I just logged on to my computer after returning home after a meeting and saw this new button on my Yahoo toolbar, for MySpace :
Is this the sign of a new partnership between Yahoo and NewsCorp’s Fox Interactive, the parent company of MySpace, in an effort to build a stronger brand between the two and fight the Microsoft takeover?
It could all make sense, since :
1. This is the first time I have seen a third party button like this on my Yahoo Toolbar and, I’m on a relatively brand new computer which has never logged into MySpace.
2. I also changed my Yahoo login profile and the MySpace button is still showing.
3. Google has been vocal about their concerns with monetizing MySpace and Google AdSense does not seem to be a monetary savior for Fox Interactive.
4. Yahoo’s cross platform display advertising could target Yahoo users on MySpace and MySpace users on Yahoo via personalized behavioral advertising : similar to the Yahoo Newspaper Consortium and their deal with iVillage
5. Yahoo has had a horrendous time entering the social networking world with failures in Yahoo 360 and Mash, and never harnessing their own internal social strengths. Partnering with MySpace may fill that void.
