USA Today reports on a lucrative deal between online titans.
Google reached a deal Monday with the owner of MySpace.com to share at least $900 million in advertising revenues and become the exclusive search provider for the popular social-networking site.
Under the multiyear deal, News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media unit will add Google search boxes to MySpace and other sites, likely by the end of the year, and Google will provide search results and keyword ads targeted to people’s search terms. Google will also get first rights to sell any display ads not sold by Fox directly.
“We think it’s important that we move Google to where the users are, and the users are moving to user-generated content and particularly the sites of Fox Interactive,” Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told analysts and reporters.
Besides MySpace, the deal covers most of Fox’s other sites, including IGN, Americanidol.com, Fox.com and Rotten Tomatoes. Fox Sports is not included because News Corp. already has a deal with Microsoft Corp.’s MSN.
