Ok, by now you’re probably wondering “what the heck happened to Meebo today??”
Before I explain, in case you’re wondering, yes, you can get your old Meebo back. Just click on the “Change back to blue” link over on the left, right under your account settings.
Now, the explanation:
As you all know, Meebo has been developing different kinds of advertising for awhile. Getting advertising “right” inside of Meebo is really important. We always want Meebo to be a free service, which is why exploring revenue streams like advertising is a focus of ours. This lets us add new features that you all ask for, like support for Facebook and MySpace IM.
But of course there’ll be some tension with ads. In general, ads around the internet pretty much suck. It seems like everywhere you go there’s a flashing, annoying banner, or worse, some ad that actually blocks you from the page you’re trying to read, yuck!
Meebo holds itself to a really high standard for its products, and our treatment of ads is no different. Instead of just throwing standard banner ads into Meebo, we wanted to integrate ads as a feature… hopefully so well that they could be fun! And great news, turns out ads inside Meebo have been a real success. Not only have we gotten positive responses from all of you, but our advertisers are very happy too!
So now you’re seeing Meebo’s next shot at a new advertising unit for us. It’s called the “takeover.” Because it’s so all-encompassing, it will only run once in a while. If you use MySpace or YouTube, you’ve probably seen something very similar…every so often the front screen and parts of the overall site change to promote a particular brand. Of course, just like you can close the ad at the bottom of the screen by clicking the down arrow on the bar, you can close the takeover unit by clicking the “Change Back to Blue” link over on the left of the screen, just below your account information.
As always, we rely heavily on your feedback. We rarely get things 100% right the first time (and when we do, a lot of that’s luck). So as always, please provide feedback and let us know what you think. Did we strike a good balance between not disturbing your use of Meebo, while acknowledging the need to run ads? Is the ad too distracting? What tweaks would you do to make it way better? Let us know!
Seth
[ comments ] [ past blogs ]
March 25th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I think it’s a pretty good idea, a change every now and then is actually kind of nice
March 25th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
nice going seth i hate ads like the next guy but they pay for the website right
your the man
March 25th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
As long as it’s non-intrusive and doesn’t cause browser conflicts I could care less.
March 25th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Awesome
Black is a really nice look for Meebo
The ad is really subtle, too — not all up in your face
“Did we strike a good balance between not disturbing your use of Meebo, while acknowledging the need to run ads?”
Hell to the yes!
March 25th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I think it works well b/c what you’re trying to get to is still easily accessible and its still exactly where you expect it to be, only the surroudnings have changed.
Dunno if this’d be consistent but the design of the ad itself on the page is good, its nice and simple and not too overwhelming.
March 25th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
can we have another colors to choose from???
March 25th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
actually, i like it
its nice.
its simple but classic
better than the blue
maybe you could do a color choice thing tho.
March 25th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Hmm, I’ve yet to notice anything different… but I already use the black colour scheme, so perhaps that must be it!
March 25th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Wow, that message was really thoughtful. Thank you for taking the time to explain your change as you made it.
March 25th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I read your message about why the background changed and everything, and I definitely agree with what you’re saying. (Especially the sucky, flashy ads that cover your page you’re trying to view)
With that said, nice work! I actually really like the way the ad is incorporated into the background, and slightly opaque. It’s not too distracting, and if the ads are helping you guys out, by all means, keep doing it this way! : )
March 25th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I think this is a brilliant way to put ads up without being obtrusive and annoying. No one likes banner ads or popups. This does look like a good balance. I hate ads as much as the next guy, but know the need for them to support your business, and the fact that you concidered your clientell in your design means a lot. It means my willingness not to click the ‘backtoblue’ button and get rid of it because it simply being there and me not clicking is paying you for a job well done.
“Did we strike a good balance between not disturbing your use of Meebo, while acknowledging the need to run ads?” I’d say yep, you sure did.
March 25th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I actually agree with some of the other posters. Not only is it a way for you to run advertising without causing any inconvenience to the user, but it’s so much fun to have a different color background! Keep doing it!
March 25th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I think the whole new ads thing is a great idea- I’m just not a black kind of person
Maybe a different color next time…
March 25th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I agree – it’s really nice that you are so considerate to send the message. That in itself speaks volumes, compare to every sell-out site that is clearly now just greedy for ad dollars.
The ad is not bad looking, which makes a big difference. My first impression of the black was actually positive. We all understand and appreciate what it takes to keep this service free!
March 25th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
niceeee. BLAK ROKS!!!
March 25th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Thanks for the heads up
March 25th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I think this was a nice idea. It doesn’t get in the way of meebo-ing, and it isn’t tacky (at least what i’ve seen so far)
March 25th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
This is great! I actually really liked the black, so I went to read what all that was about. It’s awesome that you care about not having intrusive ads, and this actually works out. I didn’t find it intrusive at all, and the change is nice. If it stays free, keeps meebo running, and doesn’t intrude and practically FORCE us to accidentally click on something, I think we should all be for it.
Thanks!!
March 25th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
As long as the ads don’t get in the way of me using meebo, I’m fine with it. Thank you for your effort to make advertising non-intrusive.
March 25th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
this is boring add more pictures
March 25th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
awesome!!! SIGNED THE EMO GIRL.:)
March 25th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
i could not click on the ad
March 25th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
o.O Hey whatsupp
March 25th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
i dont object to this at all as you need to make money so it’s fine with me. anyways a change thats not annoying and interupts my buisness is fine with me
March 25th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
why would you say “SIGNED THE EMO GIRL.:)” that makes you sound like a wannabe emo…i hate people like that
March 25th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
*refresh*
March 25th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
FINE! ill just be going back to meebo then :]
March 25th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
msg me! my aim is obviously kandikane14@live.com <3
March 25th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I’m okay without the blue, the background ad seems efficient and logical. However, I do have a problem with the “roll over and expand” ads on the bottom. I use an Acer aspire netbook and thus, whenever I do accidentally leave my mouse on the ad, the ad consumes the whole screen as I’m using a smaller display screen. It’s not a real problem as I can easily press [ crtl - ] to minimize the display size in mozilla and just put the slight effort (haah) in not leave the mouse there but it’s just annoying when the ad does pop up.
March 25th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I like the idea, it seems like it was done extremely well. The only thing I could complain about would be the fact everything else doesn’t exactly match the black background. Other than that, it’s no problem.
March 25th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Hm… I can’t see anything different, neither with Firefox (with Plugin) nor with IE7…
March 25th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Well, you hit a home run. One feature I might recommend is keeping the ads around, and allowing meebo users to choose their favorite ad-layout/theme for their session. I don’t use meebo all too often, but when I do it’s always a pleasure. Especially now, it’s a joy using your service.
March 25th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
While I like the idea, I’m left wondering where this supposed “change back to blue” link might be? I don’t see anything, and I’m using the firefox edition.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
i think you should change the background or let us choose
otherwise. good job
March 25th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
hey cat – i didn’t get super specific in the blog post, but if you’re using a meebo account, then you won’t see that “change back to blue” link because the background for you will stay whatever you had it set to…blue or any other custom background. sorry i wasn’t clear enough on that! seth
March 25th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Actually >.> I kinda dig the background. The dark black theme makes it look pretty sweet. If/when you drop this takeover add >.> consider keeping the black theme.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I don’t mind it at all.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I actually really like the black look for Meebo. And the lack of intrusive ads has always been a good thing. You guys are doin it right!
March 25th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
oh and I really liked seeing some of your ad links integrated into the random trivia facts, that was a new one and actually intrigued me to click on the link for T-Pain even tho I cant stand his music. It was just quirky enough to work.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
hey seth – the background actually didn’t stay that way, I had to click ‘clear picture’ to make it go away, fyi
March 25th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
hey i like ur idea but i think it would be a lot easier if, rahter than changing the color to black you just like had the add in the background. i think its pretty distracting to have it a random color and add because it is just distracting. However, it is nice that you can change it back to blue
March 25th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
I think the entire background of the ad was a little over the top. It’s fine on the main page, but after I sign in I feel like I’m being a little bombarded though. Otherwise, it looks like it’s working out great.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Hello my name is Cristine Martinez and i talk to people in myspace
March 25th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I like it it is noon-intrusive and he current ad is a little edgy with the color, an added bonus!
March 25th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
i hate it my mother died looking into a black screen
March 25th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Interesting idea, since the background isn’t really being used for anything anyways. Too bad the ad wasn’t blue though.
Ads you can minimize rock.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I like the black… not much in ads, and hate the pop ups.. so, good what you’re doing guys. Thanks.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Over the past 10 years i have seen a lot of ‘new layouts’ put on old sites. they all have one thing in common
they all suck.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I hate the new ads. If you keep forcing me to use an ad-rich environment, I’ll just leave. I don’t need Meebo enough to put up with it, and would rather deal with the twitter or gchat interface.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
It’s not that obvious. I was curious why meebo was black, but it wasn’t that distracting. I think that this is an excellent way to advertise because it doesn’t actually “Take Over” the whole page. Plus you can just switch to blue again if it really bothers you (which is an amazing feature).
March 25th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Not sure about the other ones but the one that popped up today I don’t really mind, It’s nice and black, confused me at first cause I’ve never seen it before but I prefer the simple banners over the overly colorful ones. But then it doesn’t really matter since I minimize the window anyways, love that feature by the way <3
March 25th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I love it! Black takes up less energy to power than an light colored website, so this small step is actually good for the environment too!
March 25th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
actually, i kinda like it better with a different color…it looks really cool! n yea, i dont mind the ads, it doesnt bother me at all. meebo rox!
March 25th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I seriously thought the website had been hacked and hesitated before giving it my username and password.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
i love this its so much better
March 25th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
u should change it.
U should have others to pick thier backround. Like my favorite color is black. So i like it black. But let people choose thier color.
Nicky
:0 
March 25th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Haha thats cool! I think we Meebo users should have an option to change the skin color to an assortment of colors, ex; Red, Blue, Black, Green…etc.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
i like it. i think the change is good. having a different color every now and then will my me a happy girl. good job guys. :]
March 25th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I like how you guys did the advertising. It’s very classy, it’s not obnoxious, doesn’t get in the way. It was a nice way to go about a very necessary thing for an online business. Good job!
March 25th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
i like black or dark blue
March 25th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
ok
March 25th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
i really like the new black change. its nice every once and a while to have a change. keep changing colors (pink,green,red,ect.)
March 25th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I like it
Black is good
and even though the add is all over the background
its faded and not in your face or distracting at all
Good job Meebo
March 25th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
i hate black!!!!!!!!!!! it the darkest color ii mean seriously ppl go with the flow! PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 25th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
i really dont like it put meebo in light color;s
March 25th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
no no no change
March 25th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
like seroisly u peaple cant go goth
March 25th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I actually really like the non-intrusive ad running in the backround. while my first instinct was to cut it off, i just let it sink in for a minute and actually found the ad quite re-assuring. i like the way you’ve found a balance between meebo and the ad without being obnoxious about it.
and the “back to blue” feature is a nice touch <3
March 25th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I love it. It is in the background and the main log in part for Meebo didn’t change. Two thumbs up and more if I had them. Great way of meshing advertising and the main purpose of the program. I can focus on it if I want to, but I don’t have to. And the black actually makes the main log on interface of pop out at you more because that is lighter. The high contrast makes it better for those that have a hard time reading.
