Yahoo Mail is #15 in Top 10 Email services

Positions in ratings

#15 in Top 10 Email services

Alternatives

The best alternatives to Yahoo Mail are: GMail, Outlook

Latest news about Yahoo Mail

2023. Yahoo Mail introduces new AI-powered capabilities



Yahoo is launching some new innovative AI tools for Yahoo Mail, designed to assist users in conserving both time and finances. This deployment encompasses enhancements to numerous pre-existing AI functions within Yahoo Mail, alongside the introduction of a fresh tool known as the Shopping Saver. This novel Shopping Saver tool brings to light forgotten gift cards, discount codes, and store credits, subsequently aiding users in leveraging these resources. Furthermore, the tool generates recommended messages to send to vendors, streamlining the process of applying these savings subsequent to a purchase. According to Yahoo, a significant portion of U.S. adults possess unused gift cards, vouchers, or store credits, with the new tool aiming to facilitate monetary savings during online transactions. Yahoo competitors Google and Microsoft have also rolled out several generative AI-powered features to Gmail and Outlook over the past year.

2018. Yahoo Mail launches version for mobile web



Yahoo has announced the release of two new versions of Yahoo Mail: one optimized for mobile web and another designed specifically for Android Go, an Android variant tailored for more affordable smartphones. The primary objective of these updates is to enhance the mobile web and Android One experiences, with the intention of expanding the user base of Yahoo Mail among different segments of users. The focus is on attracting individuals who utilize lower-end devices, whether in emerging markets or as more casual mobile users in more developed markets. Currently, Yahoo Mail boasts 227.8 million monthly active email users, a relatively modest figure when compared to Gmail's 1.4 billion users reported in April of this year.


2018. Yahoo Mail launches new wave of updates



While eagerly anticipating the upcoming major revamp of Gmail, its competitor Yahoo Mail has introduced a series of updates, focusing on enhanced personalization options and improved performance. These updates bring significant improvements, including a notable 50 percent reduction in JavaScript exceptions and a 20 percent decrease in overall API failures. In terms of new features, Yahoo Mail now offers photo themes, allowing users to customize their backgrounds, thus adding visual flair to the otherwise straightforward email service. Additionally, the integration with the calendar has been refined, and the out-of-office responders have become smarter and more efficient.


2015. Yahoo Mail gets Xobni-based contact cards



Yesterday, Google made an announcement regarding the revamp of its Google Contacts service. Today, Yahoo is following suit by introducing new "Contacts Cards" in Yahoo Mail, accessible through this link: Yahoo Mail. These cards are small and appear when hovering over a person's name in a message. They provide valuable information about the individual, such as their phone number, job title, company, and even links to their social profiles. In addition to displaying standard information like phone numbers, job titles, and email addresses, the Contact Cards also feature a photo (or a company logo, if applicable) and links to social profiles, including Facebook and Yahoo-owned Flickr. This enhanced system is powered by technology from Xobni, a company that Yahoo acquired in 2013. It's worth mentioning that Xobni was one of the pioneers in developing email add-ons that could gather additional information about contacts directly within the inbox, including data from various social networks.


2013. Yahoo acquired social email-plugin Xobni



Xobni team celebrating with money-boxes from Yahoo. ***


2012. Yahoo! Small Business allows to monitor Social Web



In the past, the Internet giant Yahoo! ventured into business-oriented projects, as evidenced by their acquisition of the collaboration platform Zimbra. However, Yahoo! later formed a partnership with Microsoft and chose not to compete directly with their partner. Consequently, Zimbra was eventually sold to VMWare. Despite these changes, Yahoo! still retains one business-oriented service in its portfolio, namely Yahoo! Small Business. This service empowers small companies and entrepreneurs to easily create a website, set up email accounts, and establish online stores. Over the years, Yahoo! has undergone executive, strategic, and priority shifts, resulting in the closure of several services. However, Yahoo! Small Business has remained operational due to its genuine customer demand and profitability. Furthermore, Yahoo! continues to allocate resources for the ongoing development of this service. Recently, Yahoo! Small Business introduced a free marketing dashboard that enables users to monitor their online reputation across social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The dashboard also offers website metrics analysis, facilitates email campaigns, and provides submission to small business directories. Notably, it incorporates social media monitoring capabilities and offers recommendations for new listing opportunities on platforms such as Yelp, Yahoo, and others.


