• Silicon Valley Insider, Wednesday, August 8, 2007 10:46 AM

Fox Interactive's Mike Barrett, the News Corp. company's chief revenue officer, reveals that FIM will report revenue "well in excess" of the $500 million goal it set for itself last year. The company's new targeting program is still in beta with 11 behavior segments, but will soon expand to more than user 100 segments. Barrett says the targeted ads, which attach behaviors like auto, lifestyle, beauty and health to user profiles, will command a 20% to 50% premium over its other ad offerings.

MySpace attaches a behavior by directing say, someone believed to be a fashion aficionado to the MySpace fashion channel with a house ad. If the user goes, then that triggers a related ad to run in front of that user. Barrett did not mention how often the user would have to go to a fashion site to retain that behavior segment. Soon, he says, more granular segments, like "safari travel" instead of just "travel," will be available.

Barrett also addresses the recent competition from Facebook, pointing to the fact that MySpace reaches more consumers between 18-34 and has a larger overall reach. He claims that MySpace is also more media-centric, in terms of music, online video and its ability to show News Corp. media content for free. Facebook "is much more of a utility-based communication site," he says.

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