"My Users Are Not Your Salesforce!"

That is what Myspace is saying when they block 3rd party widgets that divert users away from Myspace.  Techcrunch covers it here.  They are also showing the world how much they love YouTube.  The security flaw they are fixing is the perfect excuse to add this feature.  They've taken a page out of recent politics.  Well done.

It's the right thing to do for them.  Comments on the Techcrunch article mention how it's killing viral growth etc, and yes that is true.  A lot of people relying on those widgets to get them traffic will be adversely affected.  But the viral growth of a third party using Myspace, is not Myspace's problem.  They don't want anybody hijacking their pageviews.  Period.  I called this long time ago here after asking this very question to the CEO of AOL.

The blogosphere is ranting about how competitors will be all over this.  I disagree.  This is a perfect chance for big players to collude.  Just watch.  Welcome to the new Web 2.0.

Comments

[The GROU.PS Guy]

I don't agree with you on this. Rationale: This is very similar to the Windows-Linux story. Windows and MySpace are both platform providers. The difference is that barrier to entry in Windows case is much higher. But the monopolistic behaviours of Windows pushed others to create alternatives. Today, in such a high-tech field, Linux is a serious competitor to Windows, leader in server installations and rising in desktop market too (wait for the Vista and the new versions of Gnome and X11 -2007-). As for MySpace, there's a very low barrier to entry, and a more open and user-friendly competitor (like PeopleAggregator maybe) can always take the lead.

What I mean is that being a platform provider brings you big responsibility; if you are not friendly with others, they won't stop harming you. I think, being open should be the way to go for platform providers.

[Baris Karadogan]

I don't think MySpace will block outward linking third party widgets forever. They will embrace them. But they will ask the vendor to join their "widget partner" program where they will be asked to pay to be put on the myspace site.

[John Rodkin]

The recent Ebay rejection of Meebome widget is another good example of exactly what you describe here. A big company blocking a third party widget that siphons traffic.

[Kristen Ursem]

I think you hit the nail on the head, Baris. MySpace will allow just about anything, as long as they can figure out a way to profit from it. The article in Wired last month made that one obvious! Too bad they don't understand the importance of not burning bridges with other Internet companies... :)