Many many kudos!!! XD
March 25th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I love the idea for the advertising as it isn’t overwhelming the application and hampering use.
The only actual problem I had was the resolution on the ad more than anything (superpages.com). The background graphic itself was grainy, as if resizing it was causing too much distortion. It became difficult to look at, and it felt that over time it would give me a headache.
Aside from that issue, seemed like a great idea to me.
March 25th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I really like it. It’s a nice change
March 25th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Ah, well. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. I really can’t complain when I use such a handy, free service.
March 25th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I like it it’s perfectly fine I don’t see anything bad about it :]
I appreciate you working so hard to make this a free service for everyone
Thanks so much
;]
March 25th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
It doesn’t bother me a bit! Meebo is a life saver. I don’t think I’d stop using Meebo, even if I had an AD in my IM! Well…You know what I mean.
March 25th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
It’s decent, I guess.
I like how you can always switch back to blue if you find it unnecessary.
March 25th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I like it a lot, actually. It’s nice. I looked at the ad, rather than deciding I would NEVER buy or visit the site advertised, like I do with blinkie, flashy screen takeovers.
March 25th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
blacks not my rely my color. . . . it would be nice if u had a variaty of color but i guess its ok
bibi ppl<3
ally
March 25th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
i rox!!!
March 25th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I like a change every now and again. Plus blue is just too boring. It keeps things going and it’s good for add people too.
good thinking! ;]
March 25th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Like it. Meebo in general is probably the coolest thing I’ve found online since dooce.com
March 25th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
umm seth i like it but could u kinda change the color like purple???? well if u could that would be great!!!!
March 25th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
i don’t see a link anywhere on my screen that says change back to blue. i clicked on preferences – appearance and changed it back that way.
March 25th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
i think its a great idea i hate ads but i love meebo and want it to stay free so i think this is a good solution it is just there in the backround!!
March 25th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I think the change isn’t too bad. I’m sure you could use the money, but this doesn’t overwhelm the site. The point of it is afterall to use the messaging service of your choice, which we can all still do. I say good job at not going over the top on the first try.
March 25th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I hear you all the way.
As a musician, I’m getting started up with a new website and in order to actually bring in any kind of help with the cost requires ads.. it really does help. So attempting to make affiliation is essential. I plan on implementing Meebo as well as Google Ads on my site.
Meebo Music Project?.. hmm? what?.. lol
Anyways- keep up the good work. The ads are fine, and when you start pissing me off a bit when I’m talking, I’ll let you know… (nicely, of course =] )
-Kizzle
March 25th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I think the change is good, but what would be really cool is if you could change the background ad to whatever ad you wanted. Say for new movies or song releases. Stuff like the current one would be the “black version” so that if you wanted black, you would have to choose this ad. This allows for more personalization and allows for instant feedback on what ads people like and don’t like based on what they want as their background.
March 25th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
I think the idea is acceptable, but it could be done better. Personally, I found the black ad too contrasty in relation to the meebo interface. Also, the ad itself is rather boring; if an ad is done more artistically, or with more humor, like a good wallpaper, it would be better still. Hope this helps!
March 25th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
hey man do what u got to do
March 25th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
i actually like it. perhaps advertisers could compete to make the most popular background?
March 25th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I like the subtle advertising. Doesn’t bother me one bit and I can continue on typing and there’s no flashing game ad in my face. I like the great idea!
March 25th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
I think this is awesome! I don’t think it’s bother some, or will keep me from using Meebo in my normal fashion. It makes tons of sense. My one and ONLY complaint in the way the add works on the bottom of Meebo. Pleanty of times I’ve “rolled” over the add below without really noticing it, and before I knew what was going on it was playing over my music, interrupting my convos and took a few moments for it to follow my commands. If there was another way to make this function work, that’d be stellar. Other wise, rock on!
March 25th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Wow. great idea….subtle advertising that gets the message across. I like it. It’s not as ‘in your face’ as pop ups or flashy banner ads. I usually ignore those, but this is a good advertising plan.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I like it! It was suprising to not see blue when I typed in Meebo.com, but not at all scary and in my face. It’s a very good advertising strategy: a great mix between user comfort and space for you advertisers!
March 25th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
I don’t have a problem with it. The ad itself doesn’t bother me and if I really wanted to I could change it back so I don’t see anything overtly negative about the whole setup
March 25th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
The take over is not a bad idea at all. I use meebo more than the software programs the chat systems use, just based on the fact that there are no annoying ads. and right now, the “take over” is no different than the way myspace does it. Kudos!
March 25th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Ok the whole ad thing is fine and I like that you are explaining what you are doing and why you are doing it…but I would like my blue back but cannot find the link. I don’t know if this is because I’m running the firefox edition in flock or that I’m blind.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
i think that it was a good idea, but that the wallpaper wasnt the best.
you cant see any of it under the buddy list or the msg windows, so half, (or more) or the ad is unseen. I’d say either make the ads just background to the accout info, or the window, or make it so that the ad is understandable when only the left 1/3 of it is seen.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
I think it’s horrible… the wallpaper having the stupid ad cover the entire background is annoying. Please get rid of it right away. Superpages everywhere… I won’t use them ever because they even agreed to this kind of intrusive advertising. I mean a banner is fine but having it take over the entire wallpaper? Ugh.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
it’s a great start with this idea, and i’m sure you’ll tweak it. the problem with banner ads is like you guys said they get in the way of what you are doing, and the background thing certainly doesn’t do that.
i was able to immediately find the “back to blue” button but maybe (for some people) it needs to be more prominent and say “remove background ad” instead.
superpages could have done a better job on the ad itself. but that’s going to always vary depending on the advertiser.
in fact i find that the meebo blog is more in the way than any ad meebo has run ever. could we get an option to have that minimized by default or something like that?
March 25th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
the wallpaper ad is cool, tho i don’t see the “change back to blue” link that was mentioned.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I think the new advertisement idea is great. It’s not that annoying, flashing in your face type of ad, yet it obviously can’t go unnoticed. I also think it’s awesome that you’re taking the users of Meebo into consideration when you really could care less.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
[...] Seth Sternberg wrote a blog post today on the new ads and asked for user feedback. Most of the 100+ comments to the post are very [...]
March 25th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
very well done! it’s non intrusive and looks good.
As long as the graphics are polished and it doesn’t get in the way, then it’s a success!
March 25th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Can yuo put a countdown of the ads. And also, can you put a back/forward navigation so that if you want to see more ads, the user will have the opportunity. also, maybe you can incorporate a rating and interactive feedback on the ads.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
i dont know the real reason may be he likes blue…jejejeje
March 25th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
dont know
March 25th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I agree with George. I think its also a good thing that you change stuff for the better of Meebo. I think you guys were thoughtful Dudes and Dudets.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
i like it, the ad was useful n kept me interested. it seems others agree, good job with making a big change to a popular web site and getting good feed back. facebook just made a few big changes to its web site and people are flipping.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Speaking of ads that don’t work as they should. The rollover ads on Meebo give me that very problem a lot lately–they pop up and completely block what I’m working on at the time, and so I can’t finish the conversation that I’m in the middle of at the time. The only way that seems to fix it is to reload my page, and lose all of the conversation record.
I don’t mind the background ad. I was confused for a second, but that’s my usual state when midnight strikes, anyway.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Cool idea! Quite well executed; I like the ability to change back to blue and everything. I did, however, run into a bit of trouble when I rolled over the banner at the bottom for more info. It took me a bit longer than usual to figure out how to close it. That may just be my stupidity, but as a designer I can say if I had that problem then a bunch of others probably did as well, and even if it’s just a second or two lag to find it, it can add up. Anyway, I was kinda looking for a button on the top right or along the bottom to re-minimize it. I also tried clicking the background “desktop” as an intuitive maneuver to bring it back into focus. Anyway, hope that feedback helps!
March 25th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
MEEBO! WTF! ok i understand you need ads and all that to support the site.. but I SWEAR TO GOD IF SOME SMILIE FACES EVER START TALKING TO ME FROM AN AD ON MEEBO, IM FREAKIN OUT OF HERE!!!! Meebo is so great because of its originality! I would rather pay a small montly or yearly fee to use meebo rather than deal with stupid ads and slowing down the page! Just like myspace and facebook.. They were AMAZING at first.. but then they got bogged down with ads! have you tried to use them lately? they are SLOWER than anything!!! its the most annoying thing ever!!!!!
PLEASE MEEBO dont get stupid with these ads!!
March 25th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
HEY! I kind of like the black. It doesn’t hurt my eyes looking at it. Some sites (despite how much I love them) have horrifyingly BRIGHT colors and backgrounds (like insanejournal.com’s new layout), the black is a nice change.
Change is good, people! And to think, if this is ALL that is changing, be happy! They could change the entire thing every couple of months like facebook, or myspace. This is subtle, and nice, and I really wouldn’t have said anything if the little blog memo didn’t pop up on my sign in screen. I appreciate that, too. facebook didn’t explain ANYTHING about why they changed the layout, just did it. That was rude.
And anything to keep the site up and running!!
March 25th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
so with the ads you make the ads into a screen set so we can pick a specific ad or ads that we like?
i mean the front page is a nice contrast of white and black and i would love to be able to put that as my main back ground (mine didnt switch since i run in a constant black mode)
i would love to be able to pick my ads esp when im out in public and id like to advertise for a set group of people
school advertise for college oriented library for general public etc
March 25th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Hello, I did no see any color change or ad except the one at the bottom of the screen for some musican.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
I think the ads detract from the overall experience. Chalk one up for the negative column for me. I’m a dedicated a fan but I think Meebo is digressing from its one orignal purpose. Don’t sacrifice growth and profit for quality. Save that for the public corporations.
-CJ Saraceno
Consultant at Large
March 25th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
I like it. It’s not intrusive, but it gets your attention. A happy medium between advertising “make em’ notice it” and user interests “I hate advertising”.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
I didn’t see any change here…
March 25th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
I would also be willing to pay for this site in return for no ads.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
[...] IM, Meebo, Net, Nethnology, Web Meebo, in-browser IM-program supporting multiple services, is trying out aggressive background ads; http://tr.im/hOTP [...]
March 25th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
I think its awsome what yall are doing. its perfect everything runs smooth and the ads arn’t in my way whitch rocks. thanks for adjusting it for us.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I think it’s a great idea. Like you said, it reflects what I’m starting to really believe is meebo’s unique dedication to its users. I really like the use of ads at the bottom of the page, too. They’re never annoying (and I’m embarrassed to say they’ve worked on me a couple times). Keep up the great work, you guys!
