MySpace and Google Join Forces

On Monday, MySpace.com's parent company, Fox Interactive Media (owned by News Corp) announced a newly launched deal with Google that will give the search engine exclusive rights to online search results and sponsored ads on the MySpace web community. The deal also gives Google the same access to Fox Interactive Media's other online enterprises such as RottenTomatoes.com and Scout.com. (Source: news.com)

Agreement Stipulations

The agreement stipulates that in exchange for being Fox Interactive's exclusive search engine and ad provider, Google will pay $900 million U.S. from its AdSense revenue generated between 2007 and 2010, as long as Fox maintains certain traffic levels. (Source: forbes.com)

Benefits All Around

Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2006, Google's services will be integrated across Fox Interactive's online network, culminating the company's months-long search for a partner to provide a Web search to its users.

The deal will give Fox Interactive some payback on its 2005 $580 million U.S. investment in MySpace. News Corp's President and CEO, Peter Chernin, highlights the importance of the agreement to the company's "continued evolution to become a powerful force in the digital media marketplace." (Source: google.com)

Google will also stand to benefit greatly from the deal, in expanding its reach into the web's most trafficked online social network. The move will make Google even more attractive to advertisers trying to tap into the youth demographic that MySpace caters to. (Source: arstechnica.com)

With growing demand from MySpace's 100 million users for an integrated web search, the agreement will make MySpace increasingly user friendly. With Google's services easily accessible on MySpace, the community's members will be able to conduct web searches seamlessly.

In Monday's press release, Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google said that "We believe that our innovative technologies will be of real benefit to Fox Interactive Media's growing number of users ... MySpace.com is a widely acknowledged leader in user-generated content and incorporating search and advertising furthers our mission of making the world's information universally accessible and useful." (Source: google.com)