WebProNews

Not too long ago, it was discovered that Facebook had become more popular than MySpace on a global level.  Only popularity by itself has little to do with profitability, and stats show Facebook has a ways to go in major ad markets.

Whether success in major ad markets leads to profitability is another issue, of course - News Corp. isn't getting rich off MySpace's performance.  Nonetheless, as noted by Andrew Chen, MySpace remains on top in the U.S., where the most money is spent on advertising.

 Facebook Overtaking MySpace In Australia After Oct 07
(Photo Credit: Andrew Chen)

MySpace is also ahead in Japan, Germany, and Brazil (the third, sixth, and ninth biggest ad markets, respectively).  Facebook has a hold on the U.K., France, China, Canada, South Korea, and India.

If winner-takes-all rules applied in each country, MySpace would still be looking pretty good.  But things aren't so clear-cut in real life (look up the recent American Facebook-Visa announcement), and Justin Smith points out, "Facebook is demonstrating that social networks can gain ground against an incumbent in meaningful markets after all."

Maybe Facebook's impending move is a sign that it's even solving the profitability problem.