Boosting MySpace revenue

News Corp, the holding company of MySpace, acquired advertising-technology firm Strategic Data Corp. for a price that could reach $150 million. Strategic Data Corp is developing a technology that helps websites place and target ads aimed at specific audiences. By adopting this technology, News Corp hopes it can increase the ads revenue of MySpace in its member profile pages.

Although MySpace has topped Yahoo! to be the most viewed sites in December last year, its ads revenue is far behind Yahoo! (75M vs 1.5B). As we have discussed in class, the reason is that it has difficult showing advertisers how can member profile pages add value to the advertisers. They have to charge a much lower rate for those ads because of that. By using this new technology, News Corp hopes it can increase the value to the advertisers by allowing them targeting to a specific group of members and so can charge them a higher price.

Moreover, by acquiring this company, MySpace may substantial reduce the reliance (and so the importance) of Google to them as Stategic Data Corp is doing exactly the same thing (to show more relevant ads) as Google is doing for MySpace.

source: WSJ online: News Corp Buys Technology Firm to Boost MySpace

A Community of Google Map Mashups

GOOGLE MAPS MANIA

This site has pretty much anything you would want to look for on Google Maps, from Mooninite Sightings to Restaurants and Apartments in Boston and beyond.

Mash-ups are developed using the Google Maps API or found online, and then shared via this blog.

Visitors can leave comments, or get Google Guidance.

War and Web 2.0

My Web 2.0 company/community (like several other class members, I'm sure) is Google Earth.

However, I'm not sure I'm
a) ready
b) willing
to comment on this article from Business Week, other than to say that one's enemies can use the web to do more harm than simply changing the Wikipedia entry for Al-Qaeda to cast themselves in a more positive light.

-Ken

PS- Start your own Web 2.0 company here.