ReadWriteWeb

The phrase "real-time web" may make you think about Twitter, Facebook, or perhaps real-time stock market trading, but there are actually hundreds of companies all around the world working on building and leveraging different types of real-time delivery of data online. In preparation for this week's ReadWrite Real-Time Web Summit and a forthcoming research report on the topic, we've now had extended conversations with nearly 50 companies in this space. The breadth of offerings, technologies and strategies is amazing.

We offer below one way to think about this broad market. We hope it's useful and interesting.

Embedded chat has been around for a while. We've covered chat services from companies such as Meebo,Tangler, and a slew of others.

However, for simplicity, versatility, UI, and sheer elegance, newcomer Olark takes the cake. Originally called Hab.la, this Y Combinator startup has created - dare we say it? - the perfect or nearly perfect chat product for small businesses, ecommerce sites, or run-of-the-mill NMDs who like to add that extra touch of real-time accessibility to their sites or blogs. Read on to see how simple we really found it (no code needed, folks!) and the insane tricks we were able to pull using Olark chat.