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Meebo.com Unified Web IM Launches

Attracts 150,000 Users in First Three Weeks

Meebo.com, the first integrated Web-based instant messaging service, has announced in its first three weeks of operation that it has attracted more than 150,000 unique users. Meebo was built using Ajax, a revolutionary technology that offers users a highly interactive, dynamic experience within a Web browser page. Meebo, also for the first time from any Web-based service, offers users of instant messaging, which number 500 million worldwide, access to all major services on a single Web page. Those services include AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk/Jabber, MSN Messenger, and ICQ.

Based in Palo Alto, CA, Meebo was founded by female engineering duo Elaine Wherry and Sandy Jen, two Stanford University-trained engineers with degrees in symbolic systems and computer science respectively. A third co-founder, Seth Sternberg, a former IBM mergers-and-acquisitions lead and Yale graduate, is currently a student at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Meebo's wide availability on any Web browser page (including Internet Explorer and Firefox) gives Internet users ubiquity no IM service currently offers. Users no longer need to download and install software, a boon to IM users who are either forbidden from using IM applications in their office or institutional settings, or travelers and Internet cafe users worldwide using public, multi-user computers. Users log on to their favorite IM services at screen names from all IM services that users have accounts with are retrieved and displayed in one organized window within a single browser page.

"We've finally made all major IM services, and saved buddy lists, available and accessible to all, no matter where they are," said Sternberg. "Meebo empowers IM users who can now chat with all of their buddies, from any service, in an all-in-one window -- a tremendous benefit for users. The best news is you don't have to download or install anything. Now, office workers, soldiers on duty, high school students, and road warriors can get the access they want and need to stay in touch with family and friends."

Meebo's planned quiet launch attracted interest of a large number of bloggers. A recent search on blog search site Feedster showed more than 2900 postings on Meebo since the September 14 launch. In addition, more than 1000 comments, bug fixes and product feature suggestions have appeared in Meebo's forums (http://forum.meebo.com). "Clearly there is pent-up demand," said Sternberg. "I knew we hit the right chord when we got an email from a soldier stationed in Iraq, thanking us for helping him connect real-time with his family back home."

Meebo actively communicates with its user community, who contribute to the product's development and usage. One user set meebo.com to launch at the startup of a computer and run continuously as "desktop wallpaper" using Active Desktop, a setting included on all Microsoft Windows machines. "We're learning news ways, and new places, people are using Meebo every day," said Sternberg. "Feedback from our users, disseminated to other users through blogs and our forum, has been extremely valuable. The use of Meebo through Active Desktop, for example, is something we hadn't even thought of. We believe a large portion of our users have now given Meebo a permanent place on their computers. It changes the rules of IM for the industry as well -- this is a good example of a Web 2.0 company in action," he said.

About Meebo

Meebo is the first all-in-one, Web browser-based Internet messaging service. The company was founded by Stanford engineering graduates Elaine Wherry, a symbolic systems major, and Sandy Jen, a computer science major. A third co-founder, Seth Sternberg, is a Yale graduate and former lead in IBM's mergers and acquisition department, and a current student at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Meebo gives users, no matter where they are, a hassle-free way to connect to every major instant messaging service using only a Web browser. With Meebo, there is no need to download and run multiple software products. The company is based in Palo Alto, CA, and offers its free service at www.meebo.com.

Meebo is a trademark of Meebo, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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