MySpace Headed to France?

Internet social networking giant MySpace is headed to France. The social hub has launched a French version of itself, which expands the portal well into Europe.

by Kristina Knight

A MySpace spokesman told Reuters, "In terms of international expansion there will be a lot of activity in Europe this year.”

MySpace launched a U.K. version last year. That platform is now garnering about 6.5 million users per month. The News Corp. hub is using local-language websites to attract more online users. The French site has been up for a few months in beta, and launched live for everyone Thursday. According to reports from Reuters, France is important for MySpace because international social networking site SkyBlog is a rival there.

Skyblog, owned by Axa Private Equity, is working on blogging services for English, Spanish and German communities. Skyblog saw 7 million new users in November 2006 as opposed to MySpace which saw only 1.3 million. Global numbers for the rivalry are a bit different. MySpace saw 82.6 million global visitors in November while Skyblog had only 13.2 million global visitors.

MySpace has also launched a German language site. Currently in beta, the German site has 2.4 million users each month. The hub is expected to go live in a few weeks. They also have Irish and Italian beta sites in the works.