March 25th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
The ads a little distracting. Im not complaining, since meebo is free and all,
but i switched back to blue =]
if the ad was too much. there was too much going on.
if the background was less “in your face”, i probably would ahve left it.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Looks sleek and fun! Thanks for providing this great free service – I love being able to sign into all my chat engines at once! (I only found out I could do this a few months ago and it’s the best thing since sliced bread!)
March 25th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
There is no such thing as a free lunch. I think meebo does a good job of integrating advertising into its website. Questions I have about advertising in general through meebo: How is revenue generated by ads? Is it simply a per-click premium? Are chat logs, or account information of meebo’s users ever sold/traded?
More generally, I think ads should not interfere with a site’s content, and most of the time, ads can actually add to a site, if they are relevant. Perhaps a feature meebo might want to explore is implemating advertising based themes, or, allowing the user to select certain products/services that they could be interested in, and then focusing adverising directly at the interests of certain users.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
i like this new meebo but thr dose need to be music tht dioesnt requir a flash player cause my life is music and change is good
March 26th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Errr, not sure about this. My meebo background is still blue – exactly the same…
March 26th, 2009 at 12:44 am
[...] Seth Sternberg wrote a blog post today on the newborn ads and asked for individual feedback. Most of the 100+ comments to the locate [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 1:00 am
i dont mind the ad banner down at the bottom of my browser despite accidently rollovering it plenty of times, which can be annoying to have an ad suddenly pop up.
but the large background of a given ad is a tad much its not really intrusive, just visually distracting. I shouldnt be directly forced to view an ad. the bottom screen banner i have no real problems with (fix the rollerover mouse BS maybe increase the time you have to be over it). but a large background=bit annoying. its sort of like a traveling salesman that just wont take no for an answer.
i can only hope you can allow us to save our settings to have only the roller banner enabled, because frankly; the background i can do without. thats my subjective view, nothing more. but despite this i love meebo and what it offers, so to some degree the pros outweigh the cons. just make sure stick within that “fine line” of appropriate advert viewing guys.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:17 am
I didn’t see anything different… still the same blue!
March 26th, 2009 at 1:46 am
[...] Seth Sternberg wrote a blog post today on the new ads and asked for user feedback. Most of the 100+ comments to the post are very [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 2:19 am
[...] ファウンダでCEOのSeth Sternbergが今日（米国時間3/25）のブログで、この新しい広告を説明し、ユーザからのフィードバックを求めている。コメントは100以上来ているが、その多くはきわめてポジティブだ。たとえば： [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 3:04 am
WOW. This is kind of a brilliant idea actually. I hate moving ads the most. A static ad that becomes a wallpaper is super smart and almost fun. My website is called Understand Blue so I get everyone’s comments about wanting it to be blue.
What if You allow us to choose a color scheme and that color scheme determines even the ad colors? So I log in and I still see the superpages wallpaper but it’s all blue.
Very neat idea. I would have expected no less from you cool guys.
March 26th, 2009 at 3:07 am
hi.
March 26th, 2009 at 3:08 am
my meebo is still blu.
March 26th, 2009 at 3:59 am
Black happens to be my favorite color so I just thought Meebo had gone with a darker edgier design concept. It took me a minute to even realize it was an ad. I’m a big superpages user anyway, so it was the nicest solicitation I’ve probably ever received.
March 26th, 2009 at 4:06 am
[...] Sternberg wrote a blog post today on the new ads and asked for user feedback. Most of the 100+ comments to the post are very [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 4:14 am
Well, I see the ad AND I don’t have the change back function. I had it set to a color other than blue, so I wouldn’t really want to change back to blue…
March 26th, 2009 at 4:23 am
This works for me…it’s cool actually. But I did literally say “what the heck” when I hit meebo.com this morning. I thought my browser was messed up!
Keep up the good work guys, I rely on Meebo like you have no idea.
March 26th, 2009 at 4:24 am
I personally do not like to see the background change, especially that the link detailed in Seth’s blog is incorrect. The position and where to find the link is incorrect.
I like the rolling add banner at the bottom, and would like to see it movable, so we can also position it to the right or left side of the screen. This would be useful whenever we have a big 22 in. screen that is wider than it is tall !!
As for the little mebo notifier, It needs fixing, as it does not work as predicted: I have it behind a corporate firewall, and it does not connect unless I start my firefox and connect to meebo, then launch it. It has the only 2 options of using Internet Explorer !! and the default browser. I use neither: I use portable firefox !!! Even though the setting to connect via the proxy server is the same on bot IE and Firefox, the notifier did not connect on its own.
Note: I love meebo and the fact that I can use it behind a firewall, from the office and not have to worry about installing anything on corp junk PCs
March 26th, 2009 at 4:31 am
Great solution for a very touchy subject. Yes adds suck!! However, I found this method interesting and was more willing to take in the message the add had to offer
March 26th, 2009 at 4:36 am
I actually don’t mind at all – it’ll keep it interesting as long as the ads are screened and deemed “not annoying” and plus, you guys need to pay the bills somehow!
Keep up the good work!
March 26th, 2009 at 4:44 am
I thought it was fine.
Just please remember when screening potential ads for future takeovers that a lot of people use meebo for work (because it requires no download). Suddenly having naked ladies, or even a scantily dressed band like the Pussycat Dolls, cover the entire screen at random intervals would cause me to stop using meebo… for the sake of my job!
Thanks for keeping it classy!
March 26th, 2009 at 4:52 am
It’s nice, but it should be a click-activation ad. I’m using a mac and whenever I roll the pointer over the dock and using meebo, the ad came up, that is a little bit annoying. Great adds tho.
March 26th, 2009 at 4:55 am
So one of the primary reasons I use Meebo is because at my office, the company inspects our computers every so often to audit software/downloads we have on them. Obviously, if its not something useful they ask us to remove it so installing Yahoo or AIM is a no go. However, I’ve been using it long before I began working at this office.
That all being said, I PREFER Meebo over Yahoo or AIM or any other messenging service because I really feel as though you guys over at Meebo headquarters care about your users’ interests and preferences. And I feel like that is perfectly illustrated with the new ‘ad space’. It’s not intrusive and its way better than trying to shoot the monkey.
March 26th, 2009 at 4:58 am
I’d rather be blue
March 26th, 2009 at 5:00 am
I don’t mind the takeover, but the “Change back to blue” link is hard to find — in fact I haven’t found it yet and I’ve looked everywhere. Make that easier!
March 26th, 2009 at 5:01 am
Ya know, I do prefer the blue. But I MUCH rather use Meebo than AIM just like a lot of other folks out there. Plus, it’s not obnoxious to look at and doesn’t take away my focus of actually chatting w/ friends. So best of luck w/ the layout. Thank you for remaining free, you guys are the only program that seems to work on my computer here at my job and THANK GOODNESS. Keep up up!
March 26th, 2009 at 5:04 am
I like the take-over idea. It’s done well and looks cool, so I don’t mind it at all. If the company that is taking over for the momen it something/someone im looking for then they will have a big leg up and this is exactly the sort of ad that would remind me to check them out.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:13 am
the super pages skin i just saw was a bit overwhelming. but skin based ads can be done effectively. i’ve seen it done both well and poorly on gaming sites. one site that consistently does it well is pandora. their skins manage to keep the “feel” consistent. you’re still sure you’re at pandora. the visuals enhance and embellish without distracting. i think this is because they leave enough white space for the rest of the user interface to breath and function. repeating background images like the super pages skin i was greeted with this morning make it feel like the meebo interface is surrounded and drowning in this other “stuff”.
but meebo is the only cross platform, multi network IM tool that’s available anywhere i have a net connection. that’s why i use it. usability and aesthetics are important, but as long as the core functionality keeps working, i’ll probably keep using meebo.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:15 am
ban on meebo doesnt really work,, pls fix this…
March 26th, 2009 at 5:18 am
I like it, works well
March 26th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Simple and unobtrusive, effective and profitable. There’s really nothing to complain about.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:22 am
Hey,
Thanks for writing a lil blurb about this, it is a very thoughtful act from the Meebo team.
The only thing about the ads that irks me is that in Firefox, I see tiled images in the background… it may be a personal thing but I really dislike tiled background images. I’m okay with one big centered image.
~ Katie
March 26th, 2009 at 5:29 am
Mine changed back to blue right away and I don’t see any message on the left either. Fine with me I don’t bother to look at any ads.
Question-why do you ask for my website link and then not display it?
March 26th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Ah I see my name links to it. That’s really not immediately apparent or intuitive at all though. The only reason I figured it out is I rolled my mouse over my name by chance and saw it light up as a link.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:36 am
Probably the most unintrusive internet advertising I’ve seen. Perfectly done to get the point across & still be meebo-user friendly.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:45 am
I love it black.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Excellent job in your strategy. You understand the needs of the customers and this helps you create a great product. I watched the supercommercial video before I read your blog entry. I also followed a link to their website.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:50 am
I prefer the new look..
March 26th, 2009 at 5:53 am
Good/Bad
Black is a nice change, but that may be only because superpages has a good hold on their visual identity. If I were to change anything, it would be that it takes three clicks to minimize the pop-up ad at the bottom of the page.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:56 am
Hey i use meebo 8 hours a day at work lol…the change isnt bad…maybe allowing the ad to stay but lettig users choose the color background that the ad sits on will make both sides happy….
March 26th, 2009 at 6:08 am
Alright
March 26th, 2009 at 6:09 am
Honestly, it could be worse. Had the entire site been changed over without an option to switch back, I’d complain. I use meebo at work and the neutral blue helps make it blend into the rest of my work, whereas black is a color that screams out “HI I’M HERE LOOK AT THIS CORNER OF MY SCREEN!”
I love the fact that you guys are willing to listen to your users, unlike certain websites whose names will not be mentioned, that just change the format and ignore the users’ complaints and suggestions. Thanks for keeping the site so simple and unclogged. (That’s a good thing!)
March 26th, 2009 at 6:11 am
It’s alright
March 26th, 2009 at 6:20 am
i love the idea.. but i think it’s making my computer really slow and it freeze the network while downloading ad.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:25 am
nice try pal…….
March 26th, 2009 at 6:29 am
@CP – Are you running a 14.4k modem or what? Trust me, the ad is not making your computer run slow.
But yea, I don’t really mind the ads. I saw it for a second, then logged in, and read your post. No complaints from me.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:30 am
I’d like to see the return of classic.meebo.com please. >>
March 26th, 2009 at 6:30 am
It isn’t really too bad, but I would simply do it as a skin on the actual Meebo program, and not the entrance page. I say this because when I loaded the entrance page I was a little confused and simply thought I had the wrong address at first. I suppose that’s good in one way for the advertiser, but can also be bad because many will just click back.
The fact that I can turn it off within the program means it’s not a bad compromise at all.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:31 am
The only big thing you really need to think about is “THE BRAND”. believe it or not, the brand is becomming associated with that entry blue background page to some degree.
That being said.
