MySpace and Citysearch Form the New Force
It is announced by MySpace today that its new service called MySpace Local service will cooperate with Citysearch and use its database of local businesses. New features including reviewing, rating and sharing content about businesses will be available to MySpace users. MySpace will start with pubs and catering businesses first, more businesses are expected to be launched soon. The beta version is already available to some private users and the full version will be available to the public in a couple of weeks. We expect Business MySpace Layouts will become popular due to this trend.
MySpace’s new service mixes elements from its own and from Citysearch well, it’s targeted at local restaurants and businesses. What’s different from Citysearch is that MySpace local will include an individual section that posts friends’ updates. In fact, interactions with friends will always be the focus of the services provided by MySpace.
It is certain that MySpace and Citysearch will share the revenues, however, neither party has announced any detailed plans regarding revenues. The good news for advertisers is that they will find a new way of promoting their businesses to potential customers. The new service will also be introduced to MySpace’s mobile applications. MySpace will explore the markets outside of the U.S. as well.
On the whole, the cooperation looks beneficial to both parties. A huge pre-populated database of reviews will become available to MySpace while Citysearch will have access to millions of potential users. Users of other review sites such as Yelp are usually more social than the users of Citysearch, its cooperation with MySpace offers the opportunity to develop a brand new group of users to Citysearch. Yelp, on the other hand, is seeking support from MySpace’s archenemy Facebook. However, a service similar to MySpace local is yet to be developed.
The funny thing is that Citysearch meanwhile is also somehow related to Facebook as its support for Facebook Connect has brought itself some new traffic steadily on a regular basis. It’s only natural for MySpace to introduce this new local service and it is almost certain that other social networks will follow suit.
