Martin Sorrell seeks Myspace miracle

When Rupert Murdoch snagged MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, no one thought analysts would be predicting that it could be worth between $10 and $20 billion in just a few years. For this reason WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell is seeking his own megaconglomerate "MySpace," according to AdWeek.

Having already demonstrated an interest in DoubleClick back when it was for sale, Sorrell is now talking to 24/7 Real Media, an ad server just a fraction the size of Google's recent acquisition.

In the past WPP focused its expansion on agencies and talent. However, while human talent sleeps, automated ad powerhouse Google continues to roll in the dollars.

WPP has already spent over $200 million on Google's ad servers in 2006, making them Google's largest customer.

WPP plans to aggressively purchase new marketing technologies in the coming months, and have already begun dipping toes into some sectors: mobile search network JumpTap, online gaming network Wild Tangent, and VideoEgg, a video ad network startup.

An automated ad purchase like 24/7 may even the score, but the company has a long way to go before it is even considered competition by the Google Goliath.