Yahoo Messenger

Yahoo! Messenger (sometimes abbreviated Y!M) was an instant messaging client and associated protocol created and formerly operated by Yahoo!. Yahoo! Messenger was provided free of charge and could be downloaded and used with a generic "Yahoo ID", which also allowed access to other Yahoo! services, such as Yahoo! Mail.

The service also offered VoIP, file transfers, webcam hosting, a text messaging service, and chat rooms in various categories. In addition to instant messaging features similar to those offered by ICQ, it also offered (on Microsoft Windows) features such as: IMVironments (customizing the look of Instant Message windows, some of which include authorized themes of various cartoons such as Garfield or Dilbert), address-book integration and Custom Status Messages. It was also the first major IM client to feature BUZZing and music-status.

Yahoo! Messenger dates back to Yahoo! Chat, which was a public chat room service. The actual client, originally called Yahoo! Pager, launched on March 9, 1998 and renamed to Yahoo! Messenger in 1999. Yahoo! Messenger was among the most popular instant messengers during the 2000s. In 2015, a reworked Yahoo! Messenger service was introduced and the legacy version was discontinued in 2016. The new Yahoo! Messenger itself was shut down entirely on July 17, 2018, after less than three years.