It’s a weekday so it must be time for another announcement from a social networking site threatening to revolutionise the world of media & business. Google & Facebook have both had their turns, so now it’s time for Bebo to step up to the plate and in many ways their new offering, Open Media, is the most exciting, at least as far as advertisers are concerned.

Essentially the main point of the deal, which The Guardian has explained in great detail, will allow users to embed content on their profiles. At first glance this doesn’t seem much like news. However it starts to take on greater significance when you consider the broadcasters that have already signed up with Bebo, including the likes of the BBC, Channel 4, BSkyB, CBS, MTV & Endemol, and the fact that Bebo is the third biggest social network in the world, with 40 million users, and the biggest in the UK (which is the European nation with the largest social network audience). It’s also worth mentioning of course that MTV are part of Viacom who are currently suing YouTube, the site which this deal puts Bebo very much in competition with.

The deal will allow broadcasters to offer clips or full programmes which users will then be allowed to add to their profiles. If the broadcaster wishes they can supply the footage in their own branded media players, containing their own advertising, and keep all of the revenues; smaller broadcasters can use Bebo players and give up some of the revenue. And it doesn’t stop at video content either; deals are likely with major record labels too.

The reason that this is so exciting is that it is a perfect case of giving advertisers the opportunity to interact with their target market in the places where they already ‘hang out’ and in a way that they will undoubtedly feel comfortable with. As opposed to sites such as Joost which expect users to take the time to add a new destination to their portfolio of favourite places in the digital world, this deal recognises that large amounts of target consumers area already on Bebo and so it makes sense to target them there. And the list of content providers signed up by Bebo makes Joost look very much like a poor relative.

Of course it could be that Bebo goes off the boil and all the ‘kids’ move on to the next big thing. But in the meantime this is a real shot across the bows of Facebook, MySpace et al, a wake-up call for Joost, and just another thing to worry about for portals such as AOL & MSN, especially with the news that the Wall Street Journal will, as predicted, be opening up its doors by doing away with its subscription model; this will of course increase the potential places for advertisers to spend their budgets in places other than the portals even more.

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