News Corp (NYSE: NWS) is bringing its .Fox Networks (“dot Fox”) web ads network to the UK with the aim of making it the exclusive ad net of choice for Rupert Murdoch’s online newspaper sites and others. The platform, which so far sells entertainment-centric ads against its own Fox properties and is part of Fox Entertainment’s Fox International Channels unit, will begin selling only unsold ad space on a non-exclusive basis for News International sites like Sun Online, Times Online and News Of The World, which currently handle ads in-house, plus Photobucket and MySpace, which has Google (NSDQ: GOOG) power its ads.
Confirming an NMA story, .Fox Networks UK GM Phil Nott told paidContent:UK that individual properties’ “own sales teams can only sell so much”. Whilst the first step is the unsold ad space – of which Nott said there is plenty “because these sites are so vast” – becoming the preferred exclusive ad net across News Corp units “is an aim we have, going forward in the next few years”. “But that depends on how we perform; MySpace and News International aren’t obliged (to use us)”. It could give News Corp the option either to give .Fox Networks exclusivity over its unsold space or to shelve its entire Google deal in favour of the upstart.
Nott (via NMA): “We aim to monetise these sites and treble their traffic levels.” The expanded .Fox Networks will be split in to seven verticals to cover entertainment, sport, travel and more, NMA claimed. .Fox Networks’ ads are actually served by Yahoo’s (NSDQ: YHOO) RightMedia. It opened in France, Spain, Mexico and Italy recently.