I think its a great idea. It doesnt hurt anything functionaly, the user doesnt ’sit’ on that page too long so its still clean. It did freak me out for a minute when i saw it. I thought I might have done a typo in my address bar or something. but overal I think its a really smart way to get A LOT of ad revenue in, in a way that doesnt negatively affect the user.
Other notes.
You did kind of open the door just now.. There is A LOT you can do with this.. for example “the incredible hulk” wraping his arms around the “meebo box” login area.. etc. you could really have a lot of fun with this concept
March 26th, 2009 at 6:32 am
it looks great!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 6:36 am
I don’t care what you guys have to do to stay free. The ads don’t bother me. I actually have my account appearance set to black. I agree with Ryan, black is a good color for meebo.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:44 am
While I understand completely the desire to keep meebo free, I still insist that a pay option to remove the ads should be available.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:46 am
I think it actually looks cool, and it doesn’t interfere with the interface at all. That type of advertising is also a LOT friendlier to 56k connections, which I unfortunately still have, so thank you very much. Good work
March 26th, 2009 at 6:49 am
I don’t mind the background ad – and definitely want to support the efforts for you to stay free. A couple of things, though:
I’m signed in to a Meebo account and don’t see the “change back to blue” button. The ad DID automatically appear.
I echo the person who doesn’t like the rollover ads at the bottom of the screen. On a small screen, they take up WAY too much real estate and get in the way of actually using Meebo.
Thanks for all y’all do! Meebo is great.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:11 am
I like the way that Meebo has integrated ads onto the site. Advertisements are becoming a way of life on the internet and I like the fact that on Meebo they are non-intrusive. A lot of websites pop up ad after ad and they are in your face and it gets annoying. Sometimes it even makes it difficult to browse a site because of the ad placement. Meebo has done it in a way that you can see the ad or not see it. Which is nice. It say’s “hey i’m here if it interests you” and can go a way effortlessly if you don’t. Although I didn’t see the “Change back to blue” link.
I’ve been a Meebo user since shortly after it’s original release and it’s my favorite IM program.
Keep up the good work!
March 26th, 2009 at 7:12 am
The black background caught me off guard this morning, but it wasn’t too bad. I had to look it over for a minute to figure out what was going on. I liked how the logo was very subtle across the background and not some glaring, obnoxious looking thing. I don’t see the option to turn it off anywhere, however.
The other adds havn’t been to bad. I’m glad we can minimize the rollover adds at the bottom of the screen when logged in. Animated or moving graphics drive me nuts. I work in an IT environment and moving/changing things usually indicate a problem somewhere, so I like it still and calm on my desktop.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:20 am
A workable solution. Because it doesn’t actually interfere with what I’m doing, and it’s a single-point or focused ad, it has a chance to be successful for me. because it doesn’t interfere, I’ve found I have no need to ‘hide’ it, which means your adveriser’s message can sit there subtley working on my subconcious.
Also, I like the black look of this one, nice change.
Well done.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Give us a switch to turn off the silly trivia. It is obtrusive.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:24 am
Today’s color scheme was a pain on the eyes. Especially since it doesn’t even have much particular significance with the advertisement itself, I think it would have been so much better just to use the regular color scheme, or at least something similarly light. Right now there’s just an uncomfortable contrast between all the message boxes and the background.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:30 am
I don’t mind some of the ads… heck some of them, I’m kinda proud of.. I wouldn’t mind the creativity of maybe having a very kewl background of one of my favorite drinks like Mt. Dew (Code Red) or Red Bull. I appreciate the “low key” of this particular one but most of all the option to change back. It’s kinda of like fast forwarding through commercials on a DVR I see them and if something funny or creative catches my eye… sure I’ll stop and look. I wouldn’t know whats out there if I didn’t take a look every now and then… Right?
March 26th, 2009 at 7:37 am
I’m ready to pay a few bucks a month if that will give me search capability in the chat logs.
Maybe bug: the black background is only there during the login screen. As soon as my username / passw. were accepted, the usual blue was there. no change at all once logged in.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:39 am
[...] Sternberg, CEC and co-founder of meebo, posted this on the meeblog explaining the change. Now, the [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 7:46 am
as long as the IM features stay at the center of the page, and dont get covered up at all, then i have no problem with it.
meebo is one of my favorite features of the world wide web, and i surely don’t mind a little advertising. (but please dont ever succumb to malware! or other “required plugins”)
March 26th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Very cool! You guys have probably implemented the LEAST obtrusive take-over branding I have seen. The crazy part is– while the advertisement is shockingly noticeable, the look and feel is very subtle and not destroying the meebo brand.
Well done.. and kudos for taking a risk to try it out!
March 26th, 2009 at 7:50 am
There’s no “change back to blue” option on my screen. Personally, I’m tired of all the changes. Why can’t you just leave a good thing alone? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! I understand the business need for ads – is that the reason for the changes? If so, then just say so…
March 26th, 2009 at 7:55 am
^^ it was the original blue one for me when i log on !?!”
March 26th, 2009 at 7:57 am
I’m generally opposed to advertising, but as you say, the site has to be paid for somehow. I won’t do it LOL. Good for you. This isn’t a problem at all, and as you said, anybody can opt out with a single mouse click.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:59 am
I just had my normal screens today. How do I see the ads? All I can see are the Herbal Essences backgrounds… really cool, but not the black everyone’s been talking about.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Good balance. Smart.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:19 am
I like the subtly – but it made me look
I’m OK with ads – as long as you don’t use the ads that are expanded by default for 5 seconds and then close – and re-open when I accidentally roll over them.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:26 am
looks good! i like the change
March 26th, 2009 at 8:26 am
I actually think it looked pretty cool. I was shocked at first and then realized that it was just an advertisement for superpages which got me interested. Nice way for you guys to get in some more advertisements while still keeping it convenient for us. Thanks for all the effort and care for your users!
March 26th, 2009 at 8:47 am
This is actually one of the best implementations of ads that I have seen to date. I’m okay with this just as long as the ads don’t become obtrusive in the future. It’s actually elegant frankly yet very easy to get remove if necessary.
Good job guys
March 26th, 2009 at 8:49 am
I must have missed the change, mine’s still light blue, but I actually would prefer black. It’s easier on the eyes and is more energy efficient. Not to mention sky blue was never my favorite color..
I don’t care about ads either, as long as you can hide them while chatting.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:49 am
[...] meeblog » Blog Archive » why is meebo… not blue? [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 8:50 am
I LOVE the black look. Cool.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:51 am
the meebo.com welcome page is the only thing that changed for me, and it only took me 2 seconds to defunk my eyes, log-in and get back to normal meebo.
Is the background during IM’ing supposed to be different too?>
Maybe its cuz I have a Sony Vio background?
Guy’s you really need to get onto the “sending texts from inside meebo to peoples phones!”
that should DEFINETLY be next
(it wont let me do it through AIM anymore via meebo.)
March 26th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Take Over Ad on meebo? Well, it works for you. It looks good. It’s unobtrusive. At the same time, it’s unique and eye-catching (good for the advertisers). Well done Meebo! It’s tough to strike that balance in the digital world. Ya’ll should be PROUD of yourselves!
March 26th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Thank you for giving us the option to revert back to regular meebo. I like that the ads are not intrusive. Keep up the good work!
March 26th, 2009 at 8:58 am
[...] Seth Sternberg wrote a blog post today on the new ads and asked for user feedback. Most of the 100+ comments to the post are very [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 9:03 am
I do not see this option:
“yes, you can get your old Meebo back. Just click on the “Change back to blue” link over on the left, right under your account settings.”
I am a big fan of meebo and have recommended to a lot of people but today meebo is making me angry.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Man this is the best Ad I have seen. I noticed it was an Ad. I realized what company it was for and what it was advertising. The best part was in was not blocking my view or blinking with bright colors. I think this is a really great way to get advertising in with out being totaly annoying. Good Job
March 26th, 2009 at 9:18 am
I dig how you guys do your advertising. You mentioned how MySpace/YouTube do similar full page/background advertising and truth be told, I HATE it when they do that. It takes forever for the page to load. There are always too many images and flashy garbage going on…
However, when I logged in today, I was pleased with what I saw. It wasn’t interruptive of my use of the website and the option to change back to the generic blue was awesome. I like the black background and the fact that the ad isn’t the focus of the site.
Keep up the good work Meebo-ites. You guys rock. :]
March 26th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Sleek ad. Elegant and unobstrusive. Good job, meebo.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:27 am
I appreciate the opaque non flashing non too bright backround. good job! and its not a slow loader either!!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 9:27 am
It wasn’t too onerous. As long as there’s an easy to access option to default back to the previous layout, I don’t mind it.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Yeah this only shows up on the homepage for me because I use a black background. It might work better if it took over whatever background you’ve got and the option was “go back to standard” or something and it returns your background. Cuz right now I don’t see it on my meebo.
But I like it. Its not overwhelming, and its slick, and I would want to advertise my site like this. I’m pretty sure it’d be expensive tho, so as much as I’d like it I probably wouldn’t be able to. lol
March 26th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Like the new ads, they are in the backgroud out of site and they don’t mess with functionality. If it keeps meebo free go for it, I’m cool with having a black background ^^
March 26th, 2009 at 9:53 am
I think you guys did a great job. The ads don’t overtake the functionality of the site and they never have. As a user I appreciate your treatment of ads and how they are not as annoying as other sites.
Also as a user that likes keeping things free, I come to accept that ads will be there, so when they are treated with higher respect by the company/programmers, it all works out better.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Do you really need to ask us how we feel about ads? You cannot say all of the revenue goes towards ‘making Meebo free’, because that is a lie and everyone over the age of 15 who uses Meebo knows it.
Meebo is a publicly tradable company, which means you now work for your stockholders. Users are an asset in how they make you money.
So what about those logs you have laying around that people have been requesting for years?
You make me feel like such an $$$ (not cursing, so no need to censor again), because I tell you how I feel but you really don’t do $$$ about it.
BTW, a note to Superpages.com: Your Meebo advertisement is a waste of money in this time of recession. It isn’t helping you gain an edge over any of your competitors. Not only that, but we shouldn’t have to stare at an ad for 40 seconds to notice the fine print that lets us know that it is indeed you who are the advertiser.
Thanks,
-Shawn
March 26th, 2009 at 9:57 am
why not
March 26th, 2009 at 9:58 am
I’m diggin the black screen actually. Makes other items POP out at you more. The blue is nice, and plain and of course simple. I dont mind the screen containing advertisements…as long as they are legitimate ads. aka – no acai berry ads please…lol Good job guys (and gals!!)
