Everybody's Space

Just about everyone who doesn't live under a HUGE ROCK has heard of MySpace. Many people see it as a way to express themselves, with music, freedom of speech, and anonymity. Or a means to connect with friends and share photos of how drunk they were at last nights party. Even employers have begun to use myspace and other such sights to look into employees backgrounds. Over all, it is one of the biggest internet crazes.

Now, like all other sights of this nature; Facebook, Yahoo Groups, and lets not forget all the blogs, MySpace is free. It costs nothing to make an account and begin to post about how much you suffer. So myspace has to get its money from elsewhere. Naturally it turned to advertising. Most myspace pages have at least a few links to sponsors or a little bit of spyware here and there, but all in all it is much better than some other, more money whoring, sites. Or is it?

Companies have found a new and interesting way to advertise with myspace, completely free. Branded myspace accounts. One of the most famous brands to do this was X-men 3, with it's cunningly constructed and well designed page. It has an extensive gallery of pictures, videos, and posts, all of which garner a click through rate vastly higher than most pop-up ads or links. In fact, it is so effective as a means of advertising and promotion that most movies, games, and tv shows have made an account. (Die Hard, Resident Evil, Heroes).

Max Kalehoff posted in more detail about how companies go about making these accounts, and what benefits they gain. Needless to say a myspace account is not necessarily the best fit for any company, I personally would find myself disinclined to trust, say, a bank, that used myspace to present itself. However, considering that, compared to other forms of advertising, myspace advertising is effectively free, it can't really hurt.