Userplane has been quiet about the rumor they are being shut down by AOL. However, the writing is on the wall. Ex-Userplane staff have launched Topicfox, which offers Userplane customers white label social networking tools as a drop-in replacement for the beleaguered social applications company’s products and services.

My name is Nick Schneble, and I used to be the senior developer over at Userplane. Before anyone asks, I can’t confirm or deny any shutdown rumors. :-)

I wrote all of the Flex and AIR applications for Userplane, and since leaving I’ve started a new company, Topicfox, with the intent of providing a robust, stable and highly scalable white-label IM solution.

As a result of my many years at Userplane, Topicfox is 100% compatible with existing Userplane WM configurations, and can be imported and converted for use by Topicfox with very little client interaction.

I’m looking to provide a far more hands-on solution than Userplane, with a greater amount of client feedback.

If you have an existing Userplane Webmessenger (IM) setup, and/or you may be interested in a solution customized exactly the way you want, drop me a line!

Looks like White Label Dating is installing Toksta. It will be interesting to see which chat platform (if any) dating sites replace Userplane with.

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There is some buzz this week about Userplane shutting down, although until I hear from Janet or someone else on the team I’m going to hold off on linkbait blog titles like at OPW. If in fact Userplane is shutting down, dating sites are going to have to find an alternative chat client, or simply remove the feature. I’m talking with some of the companies who are angling to fill in the void Userplane would leave in the chat client market. Felix Fidelsberger, founder of Toksta, is offering a 15-day free trial to current Userplane customers.

I have always liked Userplane, from the team to the technology. They’ve been in the online dating business for many years and were a longtime sponsor of this blog.

Update: Nobody has gotten back to me and the phone system at Userplane is acting wonky.

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Longtime sponsor of this blog, Userplane has sent out their March newsletter. The team has returned from South by Southwest, where they announced the re-launch of Userplane Desktop as an Adobe AIR application now compatible with PC and Mac.

Userplane clients using Desktop allow members to download a customizable desktop app which lets the user receive IMs, individualized alerts, and system updates anytime they’re at their computer, without being logged in the site.

Also announced, launching in June, Userplane Mediaplayer is a next-generation video player with unlimited uploading and playback. It also comes with our popular Minichat software built in, allowing users to chat about videos during viewing. If that weren’t enough, Userplane is offering free video hosting.

Other notable news is that Userplane is now the #1 app on Friendster, and new hires are in place to accommodate a surge in advertising growth.

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Userplane has launched their new Directory.

Selected Features

• New “Most Active” chat section – updates every 5 minutes
• Ability to sort search results to only see the chats with active users in them
• Easier access to chat room personalization because it is now localized in one easy access area
• Faster “my users” section w/ enhanced usability
• You can now customize the window title of your chat
• You can now delete your communities and even your own account (Userplane Id)

Wow, 7,762 dating communities, that’s a lot of opportunities to connect with other singles.

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Longtime sponsor Userplane is Money.

We’re excited to announce the launch of Userplane Money, an unprecedented new rev-share platform. When your visitors use Webmessenger and Webchat, you can now earn revenue from the ad views they generate. The more ads displayed, the more money you make. It’s that simple. There are no fees to participate, and monthly payments are issued via PayPal. No catches. No maintenance. No costs. Join the rev-share revolution!

Sounds like a solid way to earn additional revenue for your dating site. If you are using the Money program, let us know in the comments.

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Markus at Plentyoffish has a great interview on the Today Show.

Userplane Money is now available to anyone developing applications for Facebook. The move enables developers to earn money with the widgets they make available to users of Facebook.

Just what do search marketing and dating have in common? According to Seth Godin, the keynote speaker at last week’s Search Engine Strategies Conference in Toronto… plenty! When it comes to finding an appropriate partner and building a long-term relationship, there are some interesting analogies. Via SearchEngineLand.

Engage.com, a former client, did a survey on social engagement.

True.com CEO’s wife is giving dating advice.

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Userplane is the premier provider of communication software for online communities. Five hosted web apps comprise the application suite – each adding core, must-have features to thriving websites. The apps are robust yet lightweight, cross-platform with no user installation, and customizable for a site’s specific needs.

Userplane Webchat delivers full-featured, text/voice/video multi-user chatting.
Userplane Webmessenger provides live text/voice/video instant messaging.
Userplane Webrecorder enables users to record and share voice/video messages.
Userplane Sitesearch integrates advanced, natural-results user searching.
Userplane Presence turns the lights on with web and desktop-based live user presence.

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Userplane, a long time sponsor of Online Dating Insider, is launching a new feature called Userlist, which launches on Tuesday after a month of testing on selected partner sites. is now available on the instant community page.

Pete at Mashable was hoping for a cross between MeeboMe and MyBlogLog. I love MyBlogLog, which creates community around blogs. It also provides the popularity badge that pops up when you mouse over links on this blog.

I wonder if dating sites can/will enable Userlist for their members? That would be a great idea. Anything to get people communicating more and not just browsing.

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Userplane has announced the availability of online two-player games within the Userplane Webmessenger instant messaging platform. Users can now play games right from the IM window.

Userplane Webmessenger users have their choice of four two-player games: Fruit Mixup, a popular “match three� puzzle game; Seabattle, a game in which users try to locate the position of battleships; Truth, a question-and-answer game designed to help two people get to know each other; and Trivia, which tests trivia buffs’ brainpower.

“Userplane is always looking for ways to enhance online user interaction. These new two-player games offer users a fun and safe way to interact with each other,� said Michael Jones, CEO of Userplane and vice president of AOL.

Users of the free, ad-supported Userplane Webmessenger client can now play these games on their current instant messaging client. For larger online communities that do not use the ad-supported version of Webmessenger, site administrators can choose to turn on the online gaming feature for their users.

The games are powered by Bunchball, who has a non-exclusive partnership with Userplane. Userplane will most likely be opening up value-added features powered by other vendors to enhance the core Userplane products.

Bunchball recently raised $2 million. Here’s the Bunchballl presentation from iDate.

Spark Networks have enabled the gaming feature for JDate, AmericanSingles and CollegeLuv. Except more dating sites to turn on the gaming service in the near future.

Related posts:

1. Spark Networks Launches Private Calling, Games
2. Userplane offers instant-install plug-ins
3. WorldFriends selects Vivox for Instant messaging

Userplane, the premier communication platform for online communities and a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL, today announced that PlentyofFish, the world’s top free dating site, has joined Userplane’s new ad revenue-sharing program. Userplane made the announcement at iDate 2007, the business conference for the online dating industry.

Userplane recently created a new advertising program for sites that pay usage-based licensing fees – typically, large dating and social networking communities. For these sites, Userplane now enables text-based ads within its private-label chat and IM tools. It then splits any resulting revenue with participating sites.

PlentyofFish, an early adopter of the ad-supported business model, immediately signed up. The free dating site has more than 1 million daily visitors and is ranked by Hitwise as a top five dating service in the United States. Since 2004, its members have used Userplane Webmessenger(TM) to initiate, on average, more than 100,000 IM sessions and exchange millions of text and audio/video messages per day.

You are Reading Online Dating Insider, the premier and largest dating industry blog, which gets nowhere near the revenue or pageviews of Userplane, AOL or PlentyOfFish and is beholden to no large lumbering corporations.

Read the press release.

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