AIM Pages: MySpace Killer?
Techcrunch has this write-up (material taken from Staci’s paidcontent.org blog) about AOL’s new AIM Pages. Here is an excerpt:
AIM Pages: AOL wants to be the 24/7 home base for as many users as possible hence the AIM Page, a social networking site/home page/home base that stays active even when the buddy list is offline. Kerry Parkins, director, key audiences product marketing, calls it “a very natural extension” for AIM”s existing social network. Instead of people joining a created community a la Classic AOL, they have their own with the buddy list they already use at the core.
This move by AOL makes sense since they have a pretty big AIM community to start with (particularly in the United States). The buddy list in their AIM accounts can also serve as their buddy list in their AIM Pages account. In the true Web 2.0 fashion they are mashing up multiple concepts together: Google Pages, Google Personalized Home Page and Friendster. Now, it makes me wonder by Google Big Brother has not made a move into this space yet? This is can potentially add a large amount of Google Adwords Advertising Space which they need. Or will they buy one of the unaffiliated MySpace clones?
May 10th, 2006 at 10:27 pm
Mike of Techcrunch mentions that the clean look provided by AIM Pages might not be want users want. I checked out a few myspace pages and they do look pretty cluttered. It definitely does not look “product”. But, that may be want end users want.
May 17th, 2006 at 12:36 am
[…] Take note that AOL has just released its AIM pages in an attempt to eat up some of MySpace’s market. Now, MySpace is returning the favor and releasing an AIM killer. So the battle of the giant portals is now taking place. In the sidelines are Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. Don’t discount these biggies out yet. All of them already have portal and IM products out in the market. Yahoo with Yahoo Messenger and Geocities. Google with GTalk and Google Pages. Microsoft with MSN Messenger. These guys have a lot more products and a lot more resources. Maybe they are waiting for the fallout? Or it is just a matter of timing … […]