You all know who Brian Stelter is, right? He’s the founder and former owner of TVNewser.com, our brother blog here at MediaBistro. He’s since moved to the New York Times, where today he reported that regardless of its huge user-base, MySpace and other social networks are having trouble meeting expected ad revenues.
MySpace owner NewsCorporation has seen the users grow from just 16 million to more than 118 million worldwide.
Stelter wrote that NC predicted revenue from the site to exceed $1 billion. But when financial reports come in at the end of the fiscal year (in two weeks), they’ll fall short of that mark.
More after the jump.
So why can’t social networks return on their predicted success? In the MySpace case, behavior suggests NC feels the site design is the cause. A redesign begins Wednesday, Stelter said, with focus being on a less-cluttered feel with more space for banners.
“The jury’s still out on MySpace’s ability to monetize,” said Michael Nathanson, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.
Check out Stelter’s full story here.