<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
multi-network	O
social	O
messenger	O
with	O
location-based	B-Application
services	I-Application
(	O
LBS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
compatible	O
with	O
AOL	B-Protocol
Instant	I-Protocol
Messenger	I-Protocol
,	O
Yahoo	B-Application
!	O
</s>
<s>
Messenger	O
,	O
MSN	B-Protocol
Messenger	I-Protocol
,	O
GTalk	B-Application
,	O
XMPP	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
ICQ	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
's	O
features	O
made	O
it	O
useful	O
for	O
meeting	O
people	O
with	O
similar	O
interests	O
in	O
a	O
given	O
area	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
bundling	O
multiple	O
messaging	B-Protocol
protocols	O
into	O
one	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
was	O
located	O
in	O
San	O
Francisco	O
,	O
California	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
software	O
that	O
runs	O
on	O
Windows	O
and	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
launched	O
on	O
June	O
1	O
,	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
8	O
,	O
2005	O
,	O
InternetNews	B-Application
reported	O
a	O
rumor	O
that	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
was	O
in	O
talks	O
to	O
be	O
bought	O
out	O
by	O
search	O
giant	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
Paul	O
Bragiel	O
,	O
CEO	O
of	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
,	O
did	O
not	O
initially	O
deny	O
or	O
confirm	O
the	O
rumor	O
,	O
which	O
has	O
been	O
described	O
as	O
a	O
publicity	O
stunt	O
to	O
attract	O
attention	O
,	O
however	O
the	O
rumor	O
was	O
not	O
created	O
by	O
any	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
Inc	O
.	O
employees	O
but	O
rather	O
a	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
follower	O
and	O
fan	O
,	O
whom	O
the	O
original	O
article	O
publishing	O
the	O
story	O
called	O
"	O
a	O
source	O
close	O
to	O
the	O
transaction	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
differed	O
from	O
the	O
other	O
popular	O
messengers	O
in	O
that	O
users	O
could	O
input	O
location	O
specifications	O
to	O
see	O
other	O
online	O
users	O
in	O
surrounding	O
areas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
worked	O
by	O
actively	O
scanning	O
for	O
the	O
MAC	O
addresses	O
of	O
wireless	O
access	O
points	O
around	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Then	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
contacted	O
the	O
main	O
database	O
server	O
and	O
compared	O
the	O
MAC	O
address	O
to	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
known	O
access	O
points	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
had	O
calculated	O
the	O
general	O
area	O
(	O
usually	O
a	O
quarter	O
mile	O
)	O
of	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
physical	O
location	O
,	O
it	O
then	O
compared	O
it	O
to	O
others	O
users	O
and	O
displayed	O
who	O
's	O
online	O
within	O
a	O
quarter	O
mile	O
,	O
half	O
mile	O
,	O
mile	O
,	O
etc	O
...	O
A	O
user	O
's	O
exact	O
location	O
was	O
never	O
displayed	O
to	O
other	O
people	O
on	O
the	O
network	O
for	O
privacy	O
and	O
security	O
reasons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
would	O
only	O
present	O
that	O
a	O
user	O
is	O
within	O
a	O
range	O
of	O
1/4	O
of	O
a	O
mile	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shortly	O
before	O
closing	O
,	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
added	O
support	O
for	O
business	O
address	O
look-ups	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
as	O
an	O
alternative	O
method	O
for	O
users	O
to	O
report	O
their	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
create	O
custom	O
profile	O
pages	O
which	O
could	O
be	O
searched	O
and	O
browsed	O
by	O
other	O
users	O
nearby	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
's	O
profiles	O
supported	O
feeds	O
for	O
videos	O
,	O
photos	O
,	O
and	O
blogs	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
typical	O
social	O
networking	O
profile	O
questions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
few	O
services	O
offering	O
'	O
profile	O
aggregation	O
 '	O
-	O
crawling	O
the	O
web	O
to	O
aggregate	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
digital	B-Application
persona	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
was	O
different	O
than	O
other	O
social	O
networks	O
and	O
messengers	O
in	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
as	O
soon	O
as	O
you	O
signup	O
,	O
you	O
're	O
able	O
to	O
talk	O
with	O
other	O
users	O
who	O
are	O
nearby	O
instantly	O
,	O
even	O
if	O
they	O
're	O
not	O
approved	O
'	O
friends	O
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Towards	O
then	O
end	O
of	O
2006	O
,	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
introduced	O
features	O
to	O
display	O
places	O
and	O
services	O
that	O
were	O
nearby	O
(	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
people	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
will	O
display	O
nearby	O
restaurants	O
,	O
cafes	O
,	O
and	O
bars	O
on	O
a	O
map	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
had	O
planned	O
to	O
also	O
display	O
the	O
local	O
weather	O
and	O
nearby	O
geotagged	O
photos	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
had	O
introduced	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
location	O
based	O
web	O
widgets	O
,	O
including	O
a	O
StatusBadge	O
that	O
would	O
display	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
last	O
known	O
real-world	O
location	O
on	O
their	O
blog	O
,	O
email	O
,	O
or	O
personal	O
webpage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
create	O
real-time	O
personalized	O
groups	O
within	O
the	O
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
groups	O
could	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
show	O
a	O
specific	O
subset	O
of	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
users	O
grouped	O
by	O
any	O
combination	O
of	O
:	O
Status	O
(	O
away/available	O
)	O
,	O
Gender	O
(	O
male	O
,	O
female	O
,	O
unspecified	O
)	O
,	O
Minimum	O
Distance	O
,	O
Maximum	O
Distance	O
,	O
Keywords	O
,	O
Relation	O
(	O
friend	O
,	O
friend	O
of	O
a	O
friend	O
,	O
unrelated	O
,	O
MeetroHQ	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
only	O
messengers	O
to	O
have	O
a	O
rule-based	O
grouping	O
system	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
other	O
messengers	O
which	O
do	O
not	O
use	O
any	O
personal	O
descriptors	O
or	O
location	O
to	O
sort	O
and	O
filter	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
originally	O
started	O
in	O
Chicago	O
,	O
IL	O
with	O
a	O
small	O
team	O
working	O
and	O
living	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
house	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
grew	O
and	O
enjoyed	O
press	O
coverage	O
for	O
its	O
atypical	O
live/work	O
ethic	O
,	O
including	O
a	O
front	O
page	O
story	O
in	O
the	O
San	O
Francisco	O
Chronicle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
closing	O
,	O
Meetro	B-Protocol
headquartered	O
in	O
San	O
Francisco	O
's	O
SoMa	B-Application
district	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meetro	B-Protocol
closed	O
in	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
