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The scheme, reported in the Guardian, looks at information including interests and musical taste in order to bundle people into enthusiast groups, which are then targeted with specific advertisements. Users bundled into a sports enthusiast group, for example, will see advertisements for sports equipment and services almost exclusively.

The drive to earn revenue through social networking has so far proved a tricky task for many of the major sites, with Facebook recently forced to back away from its Beacon advertising platform after a blacklash from users who claimed it was intrusive.

However, MySpace claims its method of "hyper targeting" will not meet the same fate.

"We have not seen that advertising is unwelcome from users," says Travis Katz, the general manager for MySpace in the Guardian. "On the contrary, users like it as long as it is relevant and presented in an engaging way."