Pity Peter Levinsohn, Fox Interactive Media ’s president, who is scheduled to deliver a presentation on the future of MySpace at an investor conference at the same time (2:15 pm EDT) as the Federal Open Market Committee’s much hoped-for interest rate cut.

That may explain why Levinsohn outlined his speech in a story in the New York Times on Tuesday about how the popular social network owned by News Corp will tailor ads based on personal information from its estimated 110 million members. The ads, based on the work of a 100-member “monetization technology group,” has improved the likelihood of a user clicking on an ad by 80 percent, according to MySpace.

If it works on a wide scale, it could dramatically improve targeting efficiency for one of the most highly trafficked sites on the Internet.

Meanwhile, Facebook aims to secure its popularity among developers after its backers launched a $10 million fund to dole out grants to start-ups with ideas for innovative Facebook applications.

(New York Times)
Keep an eye on:

• Google has expanded its AdSense online advertising service to allow affiliated Web site publishers to target ads for cellphone users as well as computers. (Reuters)
• Warner Music’s CEO Edgar Bronfman said the company’s business was poised to rebound as it tapped new revenue streams to counter the decline in sales of traditional CDs. (Reuters)
• Yahoo will pay about $350 million for Zimbra, a maker of Web-based mail, calendar and collaboration software that competes directly with products from Microsoft and Google. (Reuters)
• Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp takes a majority stake in GarageGames.com Inc., a game developer, to creates a Web-based video game network. (Reuters)
• O2 UK, part of Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, and European mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse have clinched a long-awaited deal to bring Apple’s iPhone to Britain. (Reuters)
• Rapper 50 Cent, who promised to quit the music business if first-week-sales of his new CD fell short of Kanye West’s new CD, has cancelled his public relations tour. (Both artists are in the family of labels owned by Vivendi’s Universal Music Group.) (PRNewser)
• Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. is launching a pair of magazines the New York Post’s relaunch of Page Six: The Magazine this Sunday and the Wall Street Journal’s Pursuits next year with an eye on high-end advertising and the New York Times firmly planted in its crosshairs. (Folio)