March 26th, 2009 at 9:59 am
it’s annoying how your banner ads sometimes popup and take over the whole screen until i shut it off
March 26th, 2009 at 10:00 am
love meebo, would like to see where it goes in the future
March 26th, 2009 at 10:05 am
way to sell out guys
March 26th, 2009 at 10:06 am
the movie ads were liklier generating more clicks. a NON FLASHING takeover jpg doesn’t have to be so understated as this one.
as long as the ads don’t flash at me whether i like it or not I’m ok with just about anything else.
i signed up for meebo thinking it was gonna suck and it rocks.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Power to you guys for communicating with users about this. Takeovers are fine, however I don’t know who would really want a “Super Yellow Pages” skin to say on their screen. I recommend if you’re going to do something like this, have it automatically switch back to the standard blow without forcing the user to switch it back. I mean after I’ve seen the ad, I’ve seen it. I suggest that it automatically fades back to the normal skin in about 10-15 seconds. The good thing about takeovers is that they can actually make the screen fun and interesting. But to pretend that I’d want to see an ad as persistent user experience is a mistake. Look at Pandora for some attractive creative ads within a similar UI environment. Love Meebo – thanks guys.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Uh, that was “switch back to standard ‘blue.’”. Sorry, the cold medicine is interfering with my thoughts this morning.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:11 am
I like the takeover idea. I’ve seen tons of sites use this, and I think it works pretty well without being obtrusive (in most cases).
March 26th, 2009 at 10:15 am
I use Meebo in a ’shrunk’ Window. When I purposefully or accidentally Expand the commercial (ad, rollerover), the Shrink arrow disappears off screen (out of viewing area). Had to X out that Window, and re-[Log In] a few times, before I realized what was going on.
Sometimes, the merely obvious is oblivious to me.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:24 am
[...] Excerpt from: meeblog » Blog Archive » why is meebo… not blue? [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 10:38 am
I dont care about the ads….they are expected to be there.
What I care about is the difficulty with using yahoo on your site. Obviously all the options are not going to be available(such as audibles), but what about the log and being able to label people as u add them?? Why is it set up just like AOL? Yahoo has a different friend list layout and it should be displayed the same way on meebo.
I’m thinking of using another site for this. Hopefully that one has been updated.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:39 am
TBH one of the things I hate most about MySpace are the takeover ads. Big kudos for letting us turn them off, though, and thanks for asking our opinion.
I know you guys need to make ends meet, so ads are fine, just please don’t let me start getting random IMs from a Meebo “Ad Bot” telling me how great superpages is.
What about contextual ads?
March 26th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I switched back to the blue screen just to see if it works. Now, how do i revert back to the SuperPages ad screen. i dont see an option for that. i logged out and logged back in and i am still on the standard blue screen? thanks
March 26th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Ads suck no matter how you present them. First it will be the background, then it will appear in our chatboxes. then it will appear after every line of IM. Thank god for adblock and as the ads increase in use on this site, I will switch back to gtalk. There’s a reason people change the channel when a commercial comes on.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:55 am
This is an amazingly non-intrusive presentation of ads. Go for it Meebo! I hope other sites learn from this design.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:57 am
I actually prefer the black look that this ad provides over the default background, thanks for the advertising meebo! If you can keep it up with ads that are as non-obtrusive and (in my opinion) better looking than your own backgrounds, keep shoving your corporate sponsorships at me
March 26th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I really like that the ads blend in without being obnoxious, although I will admit to a slight “wtf, why is stuff black?” when I first pulled up the site.
Other sites with free options that use ads would do well to look to y’all as an example! ♥
March 26th, 2009 at 11:02 am
I think it looks better!
March 26th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Brilliant idea yes..annoying yes. I agree with what was said above. It should automatically kick back to the old blue after a few seconds and not force users to look at ’superpages’.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:05 am
I don’t mind the new look but PLEASE change the away message format back to the old way it looked pre-March 2009. I hate the new away option choices, poor at best!
March 26th, 2009 at 11:06 am
i like it…but i have a question….
if you can change it back to blue what is the point of having it black in the first place?
March 26th, 2009 at 11:14 am
oh thnxx for imforminq me chuz i thouqht someone hacked my account of somethinqq….lol…i think i the black looks hot !
March 26th, 2009 at 11:14 am
i freakin love it! bcuz it helps keep meebo free nd it duznt piss me off like sum of the other website. so in conclusion…GREAT JOB!
March 26th, 2009 at 11:15 am
And now I cant use meebo from work because of these superads
March 26th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I think frontpage takeovers are a great idea. They are not annoying or bad for business, because people only see them as they login and not after. Also you guys provide a lot of nice themes that promote your advertisers, that users have the choice to use…
Yours was done really well, so congrats!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Haven’t seen any non-blue thing yet.. but the idea sounds good.
What i did notice today was that the advert thing at the bottom couldn’t be made to go away after extended, no matter how much it tried to click the button in upper left corner.
Oh btw, i wouldn’t think i’m alone to ignore 99% of all advertisments… but dont tell the advertisers that.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I like new ideas and i think this will be very produtive with meebo
March 26th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I find these types od ads extremely distracting, especially in a professional environment. Many people use Meebo while they are in a work place that doesn’t allow the download of other softwares/applications. So if I’m logged in, even for professional reasons like communicating with other coworkers, if someone were to walk by my desk and glance over at my computer and see giant Miley Cyrus or The Hulk ads on my computer, they might not know it’s an advertisement and will instead think I am slacking off surfing the web while I am supposed to be working.
However, I assume this is part of the reasoning behind being able to ‘hide’ such advertisements.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Ditto on the “change back to blue” problem. I had to go into ‘preferences’ and click ‘clear image’ to get it back to the original. Definitely not intuitive and actually a really bad design.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:34 am
i like it!
the blue was like..yeah..it’s nice for a change,but any ways if u want back the old version all u have to do is to click a button and change it.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:59 am
i think this iis so wack n u tlk to much stop tlkin n i will read it
March 26th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Didn’t even notice it was an ad – just that the color was different. Only thing ad-wise so far that annoys me with Meebo is that lately the ad bar at the bottom won’t minimize when I click it. I think that’s a glitch, though, and not part of the design.
March 26th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I like this method. It works.
March 26th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
well…the login page is very busy and distracting….kinda annoying to be honest. when in firefox on my pc, once i log into my meebo account it crashes firefox. I even tried after a fresh install of firefox.
ads are Ok to a point. when it becomes too much and too busy, then that is when you need to rethink things.
March 26th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I think it is a cool idea but it sorta freaked me out when i first went to log on. All in all, it is pretty cool to have the ad part of the whole log in, maybe you could change the color of the log-in bars to a new color once in a while too!
March 26th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I am acutally really impressed with the way you decided to display the new ads. If I don’t want to look at the ad, all I have to do not look at it or switch back to blue. I like having that option of seeing the ad if I want, but if I don’t then all I have to do is switch it back. Most of the time, all that background space on websites is just there. It holds no real funtcion. Good idea to use it for advertising. I think it was a brilliant idea. I commend you all on your hard work!! Thanks for making meebo great….
March 26th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I don’t mind the background at all. It’s actually nice to have the change!! Something other than that old blue. It’s much tolerated on my part
March 26th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
i realy like the background it looks cool.
i’m up 4 change!(:
March 26th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I also wouldn’t mind a change up in the color of other things around meebo. you know, other than the background. the blue is nice, but anything can get old after awhile. and ofcourse you could add the option to ‘change backto the old way’. just for those who can’t stand the change.
March 26th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
heyy seth! i dont like the background at all… i think to make a change on meebo, you should let us change the background color to what ever color we want! let us have a choice of fun colors! me and my friends think that its a great way to express ourselves and make meebo more fun! you should look into the idea and see what you can do!!!! thankkss ! (:
March 26th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Great way to not spam often…love it. Nice thinking guys. PS…NEW RANDOM FACTS PLEASE!! We are all waiting!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Very nice job. Haven’t used Meebo for awhile, but saw this in an article and thought I’d come back.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I have to agree with most here, the subtleness of the ad was quite nice, also the black was awesome… I see a future idea in the works…. Customizable backgrounds, selectable by us even just a start of colors would be nice.
Thanks
March 26th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
hi bob how r u me okay peace /bub bye
March 26th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
hey emily how r u me okay peace /bub bye
March 26th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
doesnt bother ME! as long as its not pop ups in my face and all over my screen im cool
March 26th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
i hte u craig jp
March 26th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Completely understandable and not at all an inconvenience. If it keeps the service(s) available and able to be expanded…then go for it.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I’m perfectly fine with the Ads, they aren’t obtrusive and I’d expect them there from any free service. Thanks for the none flashing, none obtrusive ads.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I think this is a reasonable ad situation. We see the full screen-background ad, and still have the option to remove it. So long as the ads don’t end up being either obtrusive/flashy or unremovable for any amount of time, I would keep using meebo.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
The only thing I mind is when i just let my mouse go and it hovers over an advertisement on mistake and then that advertisement takes over the whole page and it takes a few seconds for the the button to respond for it to go away. That’s aggravating. Other wise its been fine.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I find that when I’m in a moody hormonal funk, I tend to be more sensitive to these kinds of changes. So I greatly appreciate the “Change Back to Blue” feature. Other websites don’t have that option, so little missus me turns into big green Hulk right quick.
I strongly advocate for the Take Over Ads to be displayed in the beginning of the month.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
i like the blue better (: though, if people like the black or blue…why dont you make ways to have settings on the page for people to upload their own background picture, or have color seetings? (: meebo is awesome other wiseeee
March 26th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
i think it’s very clever, and well maneuvered. great job meebo.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Wowza
March 26th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
ii think this is a really great idea. good job
ii love it.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I like it. As long as the advertisements do not jump into my screen or make noises then I don’t mind the change. And it would be nice to see a new theme every so and so.
March 26th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I think its a great idea as long as it stays in a format i can close and it doesnt have noise. i would still like to see a program that allows us to upload whatever pictures we want to be our meebo background! That would be sweet!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I like this layout waaay better than blue.
March 26th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I think it’s a good idea to have this ad cuz it’s a great change to meebo.com and i personaly think that it is a distracion but it may be to other people.So i think it is a good idea to have this change!:):):):):):):)
March 26th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I think it is a good idea to have something new on meebo and i dont think it is anoying or anything and it great that u put “change back to blue”in case people dont like it or think it is anoying:):):):):):):)
March 26th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
It doesn’t suck.
March 26th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Black is BLUE-E-FULL!
Well-Done!
March 26th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
i think it’s really nice.
but maybe like next time a different color.
black is a downer.
thanks though : )
March 26th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
jenial es lo maximo esta pagina me encanta solo kisiera k la forma de perteneser a ella fuera mas fasil
March 26th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Its simple and unintrusive with an option to hide it after the initial shock factor is done. One of the most attractive parts of Meebo is its beutiifully simplistic GUI. Keep up the great work.
March 26th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
black SUCKS!!!! i mean itz the darkest color!GO WITH THE FLOW PPL!!!!!!!!!! like PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
hey,
this is ashanti from the east coast , brooklyn N.Y. USA , and i love the black screen, its cool and hip . kudos to marketing team who came up with the idea to interwine fresh style while advertisiting investors.
March 26th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
i luv the new idea, its awsome
March 26th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
i like the black its a new twist and plus having a black computer screen saves energy with your computer so its saving the environment and adding fun
great job guys!
March 26th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
i cant find the link (sad)
March 26th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Well, all I can say is that this is actually quite a twist that I did NOT expect!
