<s>
MessageMe	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
messaging	B-Application
app	I-Application
and	O
platform	O
for	O
the	O
iPhone	B-Device
and	O
Android	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MessageMe	B-Protocol
was	O
acquired	O
and	O
shutdown	O
by	O
Yahoo	B-Application
in	O
2014	O
for	O
a	O
price	O
rumored	O
between	O
$30	O
million	O
and	O
$40	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MessageMe	B-Protocol
was	O
founded	O
in	O
2012	O
in	O
by	O
Arjun	O
Sethi	O
,	O
Alexander	O
Chee	O
,	O
Justin	O
Rosenthal	O
and	O
Vivek	O
Tatineni	O
and	O
based	O
out	O
of	O
San	O
Francisco	O
,	O
California	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
launched	O
in	O
March	O
2013	O
on	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
and	O
reached	O
1	O
million	O
users	O
within	O
10	O
days	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2013	O
,	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
announced	O
that	O
it	O
raised	O
an	O
additional	O
$10	O
million	O
in	O
funding	O
from	O
Greylock	O
Partners	O
and	O
that	O
Greylock	O
partner	O
John	O
Lilly	O
had	O
joined	O
the	O
board	O
of	O
directors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MessageMe	B-Protocol
reached	O
5	O
million	O
users	O
within	O
75	O
days	O
of	O
launch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shortly	O
after	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
's	O
March	O
2013	O
launch	O
,	O
Facebook	B-Application
revoked	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
's	O
access	O
to	O
the	B-Application
Facebook	I-Application
Platform	O
's	O
"	O
Find	O
Friends	O
"	O
functionality	O
that	O
allowed	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
users	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
Facebook	B-Application
and	O
find	O
their	O
Facebook	B-Application
friends	O
on	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Facebook	B-Application
cited	O
its	O
policy	O
that	O
allowed	O
it	O
to	O
revoke	O
access	O
to	O
developers	O
who	O
"replicate[]	O
a	O
core	O
Facebook	B-Application
product	O
or	O
service	O
without	O
 [ Facebook's ] 	O
permission.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Leaked	O
internal	O
discussions	O
showed	O
that	O
Facebook	B-Application
revoked	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
's	O
access	O
over	O
concern	O
that	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
was	O
becoming	O
too	O
popular	O
and	O
competitive	O
with	O
Facebook	B-Application
messaging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
internal	O
March	O
2013	O
email	O
thread	O
,	O
Justin	O
Osofsky	O
,	O
former	O
Facebook	B-Application
director	O
of	O
platform	O
partnerships	O
,	O
wrote	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2018	O
,	O
the	O
question	O
of	O
Facebook	B-Application
's	O
use	O
of	O
platform	O
data	O
in	O
anticompetitive	O
ways	O
against	O
companies	O
like	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
,	O
Vine	B-Application
and	O
Voxer	O
resurfaced	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	B-Application
Facebook	I-Application
–	O
Cambridge	O
Analytica	O
data	O
scandal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
that	O
Facebook	B-Application
cut	O
off	O
data	O
to	O
apps	O
like	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
,	O
it	O
shared	O
private	O
user	O
data	O
with	O
important	O
Facebook	B-Application
partners	O
like	O
Amazon	B-Application
,	O
Netflix	O
and	O
Spotify	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2018	O
,	O
Facebook	B-Application
officially	O
ended	O
the	O
platform	O
policy	O
it	O
used	O
to	O
revoke	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
's	O
platform	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MessageMe	B-Protocol
along	O
with	O
WhatsApp	B-Application
,	O
Kik	B-Protocol
and	O
others	O
led	O
the	O
movement	O
of	O
mobile	O
messaging	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
away	O
from	O
text-based	O
SMS	B-Device
and	O
towards	O
richer	O
text	O
messaging	O
which	O
included	O
audio	O
,	O
video	O
,	O
doodles	O
,	O
stickers	O
,	O
location	O
and	O
more	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Global	O
startups	O
that	O
led	O
this	O
trend	O
included	O
WeChat	B-Application
in	O
China	O
,	O
Line	B-Application
in	O
Japan	O
,	O
and	O
KakaoTalk	B-Protocol
in	O
Korea	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Messaging	B-Application
apps	I-Application
like	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
,	O
Path	B-Algorithm
and	O
Lango	B-Application
were	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
bring	O
stickers	O
to	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
mobile	O
messaging	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Line	B-Application
's	O
success	O
with	O
stickers	O
in	O
Asia	O
inspired	O
those	O
apps	O
to	O
bring	O
stickers	O
to	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MessageMe	B-Protocol
offered	O
free	O
and	O
paid	O
sticker	O
packs	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
purchased	O
through	O
the	O
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Yahoo	B-Application
acquired	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
for	O
between	O
$30	O
million	O
and	O
$40	O
million	O
in	O
October	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
potential	O
acquirers	O
were	O
Snapchat	B-Application
and	O
Truecaller	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Yahoo	B-Application
bought	O
startups	O
like	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
,	O
shut	O
down	O
their	O
products	O
and	O
then	O
put	O
those	O
teams	O
to	O
work	O
on	O
existing	O
or	O
new	O
Yahoo	B-Application
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2015	O
,	O
Yahoo	B-Application
launched	O
its	O
first	O
mobile	O
messaging	B-Application
app	I-Application
,	O
Livetext	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
built	O
internally	O
by	O
the	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
team	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
MessageMe	B-Protocol
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Yahoo	B-Application
shut	O
down	O
Livetext	B-Application
in	O
March	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
