• Reuters, Thursday, May 3, 2007 11 AM

Yahoo, the world's second-largest supplier of instant messaging after Time Warner's AOL, said it would start offering a Web-based version of its IM client, rather than requiring users to download software. The move would grant Yahoo access to the tens of millions of consumers who use computers at Internet cafés across the globe.

The decision is appealing to students, travelers, business pros and millions of international users who don't own personal computers. In India, for example, some 46% of the population accesses the Web via Internet cafés. "Too many people have been restricted from benefiting from this type of communication," Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo's senior vice president in charge of communications.

For many of the Web's biggies--AOL, Yahoo, and MSN--IM is a software application that's downloaded to and operates from a user's desktop. GoogleTalk, News Corp.'s IM client for MySpace and many similar platforms on other social networks are Web-based, but these reach far fewer users than their competitors. Yahoo IM users will now (ostensibly) be able to access their accounts in the member profile pages of these social networks.

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