I think that in less than one year we will have a Google+ bar...
They bought the bar and the team to integrate Google+ on every website.
Google Friendconnect bar + Meebo bar = Google+ bar.
Meebo discontinued: shutting down on July 11, 2012
101–108 of 108 posts
Re: Meebo discontinued: shutting down on July 11, 2012
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't looked in to this particular instance, but in general... why buy a company that has no significant revenue? It's not like it's some shock to google - "oh no, meebo doesn't make enough money!?" So... yeah, the services were provided 'free' in some sense, but meebo was able to continue running before this. Just... yeah.. buy stuff, shut it down. If it's not a significant source of revenue, it probably doesn't…
I believe Meebo was purchased to become part of Google+ not to be an independently operated subsidiary of Google. This shutting down doesn't mean that Meebo will leave the internet space, it just means that the next time we'll see Meebo it'll be with a "Google+" logo on it. Larry Page has been shutting down and consolidating divisions of Google for the last 18 months. This appears to fit his strategy at the moment. W…
Why buy a chat service if you already have one?
They wanted the meebobar only, because it's cheaper than building their own, or it's too entrenched to compete against. Those are the only two plausible explanations that would make sense (to me, obviously) but neither actually make much sense when applied to Google.
Re: Meebo discontinued: shutting down on July 11, 2012
#103Bummer, was a super useful service. Would be a great benefit to society if they open sourced the messenger.
Re: Meebo discontinued: shutting down on July 11, 2012
#104My first thought was "this is sad news for users of their great IM client, but at least it means no more Meebo Bar." Then I read: NOTE: The Meebo Bar will continue to be available to site publishers and will see continued improvements and new features in the weeks and months ahead. So, basically, the worst of both worlds.
Meebo Bar makes money and maintains a number of partnerships that are useful.
The IM client does not.
Re: Meebo discontinued: shutting down on July 11, 2012
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
> NOTE: The Meebo Bar will continue to be available to site publishers and will see continued improvements and new features in the weeks and months ahead. Answers your question, doesn't it? Google acquired them for the Meebo bar; I would put money on it being acquired to become google+ified. Edit: seems I was incorrect and they were acquired for the team. Disregard this comment.
But you see that was my point. I don't think there is a team or a good product to acquire here. It hardly compares to previous Google's acquisitions.
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Re: Meebo discontinued: shutting down on July 11, 2012
#106Sorry for the language, but WTF GOOGLE? Meebo has been around since forever (well, actually 2005) when it was only a web messenger and used by a LOT of people whenever you couldn't or wouldn't want to install a native messaging app, or messaging was blocked on your network. I actually know people that used Meebo exactly for that reason, no installation required and furthermore if you created yourself a Meebo account,…
I would guess that technology caught up with them. With the penetration of smartphones, I bet that that's become a better alternative than web IM for most people.
Exactly. Too focused on having a unified IM network for the desktop web. Facebook chat took over desktop web chat. Whatsapp took over mobile app chat. And Meebo got into toolbars and sharing widgets. Their lack of product focus and subsequent sale reminds me a lot of Loopt.
Re: Meebo discontinued: shutting down on July 11, 2012
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's not kid ourselves, browser based instant messaging across different protocols is not that interesting anymore. Facebook, What's App and iMessages won. This will free up this capable team to work on something more current.
Let's not kid ourselves. Millions of people use instant messaging daily. Facebook in no way "won".
Poll: when's the last time you logged in to MSN/AOL/Yahoo Messenger?
Re: Meebo discontinued: shutting down on July 11, 2012
#108that's a great opportunity for any meebo alternative out there because a lot of people were more then happy to use meebo...
I shift to Brosix and I think it is great free IM - http://www.brosix.com