NEW YORK (Fortune) -- MySpace, the News Corp.-owned social networking site, is off to a rough year. Growth has slowed (the number of U.S. visitors has hovered around 75 million for the last seven months), top talent is leaving the company, and like other media companies, it is feeling the effects of the slowing economy: a MySpace executive this week told FORTUNE that ad sales dipped in January and February.This all comes after a disappointing 2008, in which analysts estimate MySpace posted revenue of about $600 million - far short of the $1 billion target set by its parent company.
MySpace seems to be falling behind Facebook in the all-important race to sign up new users. Facebook now has more than 57 million U.S. visitors, up 41% from a year ago. And internationally, the site has leapt ahead with 236 million visitors to MySpace's 126 million in January, according to Comscore measurements.
To be sure, MySpace isn't failing. Its loyal fan base spends a whopping 266 minutes a month on the site, according to Comscore, and marketing president Jeff Berman tells us ad sales for March are looking "much, much better." Among social networks, MySpace is the only site so far to come up with a business model that squeezes substantial revenue out of the site.
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