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MySpace.com, a website that's the flavor of the moment for teenagers and young hipsters, has attracted a new kind of fan: a 74-year-old billionaire.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. agreed Monday to acquire Los Angeles-based Intermix Media Inc., the parent company of MySpace, for $580 million in cash. The deal continues the rush of old-media giants snapping up fast-growing Internet ventures in the pursuit of the advertising dollars flowing onto the Web.

With the acquisition, expected to close in the fourth quarter, News Corp. expects to triple its Web traffic, vaulting it into the ranks of the Internet's five most visited sites from its current place in the 40s, said company President Peter Chernin.

MySpace, which lets its users watch videos and listen to music on their computers, also would give News Corp. a new young audience for clips from its Fox news, sports and entertainment programs.

"We thought there was a real opportunity to jump-start our entertainment efforts on those demographics," Chernin said in an interview.

News Corp. is the latest major media company to bolster its Web presence, encouraged by the $9.6 billion spent on Web advertising last year.

Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks last month agreed to pay $160 million for Neopets.com, a website that lets children create and care for virtual pets. Pursuing older Web surfers, E.W. Scripps Co., Dow Jones & Co. and New York Times Co. have all bought online companies in recent months, seeking to cash in on ad dollars flowing to the Web as their own growth slows.

"There's a lot of pressure on traditional media," said John Tinker, an analyst with ThinkEquity Partners.

But the deal comes with risks. Intermix has faced criticism for installing spyware on consumers' computers. The company says it agreed to pay New York $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit over the practice and has stopped placing the malevolent programs on PCs.

The centerpiece of the deal, MySpace, also carries its own baggage. School officials have warned parents that children can easily find explicit sexual information on MySpace, in both text ads and postings by other members.

Chernin said News Corp. was sensitive to such concerns and would be vigilant in policing MySpace.

But the anything-goes edginess that made the site so cool to loyalists could prove difficult for an established media company - even the one behind such reality shows as "Married by America" and "Who's Your Daddy?" - to tolerate.

"If they want to sustain the buzz of something like MySpace.com, they're going to have to be in it for the advertising revenue purely, not make it more of a corporate-feeling experience," said Patrick Mahoney, a senior analyst with Yankee Group. "If they do, they risk the problem of discontent."

MySpace also has a limited track record. It is growing by leaps and bounds - its 18 million visitors in June marked a 15-fold increase over the same month last year - but analysts noted that young consumers were fickle. Just as the "it" restaurant in Los Angeles can change in a moment, so can the tastes of young Web surfers.

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