AIM Debuts Bulk Contact Importer for Gmail Chat Interoperability

A couple of weeks ago, people noticed that they were unable to log into their AOL/AIM accounts from Gmail, like it they have been for the past few years. Well, the three people still using AIM noticed. At the time, AOL provided some info and said that AIM and Google Talk will become interoperable, but the move came with some hassle for active AIM users.

Now Google is making it official, announcing full interoperability between AIM and Google Talk, regardless of where you access it, Gmail, Orkut or the stand-alone apps.

The good news is that there is a bulk importer as well, the major problem with the first implementation.

"A few years ago, we announced our partnership with AOL which made it possible for people to chat with AIM users right from inside Gmail," Matthew Leske, Product Manager at Google, wrote.

"Today, we’re happy to report that AOL has now made it possible to chat with AOL contacts across a variety of Google services: not just Gmail, but also iGoogle, Orkut, and Google Talk on Android phones," he announced.

The integration works both ways. You can add AIM buddies in Gmail after which you'll be able to chat with them as you would with any other Google Talk user.

However, AIM users will also be able to add Google contacts and then chat with them from the dedicated client.

The downside is that you won't be able to log into your AIM account in Gmail from now on. It also means that your AIM buddies will no longer be listed in your chat contacts, you'll have to add them all again.

Thankfully, AOL is providing an import tool, which was not available when the two companies first implemented the change, which allows you to add all of your AIM buddies to the Gmail contacts in one go.

Note though that this won't happen automatically. What's more, your friends will not see your status and you will be using your Google account rather than your AIM one to chat with your buddies.