DeWolfe: 'Cautiously optimistic' about MySpace in recession

MySpace Chief Executive Chris DeWolfe said that he's "cautiously optimistic" about ad revenue for the News Corp.-owned social network in the face of a recession, Reuters reported Monday.

Speaking at the outlet's Reuters Media Summit, DeWolfe said that MySpace's "revenue and profits are significant and they continue to grow in spite of the poor economy." Fox Interactive Media, the News Corp. division that encompasses MySpace, Photobucket, and other digital properties, was declared the top destination for display ads on the Web several months ago.

But display ads will be hit hard as ad budgets are cut, many critics have said--harder than other forms of digital advertising like search ads. Market research firm eMarketer slashed its 2009 projections by over $1 billion this week.

DeWolfe also said, according to Reuters, that MySpace's revenue in the last quarter was up 18 percent from the previous year's. He's expecting that they'll continue to grow--just not as much.