A few weeks ago MySpace started their self-serve advertising platform. I was thrilled. Finally, thousands of not-so tech-savy users to advertise upon! But nope, it seemed that you’d need to live in the US, the UK or Canada to get your ads on that platform.
I spoke to Myspace Germany’s Head of Direct Sales at the Somesso Conference in Zurich about this issue. According to him, MySpace was not launching the self-serve platform globally like Facebook did. Snap. And according to him, it was only launching in March for us German-speaking peeps.
But with the help of some IRC folks (you know who you are) I was able to get my ads set up. Here’s how I did it (You will need at least a virtual private server to make this possible).
- Step 1: Get yourself an english version of Firefox
MySpace outputs their site according to the language of your browser. If you have a German browser, for example, you won’t get those crucial Javascript files from their server that you badly need to get their advertising tool working.
So make sure to get yourself a second (ENGLISH) install of Firefox. Just use a different installation directory, don’t overwrite your original Firefox, duh. - Step 2: Proxy!
So, you need to make MySpace believe that you’re in an English speaking country. You will need an open proxy that is working or at least a virtual private server to make this work.If you already have a proxy all set up skip this step and, enable it in your Firefox Browser: “Preferences” -> “Advanced”.
If you have a server ready and are able to access it through ssh, open Putty (or your resp. Terminal for you maxxorz and linuxxorz) with following parameters: putty.exe -D 8080 user@123.234.232.232 . Don’t forget to change the parameters to match your login, duh. After you’re logged in with Putty, point your Firefox Proxy Socks 5 Settings to Localhost and Port 8080.
- Step 3: Signing up, set up your first campaign
Well, no brainer. - Step 4: US-Credit card
Some people told me that you’d need an American Credit card for this to work. I got it working with my Swiss card. If they don’t accept your card, consider using a Virtual Credit Card (Paypal for example). And if you don’t have one, just try your own credit card. It may work
After your signup process is through, just confirm your mail Address. After this, all you need to manage your MySpace ads is your already installed English Firefox Browser.
Now, lets see if you guys can manage to do this. It may be a long journey but it’s worth it! Leave your result in the comments 
3 Comments
Posted November 15, 2008 at 4:24 am
Do you make use of direct linking in Facebook/MySpace ads or do you direct the traffic to landing pages?
Posted November 15, 2008 at 4:39 am
Really depends on the offer. I guess you can direct link crush and IQ offers. But if you go into weight loss or other stuff, keep it with a lander.
Posted December 29, 2008 at 7:07 am
I think they may have tighthened up their requirements even more.
I applied to advertise to US MySpace users but when I tried to put in my UK credit card it took the card but they were unable to process. There are no countries or states outside of the US.
I wrote to them and this was their response.
“Presently, the MySpace MyAds beta Service is available only in the U.S. You must provide a credit card issued by a U.S. bank and have a U.S. billing address to participate.
It is not known at this time when the service will be expanded outside of the United States. However, we are aware that there is world-wide interest, and we are working to create international options.”