(* Source: eMarketer *)

In 2007, eMarketer estimates that companies will spend $900 million in the US — and $330 million outside the US — on social network advertising. Although the lead players, MySpace and Facebook, will continue their strong performance, hundreds of new social networking sites will give them competition.

The Social Network Marketing report analyzes the trends that are driving new competitors into one of the hottest advertising spaces on the Internet.

Since eMarketer published its first report on social network marketing, companies have latched with almost religious fervor onto the notion that consumers want to be socially connected online – whether on mass-appeal sites such as MySpace, on targeted niche sites and video sites or on mobile phones – almost everywhere.

However, is there enough interest among consumers in social networking to support so many ventures?