USERPLANE - Nov 10 - Over the last year Userplane has made some enhancements to its communications platform, and today are announcing the launch of our Webmessenger3. Some of the features include:
· Easier integration
· Virtual gifting seamlessly integrated
· Localization in any language
· All IMs in one window with indicators for each
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- U.S. SNS Rankings
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U.S.A.
Experian Hitwise ~ 8/11
1 Facebook
2 YouTube
3 Twitter
U.K.
Experian Hitwise ~ 12/11
1 Facebook
2 YouTube
3 Twitter
Twitterers
All-in-One Pricing Announcement
This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.
Userplane General Manager Interview
SNW -- July 7 -- I'm very happy to report that Userplane
is not going to close in the foreseeable future now. Darin Ohlandt is
the GM of Userplane and was able to attend the Internet Dating
Conference / Social Networking Conference and officially announce that
Userplane is not going to be 'retired' and everything is business as
usual. I followed up with Darin with a few questions, and here's the
official word.
- Is Userplane going to shut down?
No. Userplane is not going to close and services will continue to be provided.
- Can clients be assured that AOL will keep Userplane live and alive for at least the next year?
Yes. AOL fully supports the Userplane services and customers.
- Are there any 'classes' of clients (i.e. adult dating) that Userplane is no longer servicing?
Userplane remains committed to providing services to our customers, regardless of any ‘classes.'
- How many people work at Userplane now?
AOL
does not disclose specific staffing levels. However, we can confirm
that the staffing of the Userplane team was reduced in March as part of
a general reorganization that affected all AOL divisions.
- How many of those are involved with client/customer service?
Userplane
has a dedicated team for tier-one customer support, in addition to
support from other Userplane groups including development, operations
and business development. The staffing of the tier-one support team
has been constant for well over a year. We have continued to provide
customer support and have responded to our customer service and new
customer integration requests, with no breaks in service, although
response times can be affected by the depth of service queues.
- Are there any new product announcements coming up that you can let us know about?
We
have no new product announcements at this time, but will certainly work
with you when we have any new developments to announce.
This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.
Startups Smell Userplane Blood
TECH CRUNCH -- June 29 -- There has been no shortage of talk about the
apparent demise of Userplane, the text, voice and video chat software
provider that was acquired by AOL in August 2006 for around $40m. Darin
Ohlandt, General Manager of Userplane, responded to the rumors saying
they are definitely not shutting down. A recent thread on OnlinePersonalsWatch suggested that the site would be deadpooled by its
owner soon. A developer commented on the thread claiming he had tried
to contact Userplane for weeks through e-mails, voice calls and social
networks and received no response. Many startups with competing
solutions are taking advantage of the rumors about Userplane's
impending shut-down. Toksta is the most outspoken one, having set up a
special page for Userplane clients who are looking to switch to an
alternative provider. Other competitors include Meebo and ekkoTV. FULL ARTICLE @ WASHINGTON POST
Mark Brooks: I had two high trust sources that I've known for several years confirm that Userplane was to be retired. Not sold, just quietly retired. Userplane is having life breathed back into it. Good. It would be a shame to lose the company to the deadpool.
This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.
Userplane Ist Kaput
SNW -- May 4 -- Heads up! Rumors have come in from multiple sources that Userplane is folding. Its too small for AOL to consider selling, and apparently not worthwhile them continuing to run. Its a shame really. Companies like Toksta and Ekko.tv stand to benefit from the void Userplane will leave. Markus Frind says that IM was his biggest mistake. He's getting far more pageviews now he's pulled it. But paid sites are less interested in page views, so perhaps its still worthwhile paid sites using IM. There are a number of IM alternatives we're reviewing. We'll be presenting our findings at the upcoming Internet Dating Conference, and on the Courtland Brooks blog. (Full Disclosure: Plentyoffish.com is a current, long term client of Courtland Brooks. Userplane is a former client of Courtland Brooks)
See all posts on Userplane
See all posts on Plentyoffish
This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.
Former AOL Exec Mike Jones Takes COO Role At MySpace
TECH CRUNCH -- Apr 27 -- Rumors from last week have now been
confirmed, and former AOL exec Mike Jones will become the COO of MySpace. Jones
is a well respected entrepreneur who founded Userplane, later acquired by AOL.
Jones left AOL in 2008 to start a new company, Tsavo, which sources say is off
to a very fast start. Another good sign is that Jones is a long time user of
MySpace and is very active on the site. This is the kind of executive that many
hoped Jonathan Miller would bring in to run the massive MySpace property, which
remains one of the largest sites on the Internet despite lagging badly behind
Facebook in growth. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
See all posts on MySpace See all posts on AOL
See all posts on Userplane See all posts on Tsavo
Userplane Chat Plays Nice With Social Networks
CNET NEWS -- Nov 25 -- Userplane, a provider of social software for
online communities, has announced that users will now be able
to chat with others regardless of the platform they're using.
