Methods and apparatus for contextual advertisements in an online conversation thread

A method of providing at least one of an advertisement and a link to an advertisement to a user logged in to an instant messaging network, comprising the steps of:

• a) logging a message processor into the instant messaging network under a first screen-name by providing a message processor name and a message processor authentication, the user having the first screen-name as an authorized partner and being advised by the instant messaging network of the presence of the message processor;
• b) receiving a communication addressed to the first screen-name from the user via the instant messaging network in an instant messaging protocol;
• parsing the communication to determine a topic of conversation;
• sending at least one of a keyword and a key phrase from the message processor to an advertisement server after parsing the communication addressed to the first screen-name;
• and
• e) sending at least one of an advertisement and a link to an advertisement received from the advertisement server from the message processor to the user.