Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, but more users might.
buying a user base + migrating them to another platform is a very slippery slope (privacy and PR wise). think it's mostly about developers.
Nothing G+ won't try at this point ;)
Google buys Meebo
21–30 of 116 posts
Re: Google buys Meebo
#22Meebo definitely went through its nine lives. I wonder what Google was trying to acquire through this purchase.
The talent. Meebo was started by Stanford grads who demonstrated their talent in developing a product and a launching company. It'd be a safe way to hire a few competent engineers, and I doubt the acquisition price contains much goodwill.
Re: Google buys Meebo
#23Interesting... does Meebo have any patents? I really would've expected that Google could re-develop any Meebo technology for cheaper than an acquisition.
I'm guessing the relationship Meebo has built with its customer base is more important than the technology.
I've been using the (old) Meebo Messenger for years. I've never had the impression that they cared about its users a lot. There were no updates on the user interface since I began using it, they didn't add features that were highly requested on the feedback forums.
The toolbar thing is just... I don't know what that is. Looks useless to me.
Another thing, are there any good other web based multi messengers? I guess they will shut this down soon then?
Re: Google buys Meebo
#24This makes me sad for the future of their chat client. The toolbar may suck, but their IOS client rocks. It synchronizes with their web chat interface, so that you may switch between conversations on mobile/desktop.
Re: Google buys Meebo
#25One thing no outlet has reported is that everyone except business development and select engineers were laid off as a result of the deal.
This all comes from someone who left Meebo recently and is still close with people that work there.
Not sure exactly how many, but it sounds like it was a good number.
Note: I said it was the majority, that's what my friend made it sound like, but I'm not sure.. will update once I find out
Re: Google buys Meebo
#26I honestly did not see that coming. I was a regular user of meebo way back in 2006-2008 but I don't have a solid recollection as to why I left (now using imo.im).
I can only assume that the acquisition has something to do with Google Plus. Well, whatever it is for, I wish them good luck.
Re: Google buys Meebo
#27One thing no outlet has reported is that everyone except business development and select engineers were laid off as a result of the deal. This all comes from someone who left Meebo recently and is still close with people that work there. Not sure exactly how many, but it sounds like it was a good number. Note: I said it was the majority, that's what my friend made it sound like, but I'm not sure.. will update once I…
Meebo laid off most of its staff as part of this deal?
Re: Google buys Meebo
#28To me this makes sense as Meebo has really transformed themselves from a "chat" company to an "advertising toolbar" company. They (for better or worse) absolutely dominate the annoying popup toolbar at the bottom of a website market. Ex: http://www.slate.com
There was a couple of steps in between I think - didn't they also do some sort of news/feed syndication or "following"? Till Gmail and Google Talk became popular, Meebo was my MSN replacement of choice.
Still exists: https://www.meebo.com/messenger
Full timeline: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meebo#Timeline
Re: Google buys Meebo
#29Meebo definitely went through its nine lives. I wonder what Google was trying to acquire through this purchase.
The talent. Meebo was started by Stanford grads who demonstrated their talent in developing a product and a launching company. It'd be a safe way to hire a few competent engineers, and I doubt the acquisition price contains much goodwill.
I doubt the talent behind meebo is worth $200M. I'd say that it's more a bailout of the investors.
Re: Google buys Meebo
#30Google is scared of Pinterest.