14 DAY TRIAL // Meebo, the third-party web chat provider, has introduced ads to its Community IM service used by partner sites to offer integrated chat capabilities. The ads are designed so that they aren't disruptive to the conversation and will not cover the chat window.
“Meebo’s ad strategy since day one has been to deliver engaging social ads with industry-leading metrics that consistently exceed the expectations of our clients,” said Martin Green, COO, Meebo. “Today is a big day for Meebo. We now have a solution that performs for the world’s leading brands across a growing network of tens of millions of their prospective customers.”
Meebo is already offering ads on its main site since March and, based on that experience, has devised a new ad unit type that it hopes will not interfere with the user's actions. The company’s CEO, Seth Sternberg, believes that the ads give people something to do while waiting for an answer from one of their IM buddies. “There is a moment of boredom while they are waiting for a response, that is when they click on ads,” he stated.
Meebo's Community IM product is aimed at sites that want to offer integrated chat capabilities but don't have the scale or technical know-how to implement their own. The product is already used by 40 partner sites, with an additional 45 in the works, currently reaching 50 million users and 100 million once it goes live on all 85.
The new ad unit pops up in the left hand side of the Meebo bar away from the main chat area. Clicking on the ads will bring up a full overlay, as large as 900 by 400 pixels; however, the ad, even when expanded, will not cover the conversation windows so that users can still keep up with what is being said.