MySpace to snap up Photobucket

MySpace has offered $250m for image-sharing website Photobucket

MySpace has tabled a $250m (£125m) bid to buy image-sharing website Photobucket.  

The social networking site, which is owned by News Corporation, proposed the buyout just a few weeks after the two services fell into dispute over adverts placed on MySpace websites.  

MySpace had blocked access to Photobucket slideshows including adverts that were placed on its users' sites.

Photobucket chief executive Alex Welch responded to the block by claiming that MySpace was "contradicting the very ethos of personal and social media".

The issue was eventually resolved and an official statement from Photobucket stated that the company had established open lines of communication with MySpace to prevent a sudden block of Photobucket content in the future.

"We want our users to be able to share their content and we understand that it must be within the framework of MySpace's Terms of Service for it to appear on the site," the statement said.

MySpace was known to be in early takeover talks with Photobucket a month ago, before the incident took place.

Photobucket received 17.6 million unique site visitors during January 2007, according to figures from comScore. 

The photo site claims 41 million registered users, with 80,000 new registered users signing up daily.