2011. Xobni turns Email into universal access point to business apps



We have already talked about the competition between Email and corporate portals/social tools for the right to be the primary workplace. Initially, this role was fully owned by Email. Then appeared the web-based collaboration systems and social tools that were intended to replace the "outdated" Email. And it seemed that they would kill Email soon. But some clever people invented social Email plug-ins (Xobni, Rapportive, Harmon.ie, Gist, Etacts), that gave the second life to Email-clients. They added social and file-storage functions to the Email. And they're not going to stop. Today Xobni has opened the Xobni Gadget Store - the marketplace for apps, that can be embedded to MS Outlook and turn it into the universal interface to all business systems. ***


2009. Xobni is out of beta

Xobni, the social plugin for Outlook, has officially moved out of its beta phase and introduced a new version with additional features. These features include enhanced user controls that allow for better customization of Xobni's behavior, catering to users with less powerful computers who can now optimize the plugin's performance. Users can customize indexing times, configure delayed loading on Outlook startup, and more. Additionally, Xobni has secured an additional $3.2 million in investment, bringing their total Series B funding to over $10 million. This investment, led by BlackBerry Partners Fund, will be used to further develop the product and support the upcoming release of a premium version scheduled for this summer. Rick Segal from BlackBerry Partners Fund joins Xobni's board of directors as part of the investment. Cisco Systems led the initial part of the Series B funding, contributing $5 million in January 2009.


2009. Yahoo Mail Chases Gmail with IM and SMS Features

Yahoo Mail has introduced SMS and IM options, enabling users to send messages to their friends' phones or instant messaging accounts directly from the Yahoo Mail interface. These features were previously available in the new version of Yahoo Mail, but with a large number of users still on the "Classic" version, today's rollout brings these capabilities to a wider audience. The SMS functionality is quick and easy to use, resembling a typical IM chat, while the built-in messaging works well for Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live Messenger users. However, unlike Gmail, which integrates with popular IM platform AIM, Yahoo Mail lacks this feature, limiting access to a significant portion of IM contacts. This, combined with issues such as weaker spam filtering and a visually cluttered interface with graphical ads, gives me no incentive to switch to Yahoo Mail. It's not only a Yahoo Mail issue; when I recently tried AOL Mail after a few years of absence, the results were similar. While these services add new features, their core product, email, falls short in quality. Nevertheless, I understand why they still have millions of users, as AOL, Yahoo, and Hotmail were established players before Google entered the scene, creating a significant level of user lock-in. Switching email addresses is often not a feasible option for many people. However, Gmail stands out in terms of user experience, exemplified by its recent launch of offline support, bringing it closer to the functionality of desktop mail clients that many corporate users still rely on. Although Gmail's market share may be smaller compared to its competitors, this is primarily due to their head start in the industry. For newcomers to the web or individuals transitioning from desktop to webmail, Gmail should be the clear choice as their email provider.


2009. With Microsoft in Sight, Cisco invests in Xobni

San Francisco-based software maker Xobni has secured $7 million in new funding, with Cisco Systems leading the investment round. Existing investors Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Baseline Ventures, and Atomico also participated in the funding. Xobni's Outlook add-on software has already been downloaded over 1.5 million times, and the company is currently running product trials with Fortune 500 companies. Xobni has established partnerships with LinkedIn, Facebook, Yahoo! Mail, Skype, and Hoover's to integrate their data into Microsoft Outlook. Cisco's investment in Xobni is part of its ongoing competition with Microsoft in the collaboration space, following its acquisitions of Jabber and PostPath.


2008. Yahoo Gives IMAP Access to All Users Through Zimbra Desktop

In recent news, Yahoo has announced that all free and paid Yahoo Mail users will now have access to their accounts offline through the Yahoo Zimbra Desktop. This marks the first time that all Yahoo users will have offline capabilities. The Zimbra Desktop, which operates on Windows, Mac, and Linux, utilizes the IMAP protocol, offering what many consider to be superior offline access compared to the previous POP access limited to paid Yahoo Plus accounts. Yahoo acquired Zimbra, an email and messaging company, in 2007, shortly after Zimbra introduced its offline features. The Zimbra Desktop is built on Mozilla Labs' Prism, similar to Google Gears, enabling offline access to web applications. In addition to Yahoo Mail, Zimbra supports other IMAP and POP accounts, as well as accounts hosted on Zimbra servers. While still in beta, the stability of the Zimbra Desktop is evident as it is now being released to all Yahoo users, with no crashes or major issues reported during testing. The Zimbra Blog outlines various updates and features, including built-in notifications and Windows-specific functionalities. However, the absence of calendar, task, file, and contact syncing limits the utility of the Zimbra Desktop. Critics may argue that Yahoo could have allowed users to use any email client for offline access without Zimbra. Nonetheless, this move provides Yahoo users with one option for offline email access and potentially justifies their investment in Zimbra.