But still if it helps with the advertising then that’s ok by me.
March 26th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
the background ad is fine, what annoys the living crap out of me is the popup ad on the bottom that comes out of nowhere and doesn’t go away. i actually have to sign off to get it to go away and after all that trouble i usually don’t bother signing back on…
March 26th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
hello!! seth!!
great^^
i m from Myanmar
we’ve a very stupid government ya know!
the net is so sucks these days!
now i m using meebo and contact all my friendz from every where
you tube???
ah ,,,,never can reach there,:(
will ya plz help me how to reach there!
thnx!
all the best^^
Anne
March 26th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I don’t mind this.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Ok… is there a way to get back to the NEW look..
I accidentally went back to the “blue” meebo… how can I change it to the latest “black” one? any idea?
March 26th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I think the change was a good one.. i like it. = ) the words on the background are my favorite..and they work too! i will catch myself reading them lol! and its not in your face. good job guys!
March 26th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Seth/Meebo Team:
So blue vs. black, definitely not a show stopper here. What was however was the bandwidth increase/performance decrease (noticible by more than just “stop watch timing”) when browsing to http://www.meebo.com. One of the things that makes Meebo SO useful is that while being full featured… you guys have worked MANY a long night to make sure it performed quickly… lightly… etc.
With the past two major “ad channels” you’ve introduced… you’ve definitely taken a hit to performance. (the bottom rollover on the main page usually takes two or three click events to close consistently…). I’m all for monetization of this awesome tool/property the team’s built (being in the advertising side of this myself) but I’d suggest thinking about what the headroom is you have in the browser… and especially mobile… before adding too many more ad units into the tool.
Again… totally cheering the accomplishment here (the takeover) as you guys continue to amaze. But… don’t make the trade off between 6 different IM clients and Meebo the same from a resource standpoint. That will be an “audience limiter” for you…
cheers,
.bb
March 26th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
thanks for keeping meebo free. i know the team needs to make money. i honestly don’t pay any attention to ads on websites. i sort of filter them out but it is noticeable on a sites performance. i’ll always remember meebo during a time when there were few to no ads just like when photobucket and myspace were pretty much free of annoying, pesky ads. soon it will just get to the point when i’ll stop using meebo like i did myspace and photobucket and find another alternative.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
blue iz da best color eva!!!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Its a great Idea , you guys are amazing !
March 26th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Hey hey, about the background being different… it would be very awesome if there were several backgrounds to choose from, rather than just the one ad or the blue. Finding many different companies to advertise with a wallpaper would allow meebo users to customize their desktop while giving meebo more advertising opportunities. And maybe after a while there could be a feature to upload our own backgrounds!
PS: Maybe also backgrounds for chats with certain people? If IM-ing many friends at one time it would make it much easier to keep the boxes straight if their picture were in the textbox.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
i think this is a awesome new “upgrade” !!(: but i would like not to have the superguaranteepages.com ad in the background..it makes it look really bad and in a sense, fake :/ just all black would be nice. thanks, nicolle.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
[...] dari Meebo, Seth Sternberg membuat sebuah artikel polling di blognya dimana di situ menanyakan mengenai fitur iklan yang terdapat di Meebo, ternyata dari 100-an lebih [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Wow, when I loaded meebo, I thought I had been infected! Holy crap! I guess I could handle it because I simply don’t pay attention to ads like that.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
i think this is a terrible idea, i mean as soon as i get on the log-on page all these ads are in the background, i get that you are trying to help and make things better but i just think you made it look bad and toooo cluttered! sorry :/ thanks.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I don’t really mind the takeover ad, I don’t really care if its a constant thing either, since your preset profile colors and stuff come back once you log in. I dont mind if the login screen is an ad, as long as its appropriate enough that I can log in in public places without people thinking weird things.
Keep up the good work!
March 26th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
where is the link to change meebo back to blue???!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I like the way it is incorporated in and I also like the fact that we have the option to change back to the traditional screen! Thanks Meebo!, you rock!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
So..usually I get sucked in to reading all these comments and forget to post my own, but I have to be quick tonight, so I don’t know what everyone else has said. What I have to say isn’t about the ad, hope that’s not a problem =)
I really like that the Meebo log in is the first typing bar option, as opposed to AIM. Because I had to press tab ten times to log into the meebo account originally… and it just makes more since that meebo would want to make it easiest for me to log on to meebo, instead of just one little tiny messenger. =) that’s all. Thank you!
March 26th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Everyone is talking about how they dont mind the UI, but I have a different angle to consider. Nearly everyone closes pop-up ads, or completely ignores banner ads…but the way you all have designed it, the advertiser gets their money worth. I will remember Superpages for this ad. Well done on both sides.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
I love the new “takeover” theme….the background color is sleeker and more pleasing to the eye…u should do this more often to give users more background option their personal style….Thankz <3
March 26th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I love that you have the option to “change back to blue”!
When it gets right down to it, I hate ads…but am much more likely to cause a fuss about it when it’s forced upon me. By allowing the “change back to blue” option, you’ve totally eliminated whiners like me. I probably won’t even use it, because the ad background isn’t so bad, but the option makes me not as upset about it as I would have been had you said “HERE. FORCED ADS. SUCK IT UP.”
March 26th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
The new theme is nice, but the advertising gunks up the sign-in page and slows down main page loading through my hotel connection. It renders slowly in pieces. I’d rather pay you a few bucks a month and skip the ads.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
for me, it’s fine, but i suggest that there be maybe ummm the borders have ads, sumthing creative lik that, but not the entire background bcuz while it duz attract attention, it takes away from the whole MEEBO effect, u kno wat i mean? the ads shud b on the homepage but just a tad smaller… thanx meebo 4 evrything u hav done 4 my life tho!!!!!
March 26th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
the ads look nice and work well – great job! – lol @ these people that say it slows down the site..
March 26th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
that is not a bad idea because most people say dome stuff on meebo and dont now wat they talkin about so that im glad yu think like that and by the way im 13 years old peace im out yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa doddy
March 26th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
I love meebo to pieces, but this new ad is really distracting. The text in particular – if the background had said one time Superpages.com and had the logos it would be great, but having superpages.com text multiplied like that, it’s too much. But I understand and agree with your blog post!
March 26th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
I really like the black look; I think it’s extremely visually appealing and I honestly didn’t even notice at first that the background was an ad (I just noticed the color first, heh). I would prefer that advertising continued to go on like this. ^_^
March 26th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
These kind of ads are the least-pervasive way of keeping meebo free. Great idea.
…Really, anything other than application-covering, can’t-close-them, audio-animation ads are a great move.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
how about don’t make the add clickable, just like another banner on the side, if im interested i can find the website myself. If have to be clickable, can it be somewhere away from the “high traffic” mouse area? too much pressure on clickin on the wrong things, if u know what i mean….
peace out…
March 26th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
o btw you guys can contract weather channel or stock updates or news updates…. you know what i mean….
good luck…
March 26th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
can i join…..
March 26th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I admire your dedication to create and maintain a good user experience while at the same time keeping up with the financial costs of this project. Most companies would jump on the band wagon and smother the page in ads trying to profit.
The page indeed looks nice. Props to whoever designed it. As long as the page remains unobtrusive (nothing at ALL blocking regular users from receiving the exact same meebo experience, even momentarily) we [users] will be fine.
Your comparison of “takeovers” to sites such as Myspace frighten me. In case you are not aware, the “takeovers” on myspace are designed by the Advertisers, given to Tom for review, and if approved, Top passes the “artistic” aspect of the project to his pet Bubba the monkey who has been taught to draw with her toes. Unless Meebo possesses a pet monkey with artistic capabilities of Bubba, i would not attempt to go down that road. ;]
March 26th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
the Background looks a LOT more interesting with the Black and Yellow signs for Yellow Pages.
I really like it! Just please don’t make popup advertisements!
March 26th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
I think it’s great what you guys are doing with Meebo! Really enjoy the service! It’s helped me find a way to connect instead of using multiple messengers. I kind of found my new service away from using Trillian in the past.
- Josh van Hulst
Josh@simstuff.com
March 26th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
i think ther sould be more pics ov things
March 26th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
March 26th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
March 26th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
(bha)
March 27th, 2009 at 1:57 am
excellent thinking, ads get thier bit and we still have control eh? ^_^
March 27th, 2009 at 2:17 am
nice effort seth!
i’m excited abt d fire power in yr innovation!
yes, pls keep d right balance btw offering meebo as a free service and a genuine need to put ads- it’s the real world…we all know.
i’m proud of you.
March 27th, 2009 at 4:48 am
Works for me
March 27th, 2009 at 4:49 am
Initially, I was afraid that meebo would change into a service that would be paid for.
Personally, I know I can change the background in the settings, so it doesn’t seem like a situation I am forced into, but I still felt it was a bit overwhelming. When I first logged in yesterday, it appeared to me that the Brand “Meebo” was being overpowered by the advertisement. It sort of shrouded over your identity.
I really like how you have advertisements at the bottom, and music videos for that. I love the Killers and had never seen their videos, so that is advertisement that was benificial.
The simple question/polls that you put up sometimes are very fun- could you integrate advertisement in that? Have a poll/mini game that is supported by some organization? I don’t know the numbers on how many people respond to the polls, but if many do (as I suspect) that could be a good outlet.
Overall, the services you provide are excellent, and I will continue using Meebo when I am away from my home computer. You are should be proud that you are producing excellent software and a great product
March 27th, 2009 at 5:07 am
I love the way you guys do your ads. Most website ads are annoying and create a negative association with whatever is being advertised, but yours are the opposite. My favorite was the Herbal Essences ad because I had so much fun with the different backgrounds and icons. Plus, I’m on all day for work, so I see it all day long. The next time I needed shampoo I had it on my mind, so that’s what I bought. It works well for everyone. I wish all websites could be so creative!
March 27th, 2009 at 5:09 am
I understand and agree that meebo should be free; and that ads pay the bills. However I continue to wonder what amount of money per user Meebo makes displaying ads each day for a year; and if Meebo would consider allowing some users to opt-out by paying an annual fee…
March 27th, 2009 at 5:41 am
One of the main reasons I use Meebo at work is because the light blue background color looks remarkably similar to the light blue of the SAP program we use at work. So from a distance it looks like I’m being very productive even when I’m switching back and forth for a chat. I don’t mind the ad in the background…but could we do it in the light blue or similar color? Thanks!
March 27th, 2009 at 5:42 am
It’s awesome i love the black color its my fav color.SIGNED THE EMO CHICK. (emo)
March 27th, 2009 at 5:47 am
i like that its not in my face and popping up its a good idea but a change of color now and again would be nice you know some pinks and greens but, no matter how much i hate black it works for this page!
March 27th, 2009 at 5:49 am
i really, think this is cool. no pop ups. and no blinking ads. GOOD JOB MEEBO =)
March 27th, 2009 at 5:51 am
Put the SuperPages display in the background inventory and call it a day.
