Version 10 of Yahoo! Messenger is now out. I'm partial to the official Yahoo Messenger client since I worked on the design of it for several versions. However, I simple loathe the ad in the main window. Since I tend to keep this window up on my desktop most of the time, the ad really draws the eye, especially when it's aggressively animated. I finally got annoyed enough today to do something about it.A quick search led me to this tool: Ad Banner Remover Plus. It works perfectly for me, and also has a few additional features as well, such as replacing the startup animation sequence, or even adding a search box for finding emoticons quickly. (tho I still prefer my method better).
I'm all for Yahoo! monetizing their services, but I really wish they could do it in a much more intelligent way. There are so many other ways to do it better. I think Pandora is a good example of monetization done right. Contextual ads—such as those seen in Gmail—would be another way to do it within a conversation window. Heck, I wouldn't mind even leaving the ad in the Messenger window if I could turn off the animations and also request only top-tier ads (e.g. no lower your bills or refinance your mortgage ads with the craptastic visual design and seizure-inducing animations).
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