• Mediaweek, Thursday, December 11, 2008 10:47 AM

EMarketer on Wednesday revised its social networking outlook to $1.2 billion from $1.4 billion, the second downward revision for the sector by the research company this year.

Company execs said the decision to lower spending estimates was driven by the weakened economy and a particularly poor performance by MySpace, one of the giants of social networking.

EMarketer's revenue projection for MySpace fell to $585 million from $755 million in May, while Facebook's revenue estimate also fell to $210 million from $265 million. Overall MySpace and Facebook account to 70% of social media spending. The research aggregator now expects social media advertising to grow by just 8% next year, totaling $1.3 billion. EMarketer had previously forecast 2009 spending at $1.8 billion.

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