Just five days after buying social-messaging and advertising company Meebo for a rumored $100 million, Google is beginning to shut down the company’s various products.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":471099,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,media,social,","session":"B"}']On July 11, Meebo Messenger, Sharing on Meebo, Meebo Me, and all of Meebo’s mobile apps will be shut down, according to a blog post on Meebo.com. Google is folding Meebo’s staffers and technology into its fledgling Google+ social network.
Anyone who used Meebo Messenger, mobile apps, or Sharing on Meebo has a month to download their chat logs and sharing history. After the July 11 deadline that information will no longer be accessible, and you won’t be able to relive any of the riveting chat conversations from your past.
AI Weekly
The must-read newsletter for AI and Big Data industry written by Khari Johnson, Kyle Wiggers, and Seth Colaner.
Included with VentureBeat Insider and VentureBeat VIP memberships.
The lone Meebo product to survive will be the Meebo Bar, a social sharing toolbar that also (sometimes clumsily) delivers ads to users. An announcement on Meebo’s site promises, “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.”
Meebo began seven years ago as a web-based instant messaging service, like AIM and MSN Messenger. In 2009 the company shifted its focus to the more lucrative business of content sharing and serving ads with tools like the Meebo Bar.
Check out VentureBeat’s Matt Marshall’s explanation of why Google purchasing Meebo was a smart move.
via Engadget
Graveyard image in thumbnail via Shutterstock
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Learn More