Google will become the search engine for the social networking site and others after paying News Corp. $900 million for the privilege.

How much are friends worth? To Google (GOOG), almost a billion dollars. The search engine giant said on Aug. 7 it will pay News Corp. (NWS) more than $900 million to serve as the search engine for MySpace.com and other sites under the media giant’s Fox Interactive umbrella.

Under the terms of the multiyear deal, Google will provide search capability for Fox Interactive Media by the end of 2006. It will continue to serve as the search engine until at least the second quarter of 2010, when the deal expires.

Find out why Google is so eager to pay $900 million to be the MySpace search engine at BusinessWeek Online.