AOL deal means Google Talk synchs with AIM

I've been avoiding discussing the AOL deal due to massive media coverage, but a recent Google press release has given me something to exclaim over. (One billion dollars was definitely something to exclaim over, but it was mostly just terrifying considering the purchase property was AOL.) Google announces a subtle detail in the Time Warner AOL + Google deal: the synchronization of Google Talk and AIM. The press release remains vague on the specifics of this link, stating only that one of the agreement's features is "Enabling Google Talk and AIM instant messaging users to communicate with each other, provided certain conditions are met."

So what are these conditions? My first estimation is that in order to synchronize with Google Talk, the user must also be a paying AOL subscriber (or at least an AIM subscrber). Alternatively, the condition may be an acceptance of AOL-provided or targeted advertising on the Google Talk interface.

While I am leery of the necessary conditions for synchronization, I am hopeful that this could be a step toward creating Google's version of a Trillian application--the messaging client that combines the features and accessibility of multiple programs.