MySpace's defining moves.
The defining strategic moves at MySpace — each one explained and grounded in the record.
The Fall · Decision Forks
MySpace Didn't Lose to Facebook. It Sold the One Thing It Couldn't Get Back.
In 2006 MySpace signed a $900M Google ad deal that looked like vindication. It was the trap: a guarantee that paid for traffic, not loyalty - and quietly rewired the platform to chase the very pageviews that drove users to Facebook.
7 min
The Counterfactual · Decision Forks
MySpace Didn't Lose by Skipping Facebook. It Lost by Signing Google.
The legend says MySpace passed on buying Facebook for $75 million. That tale rests on a single un-fact-checked book. The real fatal move was a $900M Google ad deal in 2006 that locked the product into the one thing it couldn't afford: standing still.
7 min
The Counterfactual · Counterfactuals
MySpace Didn't Lose to Facebook. It Lost to Its Own Best Deal.
In 2006 MySpace signed a $900M ad deal with Google that looked like the win of the decade. It was the noose. The deal demanded ever-more ads on an already cluttered site — the rare case where a company's biggest financial win was also its killing stroke.
7 min
The Founder Doctrine · Decision Forks
News Corp Didn't Kill MySpace by Neglect. It Killed It by Winning.
The $900M Google deal is held up as proof News Corp's MySpace buy paid off. It's the opposite: the deal forced more ads onto an already cluttered site, and a former exec says that's what drove users out. Sold for $35M six years later.
8 min