The executives at MySpace may not have any friends at Facebook, but the social network is keenly aware of Beacon, the advertising disaster that nearly sunk its competitor last fall.

Sometime in the near future, MySpace plans to roll out HyperTargeting, a program that harvests information from user pages and allows advertisers to message to specific types. The program, which relies heavily on user-provided information, has been in the works for some time at MySpace, and there's been no explanation for the delayed launch. However, MySpace has seen its share of executive turmoil since the social network first began talking about HyperTargeting last year.  

In any event, MySpace seems to be keen to use the delayed launch to talk about an issue that caused an uproar among Facebook users -- privacy.

Travis Katz, senior vice president for MySpace International, told InfoWorld the company would make every effort to educate users about how to opt out of the program in advance of launch.

MySpace, which claims 200 million worldwide users, is taking a decidedly cautious approach to its next-generation advertising platform. While the company doesn't want a Beacon-style backlash, it also needs to prove its value beyond selling search and display advertising. So far, MySpace has done better than Facebook in the monetization department, but both have been highly criticized as less-than-stellar ad platforms.