Skype Adds Free Calls to MySpace
The leading Internet social network MySpace announced Tuesday a joint effort with top online phone service provider Skype to offer free Internet calling services to an existing user base of more than 330 million people.
Lane R Ellis
Lead Editor, SearchEngineWorld
3:59 pm on Oct. 18, 2007 (utc 0)
The leading Internet social network MySpace announced Tuesday a joint effort with top online phone service provider Skype to offer free Internet calling services to an existing user base of more than 330 million people. MySpace will incorporate Skype's Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony technology into its Instant Messaging (IM) service beginning at the end of November. The partnership will create the Internet's largest online community with voice-enabled connectivity, and aims to make it easy for MySpace members to call one another. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although the companies are expected to announce further details of the partnership at today's Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.
MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe may see the partnership between two of the most popular Web communications communities as an important breakthrough. "MySpaceIM with Skype is a truly groundbreaking product integration and partnership. Skype has the leading technology in Internet voice communications and an enormous international user base that we're thrilled to connect with our existing community. Our network has no geographical boundaries - Internet calling is the natural next step for how our members communicate with each other," according to DeWolfe in a joint press release issued today. The service will be known as MySpaceIM with Skype, the companies said.
About MySpace
Media company News Corp, run by Rupert Murdoch, purchased MySpace parent company Intermix Media in July, 2005 for $580 million. MySpace currently has 110 million active users according to the company, which is now a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc.
MySpace is the world's fastest growing IM platform according to today's press release, and based on September, 2007 statistics from online Web traffic ratings company comScore, the MySpace domain name ranked first on the Internet for total Web page views.
Los Angeles-based MySpace recently added a San Francisco office, where a close connection to the talent of nearby Silicon Valley may help in recruiting staff for implementing the joint venture with Skype.
About Skype
Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies was purchased by leading Internet auction company eBay in September, 2005 for $2.6 billion. Although the VoIP company has gained in popularity since the purchase, the eBay subsidiary has not been able to reach the level of profit many had envisioned it achieving through fee-based premium services. Earlier this month eBay devalued Skype by 1.43 billion dollars.
Skype has gained a global following by offering an easy way for people to make free Internet-based calls around the world to other computer users. The company has not had the type of success it may have planned for itself, namely making money from people using Skype's fee-based premium services to call land lines and cell phones from their computers.
Skype has also had to deal with increased competition for traditional telephone service in the form of combination or "bundle" deals offered by major telecommunications firms, which package television, broadband Internet access and telephone service. After purchasing Skype, eBay had originally planned to use the technology to help connect its online auction buyers with sellers, however this notion has not been implemented.
Skype's interim CEO Michael Van Swaaij sees the announced venture as making sense for both companies. "Both MySpace and Skype have become a part of people's lives by bringing people closer together, no matter where they live in the world. This partnership reiterates that Skype is the platform of choice for Internet communications because we make it simpler and easier for people to place free calls to one another whether they are on Skype or within the MySpace network," said Van Swaaij.
To Operate Within Instant Messaging
MySpace claims to have 25 million of its much larger installed user base of 110 million people using the company's instant messaging system, which currently only allows for text based communications, however with the integration of Skype's VoIP technology MySpace hopes to tap into the 220 million additional customers who use the telephony service. MySpace hopes to join the other top IM clients which already offer VoIP calling, including Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.
Once in place the Skype-enabled MySpace IM functionality will likely spread throughout the social network by links in various portions of member profiles. "The partnership will also enable users to link their MySpace profiles and photos or avatars to their accounts on Skype," the companies said. MySpace members will have access to Skype's premium fee-based services as well, including voice mail, call forwarding, and the ability to make phone calls to cell phones and land lines from their computers.
According to the joint press release issued today, Skype's premium services which will become available to MySpace members include:
Call forwarding able to redirect incoming Skype calls to any phone whether a land line or cell phone
Voicemail to record messages when away or busy
SkypeOut™ to make both domestic and international calls to any phone
SkypeIn™ to use a local phone number and receive calls around the world from any phone
Initially the joint service will be offered in beta test form as a part of the MySpace IM software, which new users will be able to download and existing users upgrade to.
Privacy Settings Will Apply
The new MySpaceIM with Skype system will block incoming Skype calls for MySpace users who have activated increased privacy on their system profiles, unless the call originates from someone known as a friend on the Web site. Additionally users of the new system will be able to block incoming Skype calls from anyone, even if they are listed as a friend on the site. The new system will allow MySpace members to identify incoming Skype calls before deciding whether to answer and talk, block the call or ignore it.
To Combat Facebook and Monetize Skype
The partnership between MySpace and Skype may help the social networking Web site keep rival Facebook, which has received over 200,000 new members every day this year, from continuing to gain in popularity, while Skype may find the deal helpful in their effort to profit from a large customer base.
Even before Skype and MySpace were purchased in prominent acquisitions, the companies have been intrigued by the idea of collaborating on a service to expand their customer bases. The collaborative effort began in July according to MySpace vice president of product development Kyle Brinkman. "All the pieces came together. I think it shows our chops a little as far as technology, not to brag, which helps us with our foothold in Silicon Valley," Brinkman said. He elaborated further in a recent Associated Press article. "We went to Skype and said we could incorporate your voice engine into our network — we're not just slapping on an instant messenger client that doesn't connect to MySpace. It's not just a stand-alone product offering — it's tightly integrated into the MySpace experience."
Skype Adds Free Calls to MySpace
The result of the joint effort will be available to nearly all Skype users globally, with the exception of those in China, Japan and Taiwan, which are not included due to partnerships already in place in those countries.
Skype director of business development Scott Miller recognizes the joint effort as a good way to connect users of his company's service with MySpace members. "Wherever people are hanging out on the Internet they should be able to use Skype. MySpace is a great hangout so it is a great way to get Skype to people hanging out on MySpace," Miller said recently in a Yahoo! News article.
MySpaceIM with Skype will launch in the 20 countries which have localized MySpace communities, while Skype is currently available in 28 languages and used in nearly every country in the world. MySpace members in the following countries will have access to the new service in November:
United States
France
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Finland
Denmark
Sweden
Netherlands
Canada
Switzerland
Austria
Italy
Spain
Ireland
Australia
In addition several undisclosed Latin American countries will be affected. As the type of telephony Skype has popularized becomes increasingly woven into social networking Web sites, both MySpace and Skype will most likely look at today's announced partnership as their best effort to become the established authorities in the emerging field.
3:59 pm on Oct. 18, 2007 (utc 0)
level of profit many had envisioned it achieving through fee-based premium services. Earlier this month eBay devalued Skype by 1.43 billion dollars. 
technology, not to brag, which helps us with our foothold in Silicon Valley," Brinkman said. He elaborated further in a recent Associated Press 