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Google, after showing off its well received App Engine, introduced an online chat app developed by employees on the new platform. The idea was to show off the possibilities of the App Engine to future developers.

Well, their efforts ran into a bit of snag after it became obvious their new app, HuddleChat, was eerily similar to an app developed by 37signals, Campfire.

Campfire is an instant messaging service designed for high end web users who want to share info efficiently. It offers real time code, file, and image sharing and has the backing of none other than Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Campfire is a freemium service that is free for up to four users, and charges a fee for more.

HuddleChat, which is a virtual clone all they way down to the layout and the taps at the top of the screen, wasn’t going to charge a cent for the service for as many people as could possibly want to use it. Thus, all of the hard work and money that went into 37signals’ Campfire would be pretty much useless after people decided they don’t like paying money for something they don’t have to.

36signals was understandably upset, and let their feelings be known. Google’s initial response was tepid: “Like the other sample apps in the Google App Engine gallery, HuddleChat was written by several Googlers as a side project to demonstrate the usefulness of Google App Engine,” a company spokesman said.

They changed their tune later in the day, saying, “We’ve heard some complaints from the developer community, though, so rather than divert attention from Google App Engine itself, we thought it better to just take HuddleChat down.”

Cloning isn’t anything new, as we’ve seen with the zillions of Digg clones out there, but one has to admit that when Google does it, it has a different kind of feeling to it. There’s something Microsoft-y about ruining a small group of developers day with a copycat. But there doesn’t appear to be any malice behind the act, it still doesn’t look good, and Google has bigger fish to fry than group chat.

Technorati Tags: google app engine, huddlechat, campfire, 37 signals