On Monday, MySpace parent company Fox Interactive Media said it had entered into a pact with Google that spans three years and nine months and gives the search giant exclusive rights to provide Web search results and sponsored links across MySpace. Google also will power search and ads for other Fox Interactive properties including RottenTomatoes.com and Scout.com. FoxSports, which is aligned with Microsoft"s MSN, is not part of the deal.
Under the terms of the agreement, which will begin in the fourth quarter, Google must guarantee Fox Interactive minimum payments of $900 million over three years, as long as Fox meets certain traffic and other commitments.
On an investor conference call Monday, News Corp. President Peter Chernin characterized the deal as the first of many with Google and said that when MySpace members leave the site they typically jump to the search powerhouse. By integrating Google"s technology, search will be seamless for MySpace members, he said.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said his company was eager for the chance to team up with MySpace because of the social network"s trajectory over the last year. In July, MySpace became the No. 1 ranked Web site in the United States based on number of visits, above the numbers of Yahoo Mail, according to research firm Hitwise.
"It"s important to move Google to where users are, and that is where user-generated content is," Schmidt added.