Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt this week met with senior News Corp. execs, including Rupert Murdoch, to ensure them that Google's acquisition of YouTube wouldn't hinder its $900 million search partnership with MySpace.

The move by Google to soothe News Corp.'s concerns over the YouTube deal show how important Google views its partnership with MySpace, the Financial Times reports. Google wantes to ensure that News Corp. remains a partner rather than becoming a competitor.

News Corp. was reported to have made advances toward YouTube before Google swept in and carried it off for $1.65 billion.

Since acquiring YouTube, Google now has a vested interest in seeing MySpace succeed as well. MySpace's 115 million plus registered users are a vital source of traffic to YouTube, the internet's largest video-sharing site. For this reason alone, Google wants to keep the lines of communication open with News Corp.