What was Rupert Murdoch doing visiting Bebo?

Nicholas Carlson — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:06:31 EST

News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch recently paid a visit to social network Bebo, according to Bebo employee Emma Carlsgaard, who posted an update to her Bebo profile about the sighting. What's Rupe doing visiting Bebo? A recent rumor suggests acquisition talks.

Last we heard from the social network, Bebo had just hired a bank in order to find a buyer. A flack soon hushed acquisition talk, saying the company was just looking to get more funding. Murdoch's appearance belies that spin, however.

Why buy Bebo? Three words: Britain, Britain, Britain. According to Hitwise, while MySpace was the no. 10 most visited site in the U.K., Bebo came ahead at No. 7. Murdoch's not known to happily stay in second place, especially in a key market like the U.K.

Rupert on MySpace: "Any fear is misplaced"

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:18:15 EST

Ad executives spent Tuesday evening telling me that Facebook's advertising innovations have "blown MySpace out of the water," to quote one source. But you won't catch News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch acting like he's been left high and dry, at least not publicly. Reporting News Corp.'s third-quarter earnings yesterday, Murdoch said "any fear [about MySpace] is misplaced." Why? According to reports, Murdoch told analysts Facebook isn't a social network like MySpace, it's a utility. "Like a phonebook."

No, Rupert, that's Google. But give Murdoch credit for turning Mark Zuckerberg's "social utility" pretensions against him. And if you believe the figures he spouted yesterday, Murdoch's right to be confident in MySpace's health.

According to Murdoch & Co., MySpace is growing plenty and earning more, with more than twice as many unique visitors as Facebook last month. MySpace display advertising grew 32 percent year-over-year, a pace that is expected to pick up after MySpace's own behavioral targeting efforts come into play.

(Photo by AP/Mark Lennihan)

Gawker: valleywag, ruport murdoch

What was Rupert Murdoch doing visiting Bebo?

Rupert on MySpace: "Any fear is misplaced"