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MySpace to Add Skype VoIP Functionality to MySpaceIM Software

7:00 am on October 18, 2007 | Category: Messaging, VoIP, Web Services

Beginning next month, 110 million users of the world’s largest social networking website, MySpace, will be able to make free internet voice calls using a new Skype-enabled version of MySpace’s instant messaging client, MySpaceIM.

Skype has allowed independent developers to create plug-ins and add-ons for its free online VoIP client for some years now, but this is the first time that the company has allowed its technology to be integrated with a third party application.

MySpaceIM users will soon be able to make calls over the Skype network without downloading any additional software, or even signing up for a Skype account. They will be able to initiate calls by clicking a special link on a friend’s MySpace profile page.

Revenue from premium Skype calls (i.e. to landlines and mobile phones) will be shared between MySpace and Skype, although details of the profit split have not been made public.

There is also an element of co-promotion involved in the deal, allowing users to transfer MySpace profile information, such as portraits, to a Skype account, should they decide to open one.

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