MySpace Reportedly Targets China
MySpace, the social networking website News Corp. bought for $580 million in 2005, is in talks to include China in its international expansion plans, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Spurred on by dwindling domestic U.S. growth, News Corp. has been rolling out customized versions of the hit site in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Germany, France and Japan.
Making China the latest target audience provides some unique challenges including stiff competition and regulatory hurdles.
“People are still trying to figure out if social networking can work as a business in China,” a source close to the MySpace China said in The Wall Street Journal.
Wendi Deng, who is the wife of News Corp.’s Chairman; Rupert Murdoch, is likely to join the board of MySpace China, sources told the Journal. Deng was born in China and has acted as an advisor and translator to Murdoch in China. Luo Chuan, the former general manager of MSN China, is to become president of MySpace China, according to reports from a Chinese news outlet.
The People's Republic of China government has implimented more than sixty Internet regulations which have geographical inconsistencies. The bans and restrictions make China a uniquely difficult region to operate a Web site.
