New York — Big changes are underway at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. troubled digital division. Following the departure of Fox Audience Network President Adam Bain, News Corp has announced it now intends to merge its online advertising network, Fox Audience Network and social networking site, MySpace unit, integrating both its ad technology platform and staff into the social network, in a move it says will see more relevant ads delivered to its members, now that Bain has left to join micro-blogging site Twitter.
That basically overturned the decision News Corp. made two years ago to spin out what currently makes FAN into a separate unit under Bain. Fox Audience Network, incorporated in 2007, markets targeted advertising across several online media platforms for MySpace and other third-party publishers.
According to a memo sent to staff, included in full below, Jon Miller, Chairman and CEO of Digital Media at News Corp, said after considering a sale of the unit, the company had decided instead to integrate FAN’s technology to use across its own property.
“We ultimately decided that the best course of action for FAN — and for News Corp — is to put this leading-edge technology to work to benefit our existing assets” he wrote. “By aligning the FAN platform directly with MySpace, we will be able to utilize its services to further drive MySpace’s revenue efforts and to play a key part of the site’s planned re-launch later this year.”
MySpace: to merge with Fox Audience Network
By combining the two, News Corp anticipates to capture more users for the MySpace, which was taken over as the dominant social network in US by Facebook, by negotiating potential partnerships with other web players like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.
MySpace is also set for a re-launch in a bid to attract more users.
“By associating the Fox Audience Network platform directly with MySpace, we will be able to utilize its services to further drive MySpace’s revenue efforts and to play a key part in the site’s planned re launch later this year,” said, News Corp.’s chief digital officer, Jon Miller in an official release.
Earlier this month, News Corp disclosed that the Digital Media Group, the division that houses MySpace, had witnessed losses for the quarter increase, from $136m in 2009, to $174m. It blamed the losses on lower search and ad revenues at MySpace.
This year has also seen the departure of a number of senior MySpace staff, including chief executive Owen van Natta, co-president Jason Hirschhorn, and international marketing director Lindsay Nuttall.
MySpace was acquired by News Corp in 2005 in a $580 million deal. Its popularity peaked in 2007, but has since waned as users turn to other social networks.
Mike Jones, president of MySpace, said: “By completely integrating Fan’s platform and team, we are in a great position to further leverage their technology, which allows advertisers to serve the right ad to the right person and apply that to content across MySpace, to provide a more relevant experience for our users.”
News Corp now brands MySpace as a “technology company connecting people through personal expression, content, and culture” in its boilerplate, rather than the “premier lifestyle portal” it once was.
Fox Audience Network was created in 2007 to help advertisers create targeted online campaigns. FAN has also endorsed deals with ad agency conglomerates WPP and Omnicom Group over the last year.
Read the complete memo below:
Dear FAN employees:
I wanted to address the media reports this morning regarding Adam’s departure and also share some details on our plans for FAN moving forward. First off, Adam Bain will indeed be departing FAN – a company he has led from the ground up and built into one of the Web’s top five advertising platforms in just over two years. He has been an invaluable asset to this company and we wish him well in the future.
In addition, today we are announcing a plan to move forward with an integration of FAN’s team and technology directly with MySpace. As many of you know, we have had discussions with a number of interested parties in recent months with respect to potential partnerships involving FAN. After deliberating over these external options, we ultimately decided that the best path for FAN – and for News Corp – is to put this leading-edge technology to work to benefit our existing assets. By aligning the FAN platform directly with MySpace, we will be able to utilize its services to further drive MySpace’s revenue efforts and to play a key part of the site’s planned re-launch later this year.
Bruce Wiseman will work closely with Mike Jones and Jack Kennedy on the overall MySpace integration efforts, and you will be hearing more from your managers shortly on details regarding the integration and how it will affect you. In addition, we will be sharing information broadly with you as much as possible over the next several weeks.
Lastly, I want to thank all of you for your commitment and dedication to FAN over the past two years – this is an incredibly talented team that’s accomplished a great deal in a very short amount of time. Also, please join me in once again thanking Adam for all his work – he will be missed both personally and professionally—and we look forward to crossing paths with him in the future.
Regards,
Jon Miller