MySpace program targets small advertisers

MySpace has unveiled "MyAds," an advertising technology focused on small businesses and individuals rather than the huge brand advertisers that the News Corp.-owned social network is best known for. It's a platform in which an advertiser can allocate exactly how much to spend--between $25 ad $10,000--and target its audience using the HyperTargeting system that MySpace debuted just under a year ago.

With HyperTargeting, MySpace says that there are more than 1,100 specific ways to target an ad based on geography, demographics, interests, and other information sourced from public profile data. Advertisers can then keep tabs on performance through online analytics.

MyAds is currently restricted to MySpace in the U.S., where it has about 76 million members.

The "self-service" model is similar to what Facebook has done with its own ad platform--create an ad, choose how much to spend, select a target audience. But MySpace has a more obvious clientele in mind: bands. The MyAds homepage explicitly recommends the service for band promotion, something that gets very close to MySpace's roots as an independent music hub.

Promotional campaigns for bands, films, and other indie creative projects may have a more natural home on MySpace than Facebook, where the focus is less about media and more about communication.

[Universal_Indie_Records]

That's very interesting. I'm going to have to look deeper into this.

[Harrison912]

Thanks, Caroline, for this great info. I typically us MySpace and FaceBook to socially market my safety and security web site as well as interact with potential customers and raise awareness for my products which help save lives. I will definitely keep this in mind for future ad campaigns.

[BeBop1219]

MyAds on www.myspace.com is alrady up and running.