Failure pattern · United States · 2003–2011
MySpace: bought for $580 million, sold for $35 million
MySpace was briefly the most visited website in the US. After News Corp bought it, ad pressure, clutter, and slow product development let Facebook overtake it.
By Shivam Bhandari · Reviewed 31 October 2026 · How we write
by the numbers
- News Corp purchase (2005)
- about $580 million
- Overtaken by Facebook
- 2008
- Sale price (2011)
- about $35 million
What happened
MySpace launched in 2003 and became the dominant social network, especially for music and young users, who could customise their pages heavily. News Corp bought its parent company in 2005 for about $580 million. In 2006 MySpace briefly became the most visited website in the US.
Under pressure to meet revenue targets — including a large Google advertising deal — MySpace filled pages with ads. Customisation made pages slow and messy, and spam grew. Product development slowed while Facebook offered a cleaner, more reliable experience and opened to everyone.
Facebook overtook MySpace globally in 2008. Users left rapidly, and in 2011 News Corp sold MySpace for about $35 million.
Timeline
- 2003
MySpace launches.
- 2005
Acquired by News Corp.
- 2006
Most visited US website for a time.
- 2011
Sold for about $35 million.
what went wrong
- Monetisation pressure degraded the experience.
- Slow product development after acquisition.
- A cleaner competitor offered a better experience.
the lesson
Squeezing revenue from a product at the expense of user experience can hand the market to a competitor.
Apply it to your business
- 1Watch whether monetisation is hurting the core experience.
- 2Keep investing in the product after success.
- 3Clean and simple can beat flexible and messy.
Laws at work in this story
Figures are rounded and drawn from public reports, company filings and widely cited coverage at the time. Check the company's latest filings before relying on any number.