by Aner Ravon
MySpace launched its Instant Messenger 2 days ago (MySpaceIM, download here) and marked yet another milestone in the recent resurrection of the IM market. If 3 years ago we were facing a stagnant, confused, walled gardened menu of 3 independent IM clients (AIM/ICQ, MSN, Y!), we now have 3 additional ones to choose from – MySpace, Google and Skype. Out of the latest additions, MySpace stands out as the farthest from the boat. I can imagine the so called rational process behind the decision to go with IM, after all the MySpace contact list is indeed a very valuable, unique, communication prone buddy list. But that’s where it ends. My hunch is that this time ego-trip and erroneous judgment prevailed over simple common sense.
I could be eating my hat sometime in the future, hopefully you won’t remember it by then, but the weather report for MySpace Messenger’s looks scary. The product itself is decent. Definitely not great but also not too bad. It offers smart and automatic activation of the MySpace contact list but overall it feels too much like a hybrid of earlier versions of MSN, AIM and Yahoo. The worse news is that that’s not even the critical point. Even if MySpace Messenger were different and a step ahead of the pack, it would still fail. Here are a few of the more important reasons for why.
1. There’s no real benefit for the MySpace subscribers. They already use IM, probably more than one. As a matter of fact they already IM with each other using well established IMs - they simply exchange their IM IDs inside MySpace. Switching IM networks has a switching cost, why do it without a real benefit?
2. Adding yet another IM client is an option, however most people are already sick with the number of IM clients they need to install today. I, for example, uninstalled Yahoo to make room for Skype. I would use Trillian, but it can’t keep up to par with the latest features I enjoy - Video, Voice, Winks etc. Users expect existing IM networks to interoperate already, not to further deviate.
3. MySpace does not have the firepower to compete with MSN, AIM, Yahoo and Google. And while they don’t see Skype as a competitor, when it comes to IM they definitely are. MySpace does not have a substantiated IM community yet, their business “model” is still too fragile and they don’t have years of IM experience under their belt. They are almost destined to constantly fall way behind the pack, play chase, flush a lot of money down the drain and ultimately lose the battle. Swinging at AOL is important, but AOL has AIM figured out well by now. Pick something different.
4. Out of the 3 latest additions, Google and Skype offer something different. Skype is my computer phone which offers IM as a complimentary feature. Google Talk is different in terms of simplicity, integration and overall Googlemania. MySpace screams out “meee tooo!!!”.
5. There is no business model behind desktop IM. and MySpace already has a thing or two to prove there. The key to monetizing IM is with other elements - for example mobile transactions or premium advertizing. I understand the stickiness issue and why IM serves that purpose. But that’s exactly why people will stick to their own IM. It takes a Google brand and an aggressive integration with the most popular web service in the world to reach respectable numbers, numbers even Google is still far from reaching.
If anything, good old fashioned chat seems like a much better fit for MySpace. There is nothing to install, if fits better with MySpace’s overall experience and business model and it’s much easier and cheaper to implement and support. MySpace’s moves are already under the microscope for all the right reasons. I would have chosen a different move.
Oh yeah, and Tom (the MySpace automatic bot) is sooo annoying!
Aner Ravon
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Could be…but I’m not sure it’s enough. I don’t get the point in switching for a feature that’s already offered well by my existing IMs (Skype, Google, MSN) - why do you think people will switch?
05.11.06 @ 8:28 pmAre you saying the consumer IM market is saturated, with no room for new players? Your comments re MySpace can be applied to any new IM initiative.
Slightly off topic - while I find Google’s IM client primitive, not to mention that most of my IM contacts are on MSN, I just love the gmail chat integration. Talk about serendipity - randomly being able to chat with a long lost contact just because both of you happened to be logged into gmail (where I spend more and more time…).
05.11.06 @ 9:07 pmI don’t think the potential IM market is saturated, I do think the current state IM market is saturated. Skype, Google have already proven that and let’s remember 6 years ago we thought search was saturated…
New entrants need to provide a special ingredient. google knew, to my taste, how to purify the very basic benefits of IM and add their own round of improvements. Their “off/on the record” terminology vs. “save / unsave chat history” of MSN is a nice example of how. Their gmail integration is fantastic. Their Voip activation / deacativation is intuitive. They are the best “pro-sumer” IM out there. Skype has done a very simple thing - highlight VOIP and make it easy to use. MySpace offers none of those. I think a web based universal IM plugin can be interesting. A new Video IM service can out-skype skype. I don’t know, honestly. But it can’t be yet another pc client that does what the others do.
05.11.06 @ 9:26 pmWow you couldn’t be more wrong. Get prepared for hat-eating.
1. There are tons of benefits. The MySpace IM alerts you to new message, comments, friend requests, updated profiles, system updates. It lets you talk to anyone on MySpace and have a hot link to their profile *without* asking for their AIM or trying to remember which AIM SN corresponds to which profile. Etc.
2. By “most people” I assume you mean tech nerds? Normal people dont use Trillian and GAIM. MySpace is not about tech nerds. It’s about young people and Internet newbies. I know several people who started using the Internet *because* of MySpace. They dont even know what IM is. And young people are not baffled by the array of products. They all use AIM. For them, its AIM vs. MySpace. And, like having multiple email addresses, they’ll use both.
3. What do you know about MySpace’s business model? Not much. They’ve been profitable since 2003. It doesn’t take years of experience to run a good IM. People don’t use IMs for the bells & whistles. They use what their friends use. Everyone under 25 uses MySpace if you haven’t noticed. And there’s good reasons to try the IM (as noted in point #1)
4. MySpace IM will have VOIP, you can see its there in the code base. It’s different because its integrated with the 2nd most popular site on the Internet. MySpace isn’t a “me-too” it’s just a feature that’s needed by the user-base of a community website.
