Myspace: Advertising 101

First, you type in your username and password. You try to remember just what email you used with which Myspace account, because you had to close the last one when your little sister found out your password and flooded your friends with messages about that one time you threw up on yourself in the car (it happens). Upon clicking the “Sign In” button, you enter the realm of Myspace.

Words, words, everywhere, and not a place to think.

Myspace is meant to be a connective social networking site that allows anyone to find other friends, relatives, and random acquaintances online to instantly chat, blog, or message with. Heck, if you search hard enough, you can even find people who took the time to make Myspace pages for and about famous people. But what’s with all of the ads? As soon as you sign on to Myspace, you are immediately met with flashing lights, snazzy lingo, and pop-ups that end up being ignored by your web browser’s pop-up blocker. So after you push away the ads about how fat you are, whether you’re Smarter than a 5th Grader, and about phone plans, you’re left to wonder: How do these ads get on my page?

Restrictions apply to this ad, but not to putting it on Myspace

A Michael Arrington article at TechCrunch describes the process of Myspace advertisements: “Myspace ads are charged on a  cost-per-click basis… Advertisers will pay less if their ads tend to be clicked on a lot.” Myspace also has the capability to “target” ads through a system called MyAds, meaning that Myspace can determine your likes and dislikes to create a personalized advertisement for every page. Arrington comments, “So if you only want to target women who live in California between the ages of 25-30 who like motorcycles, [you] can. There are 2,842 of them on MySpace. And if [you] just want to target those in San Francisco, [you] can” (“Myspace Launches ‘MyAds’ self Service Ad Platform: Is This Their Google Moment?”).

So what is this process of taking information filled out in a user’s profile? Caroline McCarthy at CNet.com, in her article on Myspace ads, refers to the phenomenon as “Hypertargeting.” By picking up on different phrases, the first stage of this hypertargeting process has begun with companies like Microsoft, Fox, car companies, and the film industry (“Myspace Gets ‘Hyper’ with Targeted Ads”). For everything that is not hypertargeted, an assumed audience is ever-present that pushes to interest people in their 20s and on the internet, such as phone companies, college loans, quick-cash, and losing 40 pounds in 2 days.

Myspace is full of advertisements. They have many dedicated pages to musicians and comedians that would interest teens who use their social network.

You are one click away from thousands of artists who want you to buy their music.

Need a good laugh? Here's all kinds of comedians just waiting to be heard from by you. Also, buy Cheetos while you're listening to them.

Advertisements have advanced beyond the regular scope of some company wanting to put their ad on a web site for people to click. It’s researched, thorough, and linked to your likes and dislikes as a person. Using information that you post on their social network, Myspace receives revenue for anything you even remotely like. Did you enjoy that Kanye West song? Maybe you’ll love this Brittney Spears track. Myspace has become specific, and their advertisements are directed towards specific audiences.