Meebo

01 / WHAT IT BUILT

What the company did

Meebo was a web-based instant messaging company launched in September 2005 by Sandy Jen and Seth Sternberg with Elaine Wherry. Its signature product let users log into multiple IM networks - MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber - from a single browser page, a workaround for locked-down work and university computers. The company later expanded into community products, notably the Meebo Bar, an embeddable publisher widget that reached around 250 million monthly active users by 2011. Google acquired Meebo on June 4, 2012 for a reported ~$100 million, and within weeks shut down Meebo Messenger and most consumer products.

03 / EVENT HISTORY

Events in the structured record

1. 2005
   Launched

   Meebo launched in September 2005 as a single web page that logged users into multiple instant-messaging networks at once.

2. 2009
   Meebo Bar

   The company shifted focus to the Meebo Bar, an embeddable strip for publishers offering chat, sharing and advertising, which grew to ~250 million monthly active users.

3. 2012
   Acquired

   Google acquired Meebo on June 4, 2012 for a reported ~$100 million; Meebo Messenger and most products were shut on July 11, 2012, and the Meebo Bar was retired on June 6, 2013.