If you leave it up for only a day, it’s a novelty and we are excited to see what’s next. If you leave it up for multiple days, in the minds of many of your users the idea of novelty is replaced with a tiny bit of annoyance.
0 Jargon Version – I was excited yesterday to see the new ad. Today I’m annoyed by seeing it for a second day. If it were back to blue today, I would not be annoyed but excited to see what ad is next.
Colorful metaphor – I realize it’s counterintuitive to not do what your clients are saying, but for example, you’re excited when you have a substitute teacher, but you would get annoyed if she was there for more than like 3 or 4 days. If you guys were the principals, would you keep the substitute there just because the students say they like her? Now that I read this again, that example may not make a whole lot of sense, but I think I’ve gotten my point across somewhere in this. Maybe in the first line. Probably.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:01 am
i luv the black it makes everything else pop and it is a good idea
March 27th, 2009 at 6:15 am
As long as this strategy brings in revenues and keeps meebo free.
I do think you can do better though. Dark background and blue windows don’t match very well. In fact, I think if you get a lot of different but good color schemes, a lot of people will like it. I for one likes to change my own desktop scheme every few months. So yes I support this idea, and support changing the different scheme from time to time, but also hope I can enjoy new scheme.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:16 am
Great way to monetize. Perfect for the advertiser and non intrusive to the use of the site. Just don’t undersell it please!!!
March 27th, 2009 at 6:19 am
My meebo is the same….. i dont see a thing different….
March 27th, 2009 at 6:21 am
hi
what up
lol
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????//
March 27th, 2009 at 6:26 am
I’m completely ok with the adverts…. Nothing is free so if the “price” of meebo is a few advertisements then so be it. I’m just thankful for your service!
March 27th, 2009 at 6:35 am
I find this ad approach to be very subtle in that it doesn’t demand your attention or action. I grow annoyed by having to close windows within, or piled upon, other windows during my browsing. This method allows the ad to remain visually prevalent yet it is not distracting or demanding. This doesn’t impede the service you provide at all. Thanks for taking the time to be considerate of your users!! Great job!
March 27th, 2009 at 6:37 am
At all who can’t see any difference: that’s because you aren’t in the U.S. When I connect to meebo trough an american proxy, I can see the ad.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:55 am
I really liked the subtle way that it was done. It definitely didn’t annoy the heck out of me like most ads do, so though it was a little surprising the first time I saw it, I appreciate the effort to keep the ads from interfering with the service. Good job!
March 27th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I’m running the latest release of firefox with the Ad Block Plus ad-on. I never could find the “back to blue” link you talked about. I had to recycle the site, and then my old background returned.
As far as the ad was concerned, it was subtle, well done, and hey–it’s a free service that I really like and you guys have to make money somehow. So, I’m fine with it. I would want a link to revert to my old background, though–not sure what the dilly-o was with not being able to see the “back to blue.”
Peace!
~b
March 27th, 2009 at 7:02 am
It hasn’t bothered me yet. The black actually looks good.
March 27th, 2009 at 7:16 am
bom eu sou estravertida gosto de sair muito + muito mesmo
March 27th, 2009 at 7:19 am
I think it’s great. I mean I hate ads but I love Meebo and I certainly understand that you need to pay your bills. Thanks for being so awesome!
~L.J.
March 27th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Its awesome idea Seth…… to keep Meebo free and earn revebue thru adverstise is good….. My support with you….
March 27th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Love the new ads- it can sit quietly there in the shadows- I am still aware of it but it is not the annoying flashing ad space threatening to give me seizures
March 27th, 2009 at 7:38 am
The ads them self have never really bothered me, it’s when I scroll over the ad with my mouse on my way to the system tray and the ad pops up when I wasn’t trying to do that. That’s the only part that I don’t like.
I like meebo, thanks for the excellent website
March 27th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Why is meebo not blue… actually I was wondering why the crap its not the color I flipp’n set it too… again.
FAIL.
March 27th, 2009 at 8:09 am
I agree with alison. The ads don’t bother me and I think the “all encompassing” idea is a cute way. It’s just like a layout for meebo and doesn’t bother me at all. Though, I don’t like how the ad at the bottom will pop up just when you scroll over it, and sometimes i can’t make it go away!
either way, i think this ad campaign is cute.
March 27th, 2009 at 8:19 am
I love it.
You’ve found a way to pay for your website without the omnipresent “You have been selected to receive two free ipod nanos” ad.
Plus, the black/darker theme doesn’t put a strain on my eyes.
You have the only site I have seen that I actually like the ads. Especially the hideable/expandable ads at the bottom of the page. If you’re interested, you can see more. If not, you can hide it. But it’s never in your way.
Keep up the good work.
March 27th, 2009 at 8:27 am
It looks nice, and the ad on the bottom is static so it doesn’t affect my browsing session on Firefox @ work (it’s an old workstation and is slowed when meebo has superflashy ads running). The video, though, seemed a bit choppy from super pages, but it looked like HQ stream and this is an OLD workstation, but you will be targeteting young and old machines, I’m sure. Good work on the non-invasive ads. I wish TV did something similar, instead of all that in-your-face-turn-up-the-volume advertising.
March 27th, 2009 at 8:36 am
I really like meebo its a good idea but one thing theres a problem with the msn of meebo it unblocks everyone from the contact list
i was wondering is this a temporary problem or is it going to be always like this.
thanks
im a regular user of meebo and love the idea
i hope its succesful thankyou
March 27th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I like it. Unobtrusive advertising, tastefully done. And I can get rid of it if I want to. Good job!
March 27th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Unobtrusive ads: you’re doing it right
March 27th, 2009 at 8:48 am
I can not find the blue button thing that u are talking about at all i want to change back but where is it
March 27th, 2009 at 9:01 am
I have been using Meebo for about a month now. I love it! I have changed my preferances and my apperance is set to the Lego Indiana Jones the Original Adventures background graphic (which is quite cute) (so I don’t see black) only when I signed in. I also have chosen the sort of sand color for my IM window. So I’m not sure if I’m way ahead of everybody else or what, but I have chosen a different background, and IM window border color. I also like the transparency effect of your log in clients over the background, keep it that way, don’t ever make it solid you will ruin everything. My buddy list is solid white with the sand colored border, this however could be a little more transparent, you would still be abel to see your buddy list. I am currently using Facebook, Yahoo, MSM, MySpace, Gmail, and AIM as my IM clients. I so love that you support all of these and I can have them all in one place. I dumped all those extra software programs off of my machine, because of all the advertising in all the seperate buddy windows you needed to have running.
The only one thing I ask, if possible, is to, if possible. Please allow for a Icon change from my personal pic’s to be stored with the rest. Yahoo, and Trillian did offer this feature once you chose something from your files, it would keep it in your icon file, so you could change or go back to it at will.
I love Meebo, keep up the good work!
March 27th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Let’s face it … ads are a necessary part of any “free” service and I think Meebo has done a great job at balancing the happiness level for both ends of the candle. Thanks for considering the user as well as just the sponsors. That you can make this a win-win for both sides is quite a trick. Kudos to you!
March 27th, 2009 at 9:09 am
quero conhecer voce ok
March 27th, 2009 at 9:10 am
I think it looks just fine! It doesn’t disturb me one bit
March 27th, 2009 at 9:10 am
See… all these people here calling meebo sellouts n complaining that they dont need ads…
1) dont understand how many more servers n hardware meebo needs to meet their expanding market, now that they offer personal rooms for websites n stuff. Also, they need to pay tech ppl and programmers to maintain everything and develop new stuff. Ergo needing more money. (thats just one aspect of it)
2) You’re going to be poor forever. douchebags
^_^
March 27th, 2009 at 9:13 am
I really like using meebo and I can appreciate your creative marketing as a fellow marketer. Personally though I find the black background very distracting while trying to work. As long as there’s an option to change it I’m on board! Thanks!!
March 27th, 2009 at 9:19 am
I LUV IT LUV IT. AND I ACTUALLY THINKTHE CHANGE OF BACKGOUND MAKES ME MORE INTERESTED IN THE ADVERTISEMENT . . ITS CUTE.I DONT EVEN CHANE IT BACK TO BLUE.. WELL MINE WAS PURPLE.. BUT YEA.
March 27th, 2009 at 9:29 am
I usually don’t leave comments on things but I thought I would add my opinion. I like the change, I actually kept it up and didn’t change it back to blue. In fact I think it is good to be able to change it like this often. Good job guys.
March 27th, 2009 at 9:34 am
I don’t mind the ads because I just click them to close. However, I use meebo at work and have the black screen is too noticible. If you made it all white I’d be less apt to close out of it.
March 27th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Hey umm I think that its a good change. I hate all he flashy and annoying things! my only problem is that i dont want the blue background back but I want to put a differnt background on there, like a picture or something. How do I do that?
March 27th, 2009 at 9:44 am
While I hate advertising, I do understand that the Meebo crew needs to pay the bills and take care of the payroll. I’m willing to deal with background ads, but the recent roll-over video ads have been really annoying. I use Meebo in the office and do not need T-Pain blasting out of my speakers because my mouse lingered too long.
March 27th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I like this new ad concept, however, I do NOT see a link on the left side claiming to ’switch back to blue’. What’s up with that?
TGIF!!
>^,,^<
March 27th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Hey, I’m loving the look, guys! I’m okay with the “takeover” style thus far. As long as the ads are distracting me from actually enjoying the site, I could care less about them, and occasionally I even click on one. Keep up the good work, guys!
March 27th, 2009 at 10:34 am
I like it as well. Change is always nice!
March 27th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Personally, I don’t find the ads that bothersome/intrusive. I’ve seen much more annoying “takeovers”. You all have to pay bills like the rest of us, so you have to do what you have to do.
March 27th, 2009 at 10:52 am
I like the new black background although it might not last. I also like superguarantee, that is one brand that I hope I can remember when I need it. I really like what they have to offer and I like their tv commericals. Besides that I like Meebo!
March 27th, 2009 at 10:58 am
I don’t mind the change….but there is no “back to blue” link over on the left side, under my account information….?
March 27th, 2009 at 11:15 am
I just signed up and I love this. The customizing option is a little hard to find if your not familiar with Meebo. But once I found them I was very impressed.
One problem, for some reason it keeps saying I am signing on and off when I am not. Maybe it’s just a glitch.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I love the new background instead of the old background….
March 27th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Heya. I like the add thing. I took the time to read your blog, and I really enjoyed it. What I also wanted to comment on was those fun facts you have. They’re simply hilarious. I have a question though. Why won’t Meebo let you used different fonts or bold things in just one message. Is there a way to get around that? Thanks for your amazing web site. If you wanna take the time to respond you can hit me up on my email my AIM is the same as that.
xoxo
-Kristen
March 27th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I really like the black, because black uses the least amount of energy to make light on a page, so in turn you’re also using less electricity and helping us go green.
you should mention that, too!! :]
March 27th, 2009 at 11:41 am
I really like the placement of the ads! They’re a prominent feature but not disruptive in any way – I think you’ve found a good balance.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:50 am
I LOVE THE BLACK BACKGROUND lol –
Its pretty :p
Change is always good
March 27th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I don’t mind the background ad, but I don’t like having both the background ad and the banner ad.
