• Associated Press, Monday, November 5, 2007 11 AM

It's another big week for open software platforms and social media, as today and tomorrow Facebook and MySpace unveil their new targeting advertising systems--while Google, which launched the OpenSocial alliance last week, is said to be preparing a similar open-platform alliance for mobile software that could be unveiled as part of a broader mobile announcement expected later today. These major announcements come at a time when much of the Internet advertising industry is convening in New York for the annual Ad:Tech conference.

Of the aforementioned, Fox Interactive is the first to reveal details of its new HyperTargeting product for MySpace. Over the last several months, the company has been building audience segments based on the information its 110 million-plus worldwide users reveal about themselves. Now, advertisers can buy any of the thousands of audience segments created by HyperTargeting. More than 50 advertisers from P&G to Yum Brands have tested the new system, but they were only capable of targeting ten major categories. Today, 100 subcategories have been added to each of the ten majors.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Adam Bain, FIM executive vice president of product and technology, describes how the system understands context. "It's not keyword-based, so they don't have to mention Tom Cruise for us to know they're a fan," he said. "We're smart enough to understand the movies they list have Tom Cruise in them."

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