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MySpace ads zero in on user data

Your move, Facebook

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MySpace has tightened its advertising targeting system to let marketeers aim their pitch at more specific user interests, in the hope they'll be more likely to respond.

The social network first introduced 10 categories earlier this year to allow products to be pitched at interests listed by MySpace members, such as "movies". Today's so-called "hyper-targeting" upgrade means ads will be targeted on hundreds of sub-categories, such as "action movies".

The system will use data users have made public, and there will be an opt-out, MySpace execs have promised.

The timing of MySpace's move is telling: Facebook will announce its widely-trailed targeting network tomorrow.

It's thought it'll include some facility for Facebook to track the purchases its users make on the third-party sites they click through to, which will feed back into the targeting system.

The fate of these technologies could prove make or break for social networking sites, which promised investors a marketing goldmine but have so far delivered only chatter and vast hosting expenses. ®

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Latest Comments

E-Hippies on parade.

Google makes all their money through targeted ads.

Webmasters are able to create great sites at no fee to the user, all down to advertising.

Without ads you wouldn't have free hosting. It just wouldn't happen.

Social Networks can exist, becuase of the ad supported nature of their business.

Where do youtube get money for bandwidth? Adverts.

The web is supported using Adverts.

Like it or loath it, using Adblocking software is detrimental to the internet as a whole.

If you want to throw up your arms and whine about targetted ads, or advertising as a whole, just stop. You might as well put on a beret and run the streets proclaiming that all property is theft, becuase nobody will listen to that either.

El Reg: For god sake, take 3 hours and implement COOKIES on this comment system so I don't have to constantly reenter my details.

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Selective blindness

The brain has a good job of tuning out things it knows you're not interested in. Just think about the 12 years you've had a ticking clock in your room and until a kind friend points out the annoying tick, you didn't even know it made a sound.

I manage to do the same thing with banners and advertising, the only ones which sometimes get past my mental filter are the animated flashing banners. That usually means I turn off the tab I'm on and NEVER VISIT THE SITE AGAIN.

The end.

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adverts not a big deal shocker.

adblock does an admirable job of pruning the many and varied adverts for crap i have no interest in buying, but if i was only ever being served adverts for products/services i was actually interested in, i'd probably end up turning it off.

besides, adverts just aren't worth worrying about.

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