Meebo Enables Real-Time Social Interaction for Hearst Magazines Digital Media Users

Business Wire, Nov 14, 2008

Announcement Coincides With the Launch of Meebo Rooms Inside Seventeen.com's "Style Stars"

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Meebo, the Web's live communications platform, today announced a partnership with Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines. The partnership enables Hearst Magazines Digital Media Web sites, including Seventeen.com and PopularMechanics.com, to leverage Meebo instant messaging and chat to increase revenue, user engagement, and time spent on the company's websites.

To launch the partnership, Seventeen integrated Meebo Rooms into the "Style Stars 2008" online feature to spur conversation around celebrity fashion at Seventeen.com. The iconic magazine handpicked its most stylish fashion icons of the year for the December/January print issue, and to complement it, created a dynamic social media experience for its loyal base of readers. Site visitors at Seventeen.com will be able to browse photos, read articles, and watch exclusive video of their favorite celebs while chatting in real time with members of the Seventeen.com community.

"Meebo is excited to provide readers of Seventeen.com and other Hearst Magazines Digital Media Web sites with a live forum to chat with people who share similar interests and differing opinions," said Martin Green, COO, Meebo. "This partnership with Hearst Magazines Digital Media is unique in that it seamlessly links traditional media and social media with cutting-edge community tools. We look forward to continuing our collaboration on future opportunities."

"Hearst Magazines is thrilled to partner with Meebo and introduce their innovative platform into our digital media group," stated Christopher Johnson, vice president, content & business development for Hearst Magazines Digital Media. "The technology being incorporated into our Seventeen and Popular Mechanics websites will provide our readers with the opportunity to discuss magazine content with other avid readers in real time."

Popular Mechanics, the renowned science and technology publication, is also using Meebo to increase community throughout their site. In a recent online article utilizing Meebo Rooms, Popular Mechanics readers generated more than 20,000 lines of conversation in the first 48 hours. Over the course of a week, the Meebo Room was loaded more than 70,000 times by over 30,000 unique visitors. Additionally, readers embedded the co-branded chat rooms on their own social networking profiles and blogs to further spread the conversation that originated at PopularMechanics.com.

Meebo serves 40 million people and handles over 5 billion messages per month. The company has raised $37.5 million from investors Sequoia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, JAFCO Ventures, Time Warner Investments, and KTB Ventures. For information about partnering with Meebo, please visit meebo.com/partners.

About Meebo

Meebo is the Web's live communications platform. Founded in September 2005, Meebo provides instant messaging and group chat to over 40 million people at meebo.com and via partner sites across the Web. Meebo's investors include Sequoia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and now JAFCO Ventures, Time Warner Investments, and KTB Ventures. Visit meebo.com to connect with friends live on the Web.

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