Social network ad stats

"According to online market research firm eMarketer Inc., worldwide advertising spending at social networking sites jumped from US$480-million in 2006 to US$1.2-billion this year. By 2011, that number is expected to grow to US$4-billion.
Those numbers are backed up by British online advertising trade group, the Internet Advertising Bureau. In October, the IAB reported Internet marketing had grown 41.3% in the first half of 2007 and now accounts for 14.7% of the British ad market.
No other Web site has taken advantage of the online advertising cash windfall more than MySpace. After Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, purchased MySpace for US$580-million in July 2005, analysts questioned the hefty price tag for what was then a crowded online hangout for kids. But as the Web site boasts more than 220 million registered users and is finally turning a profit, that price seems a bargain now.
According to News Corp. officials, MySpace exceeded US$500-million in revenues in the 2007 fiscal year. While News Corp. doesn't release specific numbers on its subsidiaries, its Fox Interactive Media unit, which largely consists of MySpace, turned a profit of US$10-million. And with last year's US$900-million contract with Google to provide the back-end for the search engine's online advertising network, those profits should continue to grow.
Facebook, MySpace's closest competitor, grew from a Harvard University dormitory experiment to the darling of Silicon Valley in only two years. With 47 million users around the world and growing at a rate of 200% per year, Facebook made headlines last month after Microsoft Corp. purchased a 1.6% stake in the company worth US$240-million, thus indcating Facebook had a value of US$15-billion." Financial Post, Jan 08