Userplane's Chat app will work with
MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Ning, Flux, and Bebo. Userplane claims
that it will continue to expand its chat app's compatibility with other
services, since it will work on any social network that offers an open
API. FULL ARTICLE @ CNET NEWS
Userplane And JS-Kit Partner
BUSINESS WIRE -- Oct 21 -- Userplane, the social
software provider for online communities will offer JS-Kit's Ratings
service through Userplane's distribution channels. JS-Kit, will add Userplane's Webchat application to its
product suite, which includes; Comments, Reviews, Ratings, & Polls. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
Userplane Powers Fan Social Networks
PRESS RELEASE -- Sep 23 -- Userplane, the social software provider for online
communities, is powering both
official and fan-driven social media sites Redskins.com, www.49ersfaithful.net and www.weareredsoxnation.com. Weareredsoxnation.com is part of a larger social networking community called WeAre.us, and
offers chat rooms using Userplane Webchat and instant messaging powered
by Userplane Webmessenger. A popular website for San Francisco
football fans, powered by KickApps, offers Webchat during live games. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
Tsavo, CEO Mike Jones Interview
SNW INTERVIEW -- Aug 30 -- Mike Jones is now an advisor to Userplane and AOL and is CEO of Tsavo. What is this mysterious Tsavo? Here's my interview with Mike. - Mark Brooks
What's your role at Tsavo and AOL now?
With AOL I function as a Strategic Advisor, facilitating the transition to Sam Wick for daily management of the Userplane business. The majority of my time operationally is setting up Tsavo and finalizing the transition with some of our initial, undisclosed acquisitions.
Tell us more about Tsavo.
Tsavo is focused on building technology facilitating highly-personal and relevant experiences with online content. I would like to see a world where, instead of browsing through 30,000 blog posts a day, there is a system that actively understands and learns my media consumption behavior.
What kind of media are you particularly going to be looking at and serving up to users?
Our current focus is on a wide-reaching publishing network with niche vertical focus. Overall we are viewing it from the standpoint that Tsavo will be a multi URL network across a whole series of verticals.
Is there an official launch date?
No there’s not. Since we’re starting off with a few acquisitions, we have active staff and revenue today; my CTO Nate Thelen and his lead engineer Gabe Harriman and our head of product Mike Macaadan focus primarily on building the relevancy sub-structure. You will begin seeing our acquisition announcements in the next few months, and the relevancy technology begin surfacing in the next six months and beyond.
What kinds of sites and services are you looking to acquire at this stage?
We’re looking for content sites that have strong editorial and original content. We’re looking for a few back-end technologies that relate the semantic web and content aggregation.
Are dating sites within your realm of interest?
Probably not. I don’t believe it will fit initially with our focus on media & relevance. I do have interest and am researching other types of subscription services.
UserPlane Founder Peels Away To Found New Startup
TECH CRUNCH -- Aug 20 -- Michael
Jones sold Userplane, which provides text, voice and video chat
software to websites to AOL almost exactly two years ago for around $40m. Now, almost exactly two
years later, he's left AOL full time to pursue his next startup: Tsavo. The business model resembles Demand Media, which develops
technology in house and has acquired a number of content and ecommerce
startups. Tsavo will likely be making acquisitions soon. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Userplane Re-Invents The Message Board
MASHABLE -- Aug 12 -- This week, community software builder Userplane is
launching an innovative new message board product – Userplane Boards. The
service combines aspects of Userplane's other services like chat and IM with
threaded message board discussion, creating a real-time environment that makes
following conversations much easier. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
See all posts on Userplane
Userplane Partners With Four Leading Communities
BUSINESS WIRE -- July 17 -- Userplane, the social
software provider for online communities, has partnered with
four online social media platform. The four providers -- KickApps, the on demand social media platform; Small World Labs, an enterprise social networking provider; Magnify, a video community platform; and Pringo,
an international leader in private labeled online communities – will
integrate Userplane's live chat, instant messaging (IM) and presence
functionality into their respective platforms. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
See all posts on Userplane
See all posts on KickApps
See all posts on Magnify
See all posts on Pringo
KickApps Partners With Userplane
BUSINESS WIRE -- July 15 -- KickApps,
the on demand social media platform,
has partnered with Userplane to integrate live chat,
instant messaging and presence functionality to the KickApps
Platform. Members of KickApps powered sites can now engage in live text
and audio/video conversations with each other. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
Userplane Teams Up With ConVerdge
BUSINESS WIRE -- July 9 -- Userplane, the social software
provider for online communities, has partnered with ConVerdge to integrate Userplane applications, as added core
features, to its Social Media Platform solution. The first
community powered by ConVerdge to benefit from the new partnership is
Mashable. ConVerdge, a social media, networking and
community building specialist, will integrate Userplane's Webchat2 and
Webmessenger2. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
Userplane Plug-ins Available On More Platforms
PRESS RELEASE -- June 10 -- Userplane,
the application provider for online communities, announced today that
its plug-in applications (Webmessenger, Webchat and Webrecorder) are
now available for VBulletin, WordPress, Drupal, Mambo, Joomla and
phpFoX. Developers can easily and quickly integrate Userplane plug-in
applications into the social networking communities and websites they
create with these platforms. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
Userplane Gets Into Video Hosting
TECH CRUNCH -- May 20 -- Userplane, the company behind Webchat and a
number of other online
communication services, has introduced a new video app dubbed
"Mediaplayer". The free white-label app will allow web publishers to
add hosted video uploads to their sites under an ad-supported model.
Mediaplayer users will be able to upload videos as large as 100MB. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH
Userplane Ranked Among 30 Largest Ad Networks
BUSINESS WIRE -- Apr 15 -- Userplane,
the application provider for online communities and a wholly
owned subsidiary of AOL, has been
ranked as the 27th largest ad network in the U.S. for the month of
March by comScore. The ranking affirms the success of Userplane's
longtail strategy around its revenue sharing solution Userplane Money,
which was launched in May 2007. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE
Mark Brooks
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