Social Media Portal

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KickApps, the leading on demand social media platform, today announced that it has partnered with AOL subsidiary, Userplane, the world’s premier communication platform for online communities, to integrate live chat, instant messaging (IM) and presence functionality to the KickApps Platform. Members of KickApps powered sites can now engage in live text and audio/video conversations with each other.

“Chat and IM are great ways for members of online communities to grow their relationships with people that share similar interests,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps. “Many of our publishing partners have seen tremendous growth as a result of implementing social media features like blogging, commenting and photo & video sharing, and adding Userplane will give them the ability to offer immediate communication between their members. We expect these types of integrations of external applications from 3^rd party developers to drive even greater levels of engagement that fuel their websites’ growth.”

Under this agreement, KickApps has integrated Userplane Webchat and Userplane Webmessenger as core features of the KickApps Platform, available on a self-service basis. KickApps customers, known as affiliates, can activate the chat and IM functionality by simply selecting an option in the KickApps Affiliate Center, the web-based console for managing KickApps-powered communities. When chat and IM are activated, a “Chat” tab will appear in the default top navigation of a KickApps-powered site and a “Send an instant message” link will appear on all member profile pages if the member is logged into the community. As with all KickApps applications, affiliates are able to customize how chat is deployed by altering their site’s HTML and CSS code, or by using JavaScript.

“IM and chat are some of the earliest building blocks of social networking,” said Michael Jones, CEO of Userplane. “The integration of Userplane into the KickApps’ Platform will create new opportunities for growth and revenue for KickApps’ customers, KickApps and Userplane. Working with KicKApps we look forward to helping web publishers of all sizes get the most out of their social media sites.”

The chat and IM features are available at no additional cost with the placement of non-intrusive, relevant advertising on the chat and IM clients by Userplane. KickApps affiliates that wish to control or remove the advertising positions in the chat and IM experiences can do so through an advertising buyout directly with Userplane.

About KickApps

KickApps provides on demand social media applications that enable web publishers and marketers to grow, engage and monetize online audiences. Its SaaS platform includes social networking, user-generated content, programmable video players, viral Widgets and other applications that are tightly integrated with robust media moderation, member management and reporting. The KickApps Platform seamlessly integrates with any website using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, feeds, Widgets and APIs (REST and SOAP). Customers include: ABC Family, CW Television, Guinness World Records, Scripps Network Interactive, VIBE Magazine, HBO, Cinemax, Cox Television, the Phoenix Suns, the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and thousands of other sites. For more information, please visit www.kickapps.com and www.kickdeveloper.com.

About Userplane

A wholly owned subsidiary of AOL, Userplane is the world’s premier social software provider for online communities and operates one of the largest social media ad network globally. The company’s hosted apps enable instant community and communicationfor websites of any scale and audience – and support millions of users daily. Userplane’s social ad network offers a revenue-sharing solution that serves up half a billion daily impressions atop social websites reaching nearly 50M users monthly. Founded in 2001 by long-time partners Michael Jones, Nate Thelen, and Javier Hall, Userplane -- one of the pioneers of the social web -- is based in Santa Monica, Calif.