Meebo to introduce advertising into IM service

We've been hearing for a while now about how Meebo is doomed to introduce ads.  Well, the future may be sooner than we think.  Meebo has announced that starting next month they will start rolling out ads in their IM service.  For libraries who have used Meebo to provide reference services for users, this may be a problem if the ads infiltrate the MeeboMe widgets.  Otherwise, it will only effect people who are actually using Meebo to access their IM services which, in the case of IM reference, will most likely only be the librarian. 

Where did this come from?  Meebo recently hired Carter Brokaw (formerly of CNet and Warner Music) as their new Chief Revenue Officer.  Meebo conducted six months' worth of focus groups to find out what types of ads IM users would tolerate.  The answer?  "Utility-based ad campaigns" -- non-intrusive, engaging, advertising that involves and is controlled by the user.  It will be interesting to see what Meebo comes up with, and whether users flee or stick with this popular free service as a result.

Read more on ReadWriteWeb's analysis of the situation.