Competition in the virtual reference market got really hot this past summer. Recent developments in virtual reference offerings suggest the market is much more dynamic than most people would have imagined a short time ago. With Google's acquisition of Meebo and its subsequent decision to shut down the chat widget service, many libraries scrambled to replace this tool as their virtual reference engine. The good news was that other significant changes in the virtual reference marketplace were taking place, providing reference librarians with plenty of options. This article aims to highlight recent developments and compare and contrast the services to help libraries select the most appropriate service in this surprising dynamic virtual reference market.