MySpace: A Social Entertainment Destination; Local Search

December 16, 2010
 

In this week’s SEM Synergy, we’re joined by guest Tony Adam, director of online marketing for MySpace; we talk local-focused changes to the SERP with Bruce and what that means for businesses; and Susan and Jessica continue the conversation about MySpace as they take a look at how it satisfies a very specific niche.

In the first segment, Bruce, Susan and Jessica talk about all the recent changes to the SERP, and how it’s becoming a local-focused venture. This builds on the conversation the three had in a November SEM Synergy episode, when Google Place Search rolled out. Bruce says Google will be a predominantly local search engine in two years. Some of the items discussed include Google Hotpot and the new Google algorithm to address “bad business,” as Google puts it.

The guest segment welcomes Tony Adam, the director of online marketing at MySpace. Tony joined the company just this year, but has experienced big changes with the rebrand of MySpace from a “friends”-centric place like Facebook to a full-blown social entertainment destination. He talks about how some big stars are getting involved with the MySpace experience, some of the challenges of coming into a company that’s rebranding and what’s in store for MySpace moving forward.

In the last segment, Susan and Jessica talk about how MySpace, just like Facebook and Twitter, is now building a very specific community of people. Now that MySpace is focused on entertainment consumption, it’s filling a niche while at the same time participating in important activities like local and social.