I must be psychic. This morning I was recalling that Google and AOL have long promised to integrate their instant messaging platforms. This would allow users on Google Talk to chat with their peeps who are on AOL Instant Messenger and vice versa. Low and behold, when I went to look it up I discovered that the expanded AOL-Google deal was unveiled exactly a year ago today. So what gives? Perhaps much more than what meets the eye.
Upon further review, the language in the press release is m-i-g-h-t-y curious. It states that the agreement benefits users by: "Enabling Google Talk and AIM instant messaging users to communicate with each other, provided certain conditions are met." (Italics are mine.) Hmmm, what conditions?
Could it be that Google and AOL can't get their systems to play nice? Quite possibly. But I think there's bigger things afoot here. It's also possible that AOL is not delivering the advertising value Google had hoped to earn when it plowed in a billion bucks to save it. So, maybe the IM integration is on hold. After all, why get married if the courtship is rocky? It would only upset users if they re-segregated the IM systems.
It seems a little strange that there's been no communication on this. They probably hope everyone forgot. Microsoft and Yahoo had no trouble making this happen in under a year. This leads me to believe the problem lies within the deal, not the technical. If not, hopefully they will say so. (Microsoft is an Edelman client.)
