And The MySpace Search Goes To…

Back in the middle of June I wrote a post asking if you wanted to own the MySpace search engine. Fox had decided that they would let the major search forces compete to power the search across MySpace. Surprise surprise, Google have come out on top – in a deal reportedly worth $1bn.

From the official press release

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. These guaranteed minimum revenue share payments are expected to be made over the period beginning in the first quarter of 2007 and ending in the second quarter of 2010.

“Our partnership with Google underscores News Corp’s continued evolution to become a powerful force in the digital media marketplace. To have come this far and gained this much momentum in just over a year is truly remarkable,” said Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation. “This is an exciting time in our history as a forward thinking media company and this is just the first of many steps we plan to take with Google. We look forward to expanding our relationship into many new areas over years to come.”

Having been bought for around a half billion dollars, sealing a 1bn dollar search engine deal seems like pretty good business, plus the fact that (according to TechCrunch) they’re earning about $350m in revenue annually. To be honest, I had wondered why Google just didn’t bother buying MySpace outright in the first place. If they can afford to commit the majority of $1bn to the deal, why not save themselves half that a few months ago and buy up and Google-ify MySpace.

One can hope that it will at least improve the onsite search facility!

Comments

2 responses to “And The MySpace Search Goes To…”

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  2. Ruck Stir Avatar
    Ruck Stir

    “To be honest, I had wondered why Google just didn’t bother buying MySpace outright in the first place. If they can afford to commit the majority of $1bn to the deal, why not save themselves half that a few months ago and buy up and Google-ify MySpace.”

    Liability avoidance?

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