I could not find the “Change back to blue” link you mentioned. Had to go in and change my preferences. Quite a pain if you ask me. Now scanning through the comments I saw your reply to cat, but I’m not sure what you meant by “the background for you will stay whatever you had it set to…blue or any other custom background” because my background did change as did cat’s. hmmm. Maybe you meant the next time you logged in. I’m not sure because I set my background back manually.
March 27th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
If changing my background is a way for you to continue to provide the service you do than by all means change to your hearts content. The functionality is still there and I’m not being blinded by a strobing banner that tells me I happen to be the 1,000,000 customer for the 12th time this month. Keep up the great work.
March 27th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I think it was a good idea too advertise like that. Has well has changing the blue background from time to time. However it would be nicer if the background was more interactive.
March 27th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
hola soy cinthia me gusta ser amigable compartir lados buenos con mis amigos
March 27th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I think it looks great. The takeover initially grabs your attention because it’s different from the page your eyes are used to seeing. I would suggest however having the Meebo Blog popup appear somewhere else as it covers up what your advertisers are paying for? I noticed myself reading the Meebo Blog and not clicking it off to glance at the ad, so it did grab my attention like I said but not really enough to click off the Meebo Blog popup. I would suggest having the popup show up under where it says Change back to blue when you have a takeover.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
i think that this is very bad and i wish that we could just have our colors like it used 2 be.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
I like this idea! If its actually something I’m interested in it definitely catches my attention and I don’t mind because I know advertising pays the bills. I don’t find it intrusive.
-akilah
March 27th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I love the way you put the ads, but please I find the color it hurts my eyes, so I think next time use a lighter color like MUAVVE or something.
LOL, but I love the way how you guys are smart enough tlo put your ads like this, but I Love it when you guys post songs, like down at the bottom bar where it has this link rollover to expand, you guys and girls usually ADVERTISE artists, but yeah I guesss I like change, BUT it would be awesome if like we could have our own page. Like http://www.meebo.com/OURUSERNAME like our own page and we can blogg and everything. I think it would be cool, KINDOF like a myspace. You know and like we can add codes in and stuff. SO, like people can get a description about this person. You know, I would love that. LOL, I’m only 11 years old currently, but SOMETIMES, young kids have good ideas, and don’t go what’s your price since it was your idea. LOL, if you think it’s a good idea or something. But all I want is to be known so like say something TAMMY PHAM thought of this. Maybe you can too. Make a link and people would like to be known for having bright ideas and they’ll probably give you REALLY good ideas, BETTER ones than me. LOL, anyways please read this I want you guys to but you probably don’t you guys porbably have a computer that replies fake things. I don’t know. I wrote too much, yes I know, I always write too much like in class. When I have to write stories turns out to be 20 pages. LOL. WELL, hope this helps, don’t want you guys to get bored, THIS is turning into my daily blog then a REQUEST/BRIGHT IDEA. LOL, I LOVE MEEBO. <333
WHO DOES MILEY THINK SHE IS? saw it on yahoo.com probably gone by now. http://www.yahoo.com
LOL, and like maybe make a placee for games like IMINLIKEWITHYOU, and make the myspace kind of idea for peoplpe who like to make sites and are concieted and like to tsake pictures. THE GAMES ARE For nerds who have no one to talk to on meebo, like oh lets play games till my two friends sign on. LOL, or for computer, phone, laptop addicts. COMPUTER just love them games. Your internet goes LOCO on laptop, play games, and phone like on the go, wanna chat with friends on aim, go on, wanna play games, go on.
LOL, PLEASE JUST TAKE A CHANCE AND READ IT.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I don’t mind the site takeover, but theautoplay vieo pop up when I signed in slightly annoyed me. I don’t mind the normal one but it went full screen which was annoying.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
ey dejen de mandarme eso si no los mato
March 27th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Like others have said, I really like how tasteful the ads have been. The current one is this nice muted black that the only reason why I noticed it was I had a dark red one before. You’re still a business, and businesses have to make money somehow. Kudos for finding a really nice way of doing it.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
i think its ok for now
March 27th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
its nice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 27th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I am very happy you thought of this, but i judt dont like the color.
keep the ads coming thoguht. they are helpful, NO LIE! 
March 27th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I think that the idea is good and that the style is good, but it is too busy for the layout of the applications. Unfortunately I have no good ideas for improvement, but I think that in this case one style should be chosen over the other.
Keep positive!
Ceylan
March 27th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
HAVE OTHER COLORS TO CHOOSE FROM!!!!!!!
March 27th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
have other colors to choose from please!
March 27th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Well the ads ok, i hate the ad rollover thing, it’s annoying, keeps popping up, and since I do not have a mouse, it’s not great for laptop
good day
March 27th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
From time to time the ad consumes most of the display and I have to bail out of Meebo and sign in again because I can’t find an X to close down the display. so now I am a little skittish when a smaller ad pops up, so I quickly close it for fear that it is going to expand and block the display and my conversations! Hope this gets resolved. I use Firefox, by the way.
I have no problem paying to use Meebo by availing some attention units to the advertising. It’s a really fair exchange for a very useful product!
March 27th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
wel i suggest to have pay per click ads inside meebo, so that everybody will be happy!!
March 27th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
[...] Seth Sternberg wrote a blog post today on the new ads and asked for user feedback. Most of the 100+ comments to the post are very [...]
March 27th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
I am running firefox 3.0.7 and Ad block plus is on. I can’t see the “back to blue” button either.
March 28th, 2009 at 10:37 am
If you have not started an account with Meebo under a user name, and you only log on to from Google or where ever, then you need to start an account.
Then the first thing you need to do is take out an account with a user name.
Once you have a user name and log on, you should be getting a page that looks like this.
Without the graphics of course!
meebo rooms |accounts preferences help
Hello LydiLouiKats
Available
Sign off
LydiLouiKats
Lydia L. P.
lydifeline
LydiLouiKats
lydialouie1950
lydilouiaustpineau@gmail.com
LydiLouKats
Sign on to more accounts…
Featured App
edit
The guys and girls you want are on TRUE.
Join sizzling singles FREE now!
roll over to expand
If you click on preferences and the drop down window appears it has four menu choices, appearance
IM settings
account settings
meebo me widgets
If you click on apperance you can have any back ground you choose, under any category you choose, and you can have any color IM window and display panel of your current clients you are using.
Hope this helps.
March 31st, 2009 at 8:59 am
I downloaded your new tool and it doesnt work for me.. is it compaitable for vista?
March 31st, 2009 at 8:02 pm
[...] case you missed my last blog post (or you already forgot about it) what you are seeing on Meebo today is the second half of our [...]
April 1st, 2009 at 5:34 am
i don’t have a “back to blue” option
April 1st, 2009 at 7:13 am
hello
April 1st, 2009 at 8:34 am
hola mi nombre es cinthia me gustaria conocer personas para ser buenos amigos
April 1st, 2009 at 8:36 am
hola mi nombre es cinthia me gustaria conocer personas para ser buenos amigos y compartir momentos imnolvidable
April 1st, 2009 at 8:41 am
hello my name is paula I’d like to meet people to be good friends and share time imnolvidable
April 1st, 2009 at 9:38 am
Jay w/ the Acer netbook. You rock. I have been trying to figure out how to minimize the ad whenever I accidently roll over it in Meebo on my netbook. The only way I knew how to get rid of it was to close Meebo all the way and open Meebo in a new tab. (I’m a computer newbie) Thanks SO MUCH!!! You rock.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:36 am
ha ha good one ugly
princess
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
I can’t message anyone after the superpages pop up takes over. It’s kinda frustrating. I must not be that tech savvy because i don’t see the back to blue link.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:56 pm
hey, can anyone tell me how i can generate traffic to my site?
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:59 pm
i hate the color black it reminds me of the dark and i am scared of the dark im scared of meebo now!!!!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 pm
i hate the color black because i am scared of the dark and i am scared of meebo now its to dark i need pink or green!!!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:01 pm
i love john!!!!
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:55 am
i hate the color black because i am scared of the dark and i am scared of meebo now its to dark i need pink or green!!!!
April 8th, 2009 at 6:39 am
Meeboo perfect
April 9th, 2009 at 11:10 am
I am disappointed with Meebo’s decision to place adds. We use Meebo at our library and I have been in a middle of answersing a Reference question when one of those adds just popped up and wouldn’t disappear. I clicked everywhere to try to minimize it. In the meantime, I lost the student. Please let us know how often they are going to be popping up and how to close them.
April 12th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
I can’t message anyone after the superpages pop up takes over. It’s kinda frustrating. I must not be that tech savvy because i don’t see the back to blue link.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:12 am
[...] you may remember from my post when we tried out our first takeover ad, we planned to run this type of ad unit only occasionally, and we wanted to make sure it looked [...]
June 29th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
From my viewpoint, the takeover is a win-win-win situation: You get $$$ to cover your costs. The advertisers get their branding all over the site (and at least in this case, in a great-looking way, too!). And we, the users, get to keep your great service for free. As long as the bugs are ironed out (some users did complain about ad popups blocking their use of the site), I say go with it.
And yeah: thanks for a great service. As long as you’re around, I won’t install IM software.
June 30th, 2009 at 4:17 am
hello JESUS TE AMA
June 30th, 2009 at 7:03 am
It worked well for me. You guys made money so you can keep such an awesome site free and it didn’t interfere with my ability to use the site.
June 30th, 2009 at 7:24 am
what the **** my computer crashed on me when i did this
June 30th, 2009 at 8:16 am
I do not mind ads when they are not in the way and in the case of advertising the Toyota Prius I am glad to have the ad visible. This is advertising that both supports Meebo and supports the environment.
Take care,
Troy
June 30th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I like the new ad, especially since it’s pleasing to the eyes. I like it even better than the blue! If all your ads are nice to look at, there’s no reason to complain!
June 30th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
I love this! The regular screen gave me a kind of feeling of dread, which I didn’t really realize until the light, happy feeling I got when I logged on today!
August 30th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I think its alright seeing all these positive comments from other peple, but for people like me who only use meebo once in awhile go WTHECK!? what happeend!? at first i thought i was being fished because the login page was in basic html with no clean cut interface. So basically a n00b phishing, i didnt care cause i desperately needed to get onto aim and just logged in, then i got the ad, and i was like?!?! is this phishing to the max? with ads too1??!?! so ads are in on the phishing?!?! and then i went to search and i was like OHHHHHHHHhh. a suggestion for thoes that completely do not want ads 100% would be a like a bar that says “remember me on this computer” kind of thing, but instead make it a box that people can check that says “NO ADS THIS TIME!” or something so that people that do not want it can choose to log in with no ads. perhaps maybe a “Ads this time” box instead? for thoes that WANT to support meebo?
November 6th, 2009 at 4:21 am
the background is blue.. and i liek it, makes me calm