the user actually enters.

There is no doubt that users are familiar with MySpace and spend a lot of time there. Now that advertisers have the option to reach this expansive network, MySpace is experiencing dramatic results with average daily revenue of $140,000 - $180,000, all within 3 weeks of launching! According to a recent article in TechCrunch, this advertising platform is poised to be a $50 million a month business. MySpace CEO, Chris DeWolfe believes this will be a significant revenue source. Some even estimate that MySpace revenues for the fiscal year ending in June 2009 will reach $1 billion. So, the question remains, can MySpace continue to capitalize on its popularity and the massive audience it attracts by monetizing its success?…only time will time.

With all of the new and exciting things going on in the Search Engine world, it can be a little confusing if you are not up to date on all of the new channels. I recently spoke to a client who has been with MoreVisibility for 5 years. She keeps hearing/reading all of these “buzz words” but is not clear on what they mean and was embarrassed to ask. I told her there is no such thing as a dumb question; the only dumb question is the one that was never asked. She graciously accepted my offer to provide some insight. For those of you who were too afraid to ask:

What is Social Media? Wikipedia defines social media as primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences.

What is Facebook? Facebook is a social networking site, which is totally free to join. Once you do you can connect and interact with other people, who will be referred to as your “friends”. The site generates revenue from advertisers. Launched in early 2004, the home page states: “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.” On the About page you will find this verbiage: “Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.” The website currently has more than 110 million active users worldwide and has surpassed fellow social networking site, MySpace (see below) in terms of monthly unique visitors.

What is MySpace?  MySpace is a social networking site that also offers a free membership and was founded in 2003. According to Wikipedia’s definition, “it offers an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos for teenagers and adults internationally. Like Facebook, the site generates revenue from advertisers. The media habitually compares Facebook to MySpace; however, there is a significant difference. MySpace allows users to personalize/decorate decorate their profile, while Facebook does not.

What is Twitter? Twitter is a social networking/micro blogging site that was initiated in 2006. Twitter’s home page states that it is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Users then answer in 140 characters or less, which is known as a “tweet”. Twitter is different than Facebook and MySpace in that it has no revenue from advertisers.

What is Yammer? Similar to Twitter, Yammer asks a question, but takes it to another level in terms of being more “office friendly”. What are you working on? The site was launched in September 2008 and is the newest site mentioned in this blog post. Yammer recently won an award at The Tech Crunch 50 Conference for start up companies. This site is also free for the basic service, however, in order to gain more access/control over how employees are utilizing the service, there is a nominal fee of $1 per month, per user.

MySpace launches a new do-it-yourself CPC program for placing ads on its site.  The service launched in beta, allows anyone to promote their business on MySpace.com.
You can choose to either upload your own ad or create one by choosing from twelve templates created by MySpace. After selecting a template and uploading an image to place in your ad, users get to select their target audience: gender, age, region, city/state, and interests. For example, you can target women between the ages of 27-52 who live in California.

You also have the capability of setting the budget to what you are willing to spend on the overall ad campaign.  After reviewing the details of your ad campaign and providing your credit card number, you’re up and running.

Earlier this year, Facebook launched a very similar CPC program, with many of the same features for targeting users.  I am currently running a handful of clients in Facebook and the results are mixed so far. A client looking for good branding in either network should work well. It’s low cost traffic with the potential of reaching over 100 million users. If your product is a more niche, it may not perform as well in a social network. It’s a good idea to make sure you are making your demographic targeting very specific.

If you are running a CPC program in Facebook, it’s worth a shot to test the MySpace waters, and see how they both perform. It may just boil down to the demographics of each, with MySpace claiming to have a larger share of the 30 – 50 age group. With something new, I have always found that testing is usually the best way to go.