ReadWriteWeb

Meebone is a bit of a strange piece of software, in that it is an AIR based desktop client for Meebo. Meebo itself is a great web application that allows you to easily log into all your favorite IM services from the web, so having a desktop client for it might seem like a rather odd choice at first. However, it actually turns out to be quite a useful tool.

What Meebone basically does is display the Meebo web app in an AIR window, somewhat akin to what Fluid does on the Mac.

Cross network web IM service Meebo is announcing today the hire of CNet and Warner Music vet Carter Brokaw as the company's new Chief Revenue Officer. Along with that announcement the company is starting to talk about its plans to monetize a platform that many have said will be impossible to profit from. The plan is very marketing 2.0. Is that what users want? Is the ad world ready?

Meebo's spent six months studying focus groups gathered from their 30 million users per month to see what kind of advertising users will put up with. The response has been unsurprising - users say they don't want impersonal sales messages broadcast at them. They want to be invited into useful or entertaining engagements with advertisers where they, the users, remain in control of the experience. They (we) want utility-based ad campaigns.

Venture Beat is reporting that cross-platform web Instant Messaging service Meebo is raising a substantial amount more money at a valuation of more than $200 million. Consensus among the community of VB readers seems to be that such a valuation is insane. Looking at the details about Meebo indicates otherwise, however. Meebo is a simple, solid service that serves a clear need and has amassed large user numbers.

Meebo announced today that it is launching an API for its Meebo Rooms service. The API will allow the automated creation and embedding of chat rooms at the server level. Rooms previously had to be set up by hand on the Meebo site. "For example, social networks can embed a chat room on every 'group' page, entertainment companies can have live community groups for each artist or show, and blog platforms can embed a chat room in the 'comments' of every post, seamlessly," says Meebo, describing possible use cases on the API page.