MySpace posts ad-supported site for cellphones

Wireless users will soon have yet another way to access the popular MySpace.com social networking site: an ad-supported mobile Web site from Fox Interactive Media.
The announcement coincides with the launch of several other ad-supported mobile Fox sites, including IGM, FoxSports.com, AskMen and movie review site RottenTomatoes.com. Fox Interactive Media is a division of News Corp., which purchased MySpace last year for $580 million.
The new MySpace Mobile Web beta service will go live this week, and Fox said the move marks “the first time that FIM has delivered an advertising solution to marketers looking to reach Internet users on mobile devices.” Fox partnered with mobile advertising firm Millennial Media to serve the mobile ads, which include custom sponsorship packages within MySpace and display ads on other Fox mobile Web sites.
“An ad-supported MySpace offering is a major component of our mobile monetization strategy, and we look forward to broadly offering this industry-leading rollout to advertisers,” said Amit Kapur, VP of business development for MySpace.
The new, free site reflects MySpace’s tiered approach to the mobile realm. Already, mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. offers access to the site, while AT&T Mobility offers its customers a MySpace Mobile application for $3 per month plus data charges. And T-Mobile USA Inc. announced last week that it will offer MySpace access through its Sidekick device.
Fox Interactive Media said the new, free MySpace site “complements the leading social networking platform’s current mobile offerings which include premium services that are deeply optimized and integrated on devices offered in the U.S. by AT&T, T-Mobile and Helio.”