MySpace has teamed with Citysearch, a leading online local guide, in a bold bid to pursue local online business advertising. MySpace Local, a social directory of small business profiles that let users review, rate and share content from businesses nationwide, was unfurled today. Coors and Outback Steakhouse are inaugural brand sponsors. MySpace Local will expand in the next few months to include categories such as doctors, dentists, hotels, travel and attractions.
“This is a defining moment in MySpace’s emergence as a social portal,” says Jeff Berman, MySpace's president of sales and marketing. “MySpace Local is about taking advantage of MySpace's content sharing and people's ability to voice their opinions on it.”
The social-networking site is competing with Facebook -- which also has a partnership with Citysearch -- and others for tapping into the fledgling local-online ad market. Online spending by local U.S. advertisers grew 45% last year, to $12.7 billion, and is expect to improve another 5% in 2009, says media-research firm Borrell Associates. Last October, MySpace introduced MyAds, a service that lets small businesses buy ads on MySpace.
"The biggest opportunity for MySpace Local is on the mobile platform - where users can search for local restaurants and invite friends to join them," says Caroline Dangson, an analyst at IDC.

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