August 16, 2006

On Monday, America Online (AOL) announced that is has acquired Userplane, a pioneer in community networking software.

Userplane develops and markets easy-to-use, Web-based chat and instant messaging (IM) tools that can be rapidly deployed and seamlessly integrated into a variety of Web services.

The agreement with AOL was signed on July 28th and closed last week. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Originally founded in 2001 by Michael Jones, Nate Thelen and Javier Hall, Userplane has licensed its chat technology to more than 100,000 Web sites and online communities, and has a presence in more than 25 countries. Key customers include MySpace.com, Honda, Date.com, Spark, IGN, Tagged, Red Bull, Marvel Comics, and others.

Userplane'swide network of online communities includes social networking and dating websites, blogs, and niche communities.

Userplane offers its Web-based chat and instant messaging services under three business models. There is a monthly licensing model in which customers pay fees based on usage, a free model in which Userplane represents the resulting advertising inventory, and a hybrid model through which licensed clients can also place Userplane's advertising inventory on their site and share in the proceeds.

Userplane's visitors spend an average of at least 20 minutes engaged inthe Userplane experience per visit, which enables Userplane to provide rich advertising space - including streaming audio and video. Because the Userplane experience is fundamentally user-centric, advertisers can precisely target their audience based on user profiles and demographics.

The trend-setting and early-adopting 18 to 35 demographics is best represented among Userplane's large and rapidly growing user base.

"Userplane will expand and extend the reach and relevance of the AOL instant messaging franchise, while continuing to provide social networking audiences and specialized communities with brandable clients tailored to meet their needs," said Ted Leonsis, vice chairman and president, AOL Audience Business.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Userplane's entrepreneurial leaders and talented technologists to AOL, and we look forward to offering optional federation to Userplane communities with our global network of 83 million AOL, AIM and ICQ users."

"We couldn't have asked for a better partner than AOL and its industry leading AIM service," said Michael Jones, Userplane's co-founder and CEO. "Our entire team sees this as an excellent time to align with AOL. Our expertise in web applications and online advertising allows us to fit directly with their new strategy.

We will leverage AOL's tools and network, continuing to integrate Userplane into communities globally and support their growth."

Instant messaging is one of the three most popular Internet activities in the United States -- after email and search -- and is a key driver of user engagement. As the nationwide leader in instant messaging, AOL's growing IM community is a syndicated and open developer platform that supports social networking, delivers advanced voice, video and collaboration services, and provides consumers with easy access to popular content and programming.

Userplane and its twelve employees will continue to be based in the Los Angeles, CA area. It will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of AOL.

Userplane is AOL's third announced acquisition of 2006, following Lightningcast, Inc. in May and Truveo, Inc. in January. Other recent corporate acquisitions by AOL include Music Now, LLC, Weblogs, Inc., Xdrive, Inc. and Wildseed, Ltd. - all in 2005.

Source: Finenzen.net