MSN Messenger and Yahoo IM interoperability - at last

The widely anticipated announcement is now out: MICROSOFT AND YAHOO! ANNOUNCE LANDMARK INTEROPERABILITY AGREEMENT TO CONNECT CONSUMER INSTANT MESSAGING COMMUNITIES GLOBALLY. One of the longest standing Internet “Berlin walls” is about to collapse, as these two giants are working together on connecting their back-ends and create a virtual community of 275M users. This is slated for release sometime in Q2 2006 (why so late ?):

[…] In addition to exchanging instant messages, consumers from both communities will be able to see their friends’ online presence, share select emoticons, and easily add new contacts from either service to their friends’ list, all as part of their free IM service.

The next three questions that come to mind are:

1. OK, how about AIM and Skype ?
   AIM is still the largest IM network, and from what we heard in the “Web 2.0 Teens Panel” it has a strong foothold in the younger generation of Internet users. Will AOL be able to maintain its virtual segregation now that its largest two competitors have agreed to do this or will they use the usual “respect for the security and privacy of our users” excuse ? Or is Rafer right in thinking that AOL is about to do a deal with Microsoft ?
   What about Skype’s IM ?
2. What if the integration backplane was XMPP/Jabber ?
   This would create a level playing field for other IM networks - consumer and professional ones – to connect, deliver presence information and text communication. Client Userplane would be able to offer federated access to the 10,000 communities they power with such an approach.
3. What is being connected: text messaging and presence at a minimum, but what about voice and video ?
   The press release does not mention voice and video, which is not surprising. Even if most voice-enabled networks provide a SIP interface one way or another, implementing voice integration might be a step that these companies want to consider taking a bit later. Om thinks that voice bridging is actually part of the interoperability ?

Comments

[Thierry Pourvendier]

Hi jeff,
You mention that AOL is the largest IM network. It's true but only in US. If you add MSN and Yahoo IM networks, at the worlwide level, according to Cnet news, Yahoo and MSN reach 275 M users vs 61 M AOL users.

Now, if we considere that VoIP will allows IM providers to generate revenue, I think that all competitors will open their network to other to generate more communications between users. Let's imagine traditional telcos without agreements between them ?
So, I think that this kind of agreement between Yahoo and MSN is major but only the first.

Regards
Thierry