5. The IM is a money maker. Everytime you open it, you get served a popup (just like Yahoo, AIM and MSN). That’s a high-priced ad unit. There’s also an ad in the buddy window. They will undoubtedly monetize through BOTs and search. Just because you can’t figure out how something makes money doesn’t mean it doesn’t make money. Even if none of this were true, its’ a feature that keeps users connected to the site. It doesn’t need to make money on its own, though it clearly does. Its in beta and it already has 3 revenue-generating things I can see.
I think its clear that the MySpace IM will surpass Google Talk and Skype in terms of number of users. It’ll be as central to young people’s lives as AIM is now. The two IMs will co-exist like Yahoo and MSN does for older users. There will be no clear winner, and there doesn’t need to be. It’s like email - Yahoo, Hotmail existed forever and now lots of people use Gmail. No big surprise there.
05.18.06 @ 6:39 pmJames,
You present a well thought view. Hat eating is the reason why having an opinion is fun, wouldn’t you agree? I guess I may have overlooked some elements which you pointed out. I still think MySpaceIM will not be successful in the near future and my main point is that MySpace tackled a huge business opportunity with the wrong product. Let me explain why by addressing your points.
1. The main benefit I can think of is the direct link to other myspace members. The rest is not really that important. That is indeed something that can help, but I don’t think an IM client is right way to extend those benefits. MySpace is a web play, best extended by elegant web plays. Cool, elegant web based chat would have been a much better fit. Installing PC software is a barrier and in this case a totally unnecessary one.
2. That remains to be seen. Personally, I disagree but time will tell. I don’t think “young people who love myspace” appreciate having too many IM clients, but maybe I’m wrong.
3. Hey, I have tons of respect for MySpace and am familiar with it’s huge play. However, MSN, AIM and Google offer other products and IM is in may case a sticking glue. MySpace is an advertising based “mega community”. It took MSN, Yahoo and AIM 10 years to get to where they are with IM, and they are far more mature in terms of handling the play.
4. VOIP….so? so does AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Google and Skype. Skype offers Skypeout for free now so I don’t get the business opportunity or the competitive edge.
5. IM is a money maker if you overlook the user’s pop-up exhaustion. Yes, MySpace will see some short term revenue from turning PCs to slot machines, but at the end users don’t click, get more and more annoyed and the zero sum game will play. That’s a bigger discussion, but I was hoping to see a unique advertising model from MySpace that is actually original.
And Original is a key word here. GMail is not MySpaceIM. Gmail did something to the Email market because it was ORIGINAL AND GOOD. 1GB of storage , simple interface, integrated chat, making MSN and Yahoo look stupid - that’s how you penetrate a saturated market. MySpaceIM is simply an inferior product in that respect. Nothing new there. Boring. Maybe it will change, but that’s what I see.
IM is also different then IM due to the much higher switching cost. There could be some overlap, I agree, but its not similar.
Still, I look forward to seeing pickup and next versions!
05.19.06 @ 7:32 amWhile I have seen some reports that MySpaceIM emulates MSN protocol that doesn’t make it much better. Offering another lousy program into a saturated market will not work well — but they will get users — their users. Anyone using MySpace is already somewhat blind to the superior servies out there, and the integration with the interface they’ve come to be used to will draw them the same way the word ‘Google’ drew some to GTalk. However, GTalk has the allure of using the IM Standard Protocol (a.k.a. Jabber).
Realistically AIM and MSN will continue to dominate the market (ICQ is AIM now even if the program is different, and they aren’t supporting many of the good features properly anymore, but count them separate if you want.) until they federate. IF they federate. If there’s anything both Microsoft and AOL stand against it’s standards and working together. But they have their foot in the door (actually, more like they own the door) and so if standards are going to move past geeks we’ll need to see at least one or the other move in that direction.
05.19.06 @ 2:42 pmhmm.. another thing i noticed no mac compatible.. this thing is only windows…
05.22.06 @ 3:57 pmOk here’s my question, my girlfriend works on a cruise line which disables IM servers somehow. The wierd thing is that myspace IM works fine. Now I wanted to know, cause I’m interest in VoIP since shes out at sea, will skype or g talk pass through however they have it blocked. Cause I read that skype uses virtually any port it has to VoIP. Thanks in advance
06.08.06 @ 1:01 amWhat’s strange to me is that Myspace was talking to the glophone people at www.tglophone.com and was looking to buy them out.
Then released an IM with VoIP hooks in it and slammed a 63 milion dollar lawsuit agains the same company that they were going to buy??????
My guess is that they want to get the voip solution for free. So they are going to squash the tglophone people and assimilate them
06.13.06 @ 8:44 pm[…] http://www.bigblueball.com/forums/general-im-news/35423-myspaceim-soft-launch.html http://www.degardener.com/2006/05/11/why-myspace-messenger-will-fail/ http://www.mgroves.com/blog_archive.php?blogID=432 […]
Pingback 07.15.06 @ 5:12 amThe myspace IM may work fine… but considering myspace doesn’t work half the time i think they should have invested the money on the servers instead. What’s good having all the features of this instant messenger if the myspace network isn’t even working properly.
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I recently found out that eBuddy supports MySpace IM, but also MSN, Yahoo, AIM and Gtalk. All at the same time, so you don’t háve to make a choice between them!
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Before you make too many conclusions, MySpace IM has hooks for VOIP embedded in the exe. See for yourself.
05.11.06 @ 8:19 pm