Yahoo Warns Third-Party IM Users

[BigBlueBall News]

Jeff Hester

September 17, 2003

If you’re running an older version of Yahoo! Messenger, or a third-party instant messenger like Miranda or Trillian .74 and connecting to the Yahoo network, you may have received an instant message from "YahooMessengerTeam" that reads:

Yahoo! is upgrading to its newest version of Yahoo! Messenger on September 24, 2003. The upgrade is part of an ongoing process to continually enhance the overall quality of the Yahoo! Messenger service for our millions of users. Please download the latest version at http://messenger.yahoo.com

This news has been echoed in stories on News.com and PCWorld.com, both reporting that Trillian and other third-party messengers will be blocked.

The truth is that Yahoo is dropping support for the older YMSG9 protocol used by older versions of their own program as well as many third-party "interoperable" instant messengers. However this doesn’t necessarily shut everyone out. After September 24th, instant messengers that support the newer YMSG11 protocol will continue to work. This currently includes the recently released Trillian Pro 2.0.

Users of the free version of Trillian can download Trillian Basic Patch E, which updates Trillian .74 to support the newer Yahoo protocol.

This action and the recent flurry of ominous warnings appearing in the mainstream press lead me to wonder what Yahoo has up it’s sleeves. Could this be a scare tactic designed to intimidate people using Trillian or other third-party Yahoo clients? Is this related to their recent online survey in which they seem to test the market for adding their own interoperability?

Our own BigBlueBall poll results seem to indicate that most Yahoo users wouldn’t even consider paying Yahoo for additional network interoperability. Many commented that Yahoo has a difficult enough time keeping their own network working reliably.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your comments.

Related Links:

• Cerulean Studios - Trillian 2.0 and patches for .74 and 1.0


• Yahoo IM Update Shuts Out Third Parties - CNET News.com


• Yahoo Messenger Update Will Boot Trillian - PCWorld.com


• BigBlueBall Yahoo Center


• POLL: Would you pay for interoperable instant messaging?


• Discuss in the forum