To be fair, they’re shutting it down to focus on Google+ Sign-In, which was announced two months after I wrote that.

A message from the Meebo team on the Meebo homepage says (via TNW):

Five years ago, we launched the Meebo Bar to bring community, engagement, and revenue to publisher sites.

As part of the Google team, this continues to be our focus, but we want to best serve mobile and desktop publishers moving forward. Therefore, we have decided to focus our resources on initiatives like the recently launched Google+ Sign-In (which includes interactive posts and over-the-air app installs) and the Google+ plug-ins.

This means we will retire the Meebo Bar, effective June 6, 2013.

Thank you for being a Meebo Bar publisher. We have truly appreciated the opportunity to serve you.

While the Meebo bar showed some big potential for keeping people engaged with Google+, mainly due to the notifications box being visible on non-Google sites, it’s not entirely shocking that Google would go this route, with more of a focus on Google+ Sign-In. Is it the right move? I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t have thought shutting down Google Reader was either (another great way to keep those Google+ notifications in front of users).

Simply put, the Google+ version of the Meebo bar is a way to keep people engaged with Google+ when they’re anywhere else on the web (at least any site that actually uses the bar). Sure, the bar lets users easily share content to Google+ rivals Facebook and Twitter, but the key is in that red square – the notification box.

I’ve been using Google+ since launch. There’s a lot to like about it, but if I said it was a network I was using to connect frequently to a majority of my personal relationships, I’d be lying both to you and to myself. One thing (perhaps the thing above all else) that does keep me coming back is that red square with the number in it. I’m not the type to let the number run up without checking in on my notifications as I see them. It helps when it’s plastered to the top of the screen across the various Google products I use day to day, like Google Search, YouTube, Google Drive, Gmail,Google Calendar, and Google Reader. It’s almost impossible to ignore.

What the Meebo bar can do is add that “impossible to ignore” factor to sites that aren’t operated by Google. It’s a smart move by Google.

I can’t speculate as to how many sites will actually utilize the bar, but since I covered it last time, I’ve noticed it on a few more sites. I just noticed on SFGate.com, when the whole thing dawned on me. It’s a subtle, yet obvious thing. Google can already reach so many users with these notifications on its own products, but with the Meebo bar, the only limits are those of adoption by publishers.

It looks like the bar has been Google+ified. Here’s what it looks like now:

TheNextWeb points to the bar in action on TVGuide.com (as first spotted by #googleplusupdate on Google+), where it will surface the user’s Google profile and allow for +1ing and sharing to Google+. Users can hide the bar by clicking the arrows on the right side.

When you click “what’s this?” on the left side, it takes you to a page about the Meebo bar. The Meebo support FAQ page says:

The bar cannot access any of the private information in your browser or on your computer. We do use cookies to keep track of your browsing behavior on sites that have the bar for the purposes of serving you personalized ads.

Any information or comments you post through any social plugins on the bar such as a Like, Tweet or Google +1, is collected and used directly by the plugin developer in accordance with their terms of use and privacy policy.

We haven’t seen any announcements about the product from Google, but perhaps we will see one soon. As Google moves to get more brands using Google+ more, it seems likely that they’ll be pushing this to publishers more.

Actually, they don’t even get that much; Google’s just pulling the plugs on these misfit products and sending them to the big Google server in the sky. Some of these products are just redundancies of more popular products while others simply never caught on with users.

The first product to go meet the butcher is Google Talk Chatback. Since Google purchased Meebo, it’s turning off Chatback and encouraging people to migrate over to the Meebo bar if they want to provided some kind of embedded chat among visitors.

Although Google didn’t specify a date, it will “soon” be retiring the Symbian Search App. There’s no replacement for this one, unless you want to be imaginative and consider google.com as an alternative.

Later this month on July 31, Google will be closing down Google Mini. If you’re going to miss this service, Google recommends trying out Google Search Appliance, Google Site Search and Google Commerce Search for your enterprise needs.

