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Google Instant Messenger all Rumor

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the or-maybe-this-is-just-a-clever-distraction dept.

Jbravo writes "Search, blogging, maps, photos, email, and now a portal, Google has kept adding to their array of services. Is an instant messenger next for Google? Most recently Google has been said to be buying out a company called Meetroduction, LLC for their instant messenger Meetro. So, is it true? Is Google writing the check now? Well, after a chat with Paul Bragiel, CEO of Meetroduction, the word is not right now. He called the whole story 'rumors.'"

7 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. Perhaps not the right approach for the market by Sv-Manowar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A lot of people already have IM networks that they're locked into because their friends/contacts are happy with that network and use it. In europe, its extremely common for people to have MSN, whilst the trend stateside seems to be more toward AIM (with MSN still significant there too). Google could do better by adopting something like XMPP/Jabber and either using a client that supports MSN/AIM/ICQ protocols or the server-side protocol translation that Jabber supports. A solid Google IM client based on XMPP might be just what the standard needs to build profile (whilst still allowing easy adoption through MSN/AIM compatibility)

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    Business Voyeur
    1. Re:Perhaps not the right approach for the market by Film11 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Agreed. It is simply too much hassle for one to change instant messaging networks like that. Changing my e-mail to GMail was bad enough, but telling everybody to add your new contact name, or worse, telling them to download a client so they can chat to you exclusively is just out of the question for me.

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  2. Brilliant move by google if they do that. by elucido · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Because people search google, an IM would be genius. People who search for the same thing could meet each other through google IM. Almost like how technorati and other sites do it, google could take it one step further. Imagine the waste IM client combined with the google search engine.

  3. Jabber? by vidarlo · · Score: 5, Interesting
    If I where google, I'd go for a solution based on Jabber, as this allows
    • Connectivity with other nets (MSN/AIM/Yahoo!)
    • Connectivity with other jabber users
    • Allows a p2p structure, which is cheap for google
    The fact that the technology is there, might be impotrant for google, since it is a solution that just has to be deployed. Only problem might be how servers cope when they get 100K users, and how google will ensure connectivity with MSN et al without being sued for something...
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    Assembling etherkillers for fun an profit
  4. Web-based client? by helmetnerd · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It doesn't have to be their own IM network. I could see Google coming out with a web-based IM client for an existing protocol, in line with their web-based desktop philosophy. I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing a nice lightweight AJAX-stylee IM client built into my google account for when im not at home.

  5. Rumour about a rumour by alphakappa · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Where is the story about rumours that Google would buy Meetro... This looks like a way to get people to visit the meetro website.

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    "When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
  6. Re:Something I don't understand.. by bleaknik · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes.

    Gmail has context sensative ads. Most messages have advertisements for related topics. For example, I became aware of dice.com through a gmail ad. They made a dime on that one, I'm sure.

    Google News is a repository of information. Of course they make money on it. If nothing else, they learn their user's habits.

    Picasa, in case you didn't know, has several venues for Google to make a profit. First, google gets a better understanding of how images are cataloged by their users. This makes services like images.google.com more efficient, and possibly even "smart". Second, Picasa is paired with a "Order Prints" function which shells out to several different photo printing services including Wal-Mart, Shutterfly, and Life Pics. This, I'm sure makes a small profit. Third, it integrates with Blogger and Tivo, which I'm sure there is an indirect revenue stream from these services as well.

    An IM client could be huge for Google; I'm sure they could find ways to make a profit. Context sensative ads (similar to Trillian's Wikipedia lookup feature), regular advertisements (like AIM and MSN's advertising), and the ability to shell right out to their other revenue sources like google.com, gmail, and picasa.

    Information is valuable these days...

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    n. 1. The sensation that you've read this very article before.