2007. Yahoo Mail Goes Global, Adds Text Messaging and IM

Tomorrow, Yahoo will unveil two significant updates to Yahoo Mail: the inclusion of text messaging for mobile phones and the integration of Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger. The global release of the new Yahoo Mail, which will no longer be in beta, will take place on Monday. However, the free text messaging feature will be limited to users in the US, Canada, India, and the Philippines. Users will be able to send messages to phone numbers directly from within Yahoo Mail. Additionally, the upgrade enables interoperability between Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, allowing users to exchange instant messages across both networks. Users can also convert emails into text messages or instant messages as they go online or switch to mobile. The new Yahoo Mail also includes various shortcuts that seamlessly integrate with other Yahoo products, such as adding events to Yahoo Calendar, contacts to the address book, and accessing Yahoo Maps by clicking on street addresses. These shortcuts are indicated by blue dots. The announcement follows Yahoo Mail's introduction of "unlimited storage" in May and ongoing interface enhancements since the beta version's initial release. While Yahoo Mail is now available to everyone, Yahoo Mail Classic will still be an option for those who prefer a lighter webmail application.


2007. Yahoo opens Yahoo Mail APIs, invites mash-ups

Yahoo is set to unveil its plan to open up the APIs of Yahoo Mail, allowing external web developers to create mash-up applications utilizing its mail service. Among the applications offered, Yahoo will introduce a feature that establishes a connection between Flickr and Yahoo Mail. This functionality scans the subject line of an email and searches Flickr for relevant photos, such as those related to the word "party." Yahoo envisions a range of applications that can be developed using its mail service, including accessing email through various mobile clients and integrating social networking features and multimedia with email. John Kremer, Vice President of Yahoo Mail, mentioned that the company is even providing financial incentives to developers who attract paying mail customers.


2006. Chat meets e-mail at Yahoo

For years, I've been pushing for e-mail vendors to integrate instant messaging, as they are both forms of person-to-person text communication and should be unified. Finally, major online e-mail providers are starting to make progress in this area. Google allows initiating chats from its Gmail interface, but Yahoo is taking it a step further with the first real integration of IM and e-mail. In the upcoming version of Yahoo Mail beta, you can compose an e-mail as usual, and if the recipient is online (on Yahoo IM, MSN IM, or Yahoo Mail), you can switch to a chat window. If the recipient comes online while you're composing, you receive an alert to invite them to chat, with the e-mail content seamlessly transferred. Similarly, if someone drops offline during a chat, the transcript is copied into the e-mail window. This integration simplifies the transition between the two communication types and makes it accessible to those new to IM, all without the need for a separate IM client. Although I haven't personally tested it, the demo showcased a clear and straightforward experience. The next logical step may be adding audio and video messaging to the platform.


2006. Yahoo's excellent Mail Beta now open to everyone

Yahoo's new email reader has entered public beta and after using it, it's clear that it is an excellent email application. The user experience is almost identical to working with a dedicated email program. It features a preview pane, drag-and-drop functionality for moving messages between folders, and mail-specific actions when right-clicking the mouse. One standout feature is the absence of inbox paging, allowing users to see all their messages in one continuous scroll, regardless of the quantity. Although the interface may be slightly slower than a PC email app, it remains highly efficient. Yahoo Mail Beta also includes a built-in RSS reader that syncs with My Yahoo feeds, providing an alternative way to view them. Contacts integration is seamless, allowing users to easily initiate emails by right-clicking on a contact. However, the calendar function opens a separate window to Yahoo's existing Calendar application, lacking the same level of integration. Spam filtering in Yahoo Mail Beta is not particularly impressive, with only about 50% of junk mail effectively filtered out. On the positive side, Yahoo automatically scans email attachments for viruses. While Yahoo Mail competes directly with applications like Outlook and Eudora, offering a free and fast solution, it differs fundamentally from Gmail, which excels in intelligent email grouping and provides more storage space.