Google Video, which hasn’t been accepting uploads since May 2009, will finally be absorbed into YouTube. All of the hosted content on Google Video will be moved to YouTube and automatically marked as private videos on August 20. However, if you’ve still got content on Google Video, you can manually move your videos to YouTube before that date. Once your videos are moved, you’ll be able to access them via YouTube Video Manager.

Finally, iGoogle, Google’s attempt at allowing users to create a personal homepage replete with widgets and other quick access to Google apps, will be climbing the scaffold… eventually. For some reason, Google is waiting until November 1, 2013 – that’s not even this November! – to close down iGoogle. The first part of this closure, though, is that Google will no longer accept theme submissions and new gadgets past July 31, 2012, so if you want to hurry up and develop some new product for a web service that’s admittedly on life support, you better get right to it. In the meantime, developers will still be able to update existing gadgets after this month.

Meanwhile, the rest of Google’s quadzillion products will remain in service.

[Via Google's Official Blog.]

The full email follows:

Subject: Meebo Messenger is being retired

You may have heard the news recently that Google has acquired Meebo.

The Meebo Bar for site publishers will continue to be available and will see continued improvements and new features in the weeks and months ahead.

However, as part of this transition, Meebo Messenger will be retired on July 11, 2012.

As a past Messenger user, we wanted you to know that until July 11 you can download your archived Messenger chat logs. Log into your account on Meebo Messenger for a download link. Please act soon — after July 11, chat archives will be deleted.

If you don’t want to retrieve your chat logs, no action needs to be taken.

This is a one-time courtesy email to let you know about the upcoming changes and the availability of your chat logs for download; there is no need to unsubscribe.

Thank you for being a part of the Meebo community. The team here has loved every minute of the past seven years, and we’re honored that you chose to trust Meebo as a place to have conversations with friends, family and colleagues. As we turn our attention to a new chapter, joining forces with the Google+ team, we look back with great appreciation to everyone who used and loved Meebo Messenger along the way.

Sincerely,
Sandy, Seth, and the Meebo Team

Anybody Meebo users out there found any possible replacements for Meebo Messenger? Let us know about your alternatives below.

Meebo has announced, through a support article on its website, that many of its products will be shutting down on July 11. The most noteworthy shutdown will be Meebo’s founding application, the Meebo Messenger. Users can download their chat logs from the Meebo website until July 11, at which point the service will be no more. Sharing on Meebo will also be closing, and users can also download their share history in the month before shutdown. Meebo Me widgets will stop working after the shutdown date, meaning website owners will have to remove embedded widgets from their sites. All of Meebo’s mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Blackberry will cease functioning on July 11 as well.

The Meebo Bar is the only service that will continue on, it seems. In its announcement, the company stated that site publishers will still be able to use the Bar and that new features for the product will roll out “in the weeks and months ahead.”

Meebo still has fans who have used its Messenger service for years. These users will have to switch to Google Chat or another instant messaging service, though many of them used Meebo for its many privacy and security features. The loss of Meebo is just beginning to be felt across the internet, including Twitter:

Follow @dril

wint
@dril

as the sun consumes the earth i will stand atop the highest mountain with my arms spread wide , shouting “Bring Back Meebo”

 Reply  ·  Retweet  ·  Favorite
1 day ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Follow @ahab99

Ahab
@ahab99

Why does “we’ve been bought by [bigger company]” mean “we’ll immediately shut down the product you’ve been enjoying for years”?! FFS. @meebo

 Reply  ·  Retweet  ·  Favorite
1 hour ago via TweetList Pro · powered by @socialditto

Follow @FSLabsAdvisor

Sean Sullivan
@FSLabsAdvisor

I only used Meebo Messenger for MSN Messenger chat. No Meebo on July 11 = no need to maintain contacts at http://t.co/0ADzCTEG.

