Yahoo says its users sent more than 5.5 billion messages in September 2001, an increase of 115 percent from last year. “IMVironments offer our users a level of personalization that is not available through any other instant messaging service, and at the same time, provides a new means for companies to reach their target audience.” “With the introduction of IMVironments, we are the first to offer a truly interactive instant messaging experience, and have created an innovative new way to use Yahoo Messenger as a complete viral marketing solution,” said Lisa Pollock, director of messaging products at Yahoo. Yahoo Messenger is also available for Windows/Mac at. Plus, now you can unsend messagesyep, you can take it all back Yes, take backs Tap 'Unsend' to remove photos and messages from a conversation.
The Yahoo IMVironments, which it says is patent-pending, is the latest development along those lines. The all-new Yahoo Messenger is the fastest, easiest way to chat and share lots of photos and animated GIFs instantly. AOL has introduced “buddy icons” that let users sport images from popular entertainment and Yahoo has released customized co-branded versions of its IM application. Start-up Active Buddy has inked deals with partners like Capitol Records and Keebler, which allow them to market online through interactive “bots” on all three major services. So far, besides banner ads on the application itself, there have been several creative efforts. Yahoo, for example, recently introduced video conferencing capabilities to its application.Īdditionally, marketers have been seeking ways to take advantage of the audience glued to IM applications. With the growth in the popularity of instant messaging applications, the big players - AOL, MSN, and Yahoo - have been working to introduce features that distinguish their service from the others. The Yahoo-Sanrio marketing partnership is extremely beneficial to our business by delivering our characters and brands directly to our target audience.” “As a featured Yahoo Messenger IMVironment, Hello Kitty adds her special charm to this new viral technology, helping friends speak from the heart. Instant messaging is just that, empowering them to stay in touch and share a frequent ‘hello,'” said Bill Hensley, Sanrio marketing director said in a statement. “The Sanrio experience is all about friends communicating with friends. People using the theme can also tap into “Hello Kitty”-themed emoticons - rather than the usual generic smiley faces, cat faces appear. The “Hello Kitty” IMVironment shows the cat character standing in front of a house, as animated clouds float over her head. Right inside the IM window, users can choose to hear streaming audio of the band’s new single, link to a video, or link to buy the album. The Garbage IMVironment, for example, shows the Garbage logo at the top of the IM screen, and photos of the band members appear in a slide show on the right.