AOL announced the launch of Open AIM 2.0, affording the developer community the freedom to access the AIM instant messaging network and to integrate AIM into their web sites and applications in their own ways.

Open AIM 2.0 now offers free SDKs and APIs that support third-party chat services, as well as instant messaging applications designed for mobile, enterprise and international use. Web-based messaging providers meebo and eBuddy were the first to sign on to the new program.

Additionally, Open AIM will give participants an easy way to generate income through AIM Money, a new advertising revenue sharing platform expected to debut in April.

“Today, we’re putting a stake in the ground, opening our network up wider than anyone else and empowering the web community to leverage the AIM messaging network in bold new ways,” said Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President, AOL.

When the Open AIM program launched in 2006 the goal was to help developers create innovative applications integrating the AIM service. Since that time more than 235,000 third-party developers have signed on to this mission to create everything from plugins that allow users to send money to their buddies to bots that send users notifications when their friends post new pictures and videos.

“Our mission for AIM is to facilitate the world’s online, real-time conversations,” said David Liu, Senior Vice President, Social Media, Messaging and Homepages, AOL. “To that end, we’ve come together with third-party chat services such as meebo and eBuddy to enhance the experiences of our users who access the AIM platform from these web-based services. We’re also giving developers the tools and flexibility they desire to build innovative and meaningful applications around instant messaging for web users around the globe.”

To mark the launch of Open AIM 2.0, AOL has teamed up with TopCoder to kick off the Open AIM Developer Challenge that will run from March 5 through May 6, 2008 to find the most innovative creation built using the Open AIM APIs. There will be $100,000 in prizes and the winners will be announced at the TopCoder Open in Las Vegas on May 15.