 Reply  ·  Retweet  ·  Favorite
2 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Follow @msauers

Michael Sauers
@msauers

I’m going to need a replacement for Meebo. Something Web-based preferably. Suggestion? http://t.co/B8TvfeSZ

 Reply  ·  Retweet  ·  Favorite
1 hour ago via ManageFlitter · powered by @socialditto

Follow @OreoBearPwnWIN

Mo
@OreoBearPwnWIN

Google is shutting down Meebo Messenger next month. Grrr. Of all the things they own, they have to shut down such a great product?

 Reply  ·  Retweet  ·  Favorite
16 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

We are happy to announce that Meebo has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Google!

Thank you all for coming along for the ride!
Meebo Team

Meebo is known for the Meebo messenger and the Meebo bar. The company considers the latter its flagship product, saying that it “provides publishers and advertisers a surprisingly simple way to leverage this massive audience by organically weaving content engagement and brand experiences into the consumer’s web experience.”

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, though the rumors pegged the potential deal around $100 million.

Given that Meebo has plug-ins for several different browsers, the pick-up would definitely increase the amount of information Google would be able to collect about people’s browsing habits. Last September, Meebo announced that it had broadened its exposure to nearly half of all internet users in the United States at 92 million people. The persistent social bar that websites can use to interact with visitors is currently used by more than 8,000 sites.

It’ll be curious to see how the aftermath would work out if Google does in fact acquire Meebo and whether all of the websites that currently use the platform would continue to do so; alternately, more company sites may use it more since Google is a more household name than Meebo.

Given that Google ran afoul of of the government earlier this year when it was found to be side-stepping a security feature in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Apple’s Safari, and that Meebo is currently available as an extension to both of the browsers (as well as for Firefox and Chrome), this may present Google with a tricksy way to continue to track users if they have the browser extension installed.

However, some of the services, like Meebo’s messenger client, seem like it would be redundant in Google’s inventory of services unless it has some broad Google+ integration the way it has done with Picasa.

Watch this space to find out if the acquisition rumors pan out.

"Social connections are an increasingly important traffic source; it’s crucial for websites to take advantage of that," says Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg. "The Meebo Bar makes it easy for publishers to add social functionality to their sites, and provide a persistent, open experience on multiple networks that makes sharing and chat simple, fun and engaging for users."

"The introduction of the Meebo Bar has added value for both our audience and advertisers," says Tom Kirwan, EW’s National Director of Digital Sales. "The functionality increases users’ engagement and interactivity with our content, while simultaneously allowing advertisers a unique opportunity to be front and center."

In the fall, Meebo plans to introduce new advertising and branding products, including an interactive ad placement with customized skins and sponsored buttons.

Meebo claims to reach a quarter of the U.S. Internet population with 52 million unique monthly visitors and 110 million worldwide. Monthly visitors have increased nearly 300% over the last 10 months, the company says.

After some hard work from the folks here at Meebo and help from a whole host of people at Facebook, we now have Facebook back in Meebo.

Plus, Meebo is now the first launch partner of the “alpha” version of the Facebook Connect + Chat integration. That’s pretty cool.

Original Article from 01/09: Less than a month ago, Meebo announced that it would begin including both MySpace and Facebook into its instant messaging and group chat services. These two networks joined AIM, Yahoo, Google, MSN, and others in Meebo’s repertoire.

However, Facebook has now  requested that Meebo remove its network for the time being, and Meebo has complied. Seth at the Meebo blog writes:

We have been speaking to the Facebook team, and it turns out, they’d like us to connect to their network in a different way – a way that works with their log-in security protocols. In the interim, they asked us take Facebook off Meebo, and we agree with them.

However, we were glad to hear that the Facebook team was genuinely excited to see their network on Meebo, especially since they already have plans to open Facebook Chat. They also committed resources from their Chat and Facebook Connect teams to do extra work with us to get Facebook Chat back on Meebo “really, really soon.”

In December, Meebo’s users grew to about 45 million, presumably as a result of adding MySpace and Facebook connectivity. Seth did not share how many of those are from Facebook, but I would imagine Meebo is eagerly awaiting getting the fast-growing social network back on board.