Users of MySpace (probably one of the most successful networking sites online) may be seeing Google ads as they chat and talk with friends online.

(FT.com) MySpace, the fast-growing "social networking"site, has teamed up with search giant Google in a multi-year search and advertising deal. [...]

MySpace and a number of other News Corp sites will get a guaranteed $900m in shared revenue from Google by 2010 under the deal, which the companies said could be the start of a broader alliance. [...]

The deal--formulated during a meeting of top News Corp executives in California last week--will see Google power the search function on MySpace.com and the majority of Fox Interactive Media web sites. Google will also be the exclusive provider of keyword advertising for those sites and have a right of first refusal to handle display advertising sold through third parties on the network.

In this bid for MySpace advertising, Google had to fight off not only Microsoft, but Viacom as well. You can probably here Bill Gates and the execs at Viacom cussing, although both of them have enough money to either by out another social networking site or create their own from within.

This is probably a wise maneuver for MySpace, who recently caught one of their advertisers installing spyware on a million users computers (without their permission). By allowing Google to control who advertises, MySpace can focus on creating a safer environment online instead of working on the more technical issues.

About the author: Darnell Clayton is a Financial Services Professional who helps families and clients save money for their retirement accounts instead of Uncle Sam's wallet.

Previously he was in the Information Technology field, which helped him acquire his "geek-like" powers.

He currently blogs at Inside Orkut detailing what goes on inside Google's community forums.