Yahoo Messenger Is Shutting Down On July 17th

One of the last OG messaging services will be riding off into the sunset next month. Yahoo announced today that it will be shuttering Yahoo Messenger as of July 17th, 2018. The service initially debuted all the way back in 1998 as Yahoo! Pager. It quickly grew to become one of the most used messaging services, alongside the AOL Instant Messenger. One of the most popular features with Yahoo Messenger was the ability for users to create their own chat rooms. Yahoo discontinued this capability in 2005, after it’d received some negative press from KPRC-TV in Houston, Texas.

Yahoo cites the “changing landscape of communication” as their reason for killing off Messenger. While there aren’t’ any current plans for a Messenger replacement, Yahoo is pointing people in the direction of a service called ‘Squirrel.’ Squirrel is an invite only group messaging app that is currently in beta. 

After July 17th, users will no longer be able to access Messenger and all of their chats will be purged. You’ll still have access to your Yahoo ID for things like Yahoo Mail or Yahoo Fantasy however. 

Do you have any fond memories of Yahoo Messenger? Let us know in the comments below!