Talk:Yahoo Mail

This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Hi! I'm a COI editor for Yahoo (a client of my employer, Porter Novelli), with some edit requests for this article. To make these a bit more manageable for review, starting with just the items for the History section. Please let me know if you have any feedback to make these requests easier to review.

• Update

Yahoo! made a deal with the online communications company Four11 for co-branded white pages. Marvin Gavin, who worked at Four11 as the director of international business development, said "We always had a bias about being acquired by Yahoo. They were more entrepreneurial than Microsoft. We had a great cultural fit – it made a lot of sense." In the end, Yahoo! acquired Four11 for $96 million. The purpose behind acquiring Four11 was the company's RocketMail webmail service, which launched in 1997. Yahoo! announced the acquisition on October 8, 1997,^[1] close to the time that Yahoo! Mail was launched.^[2]

to

On October 8, 1997, Yahoo announced its acquisition of online communications company Four11 for $92 million in stock.^[3] As part of the purchase, Yahoo received Four11's RocketMail webmail service. Yahoo Mail, based on the RocketMail technology,^[4] launched at the same time.^[5]

Swapping press release citations for RS coverage and updating to reflect.

• Delete

The transition to Yahoo! Mail was not easy for many Rocketmail users.^[6]

The cited source doesn't really validate this – one blogger, writing in 2003, regrets the retirement of Rocketmail but doesn't express difficulty with the technical transition – and regardless, I don't think this opinion piece is an RS.

• Update

During 2002, the Yahoo! network was gradually redesigned. On July 2, 2002, the company website was changed, and it was announced that Yahoo! Mail and other services would also be redesigned.^[7] Along with this new design, new features were to be implemented, including drop-down menus in DHTML, different category tabs, and a new user-customizable color scheme.

to

During 2002, the Yahoo network was gradually redesigned, including the company website, Yahoo Mail and other services.^[8] Along with the new design, new features were implemented, including drop-down menus in DHTML and keyboard shortcuts.^[9]

Compressed a bit, dug up an independent source for the second sentence, and revised to reflect.

• Delete

Yahoo! Network Services senior vice president Geoff Ralston stated that

The launch of Yahoo! Mail Plus is part of Yahoo's strategic initiative to offer premium services that deliver innovative, reliable and relevant services to consumers ... In just five years, Yahoo! Mail has grown from one million to tens of millions of users, illustrating how consumers have made email an essential part of their daily lives. Through Yahoo! Mail Plus, Yahoo! continues to demonstrate leadership and innovation by offering consumers the industry's most complete and powerful email solution.^[10]

I can't imagine why we'd retain a block quote from a press release here.

• Update

However, soon Yahoo! Mail increased its free storage quota to 1 GB, before eventually allowing unlimited storage. Yahoo! Mail had free unlimited storage from March 27, 2007, until October 8, 2013.

to

However, soon Yahoo Mail increased its free storage quota to 1 GB, before eventually allowing unlimited storage from March 27, 2007,^[11] until October 8, 2013.^[12]

Just streamlining the copy a bit and adding refs.

• Update section header to "2011–2021".

• Update

On September 17, 2010, Yahoo! showed off a new Mail program to reporters.^[13][14] Codenamed "Minty", the 2011 release was announced on September 16, 2010.^[15] It included a new interface, enhanced performance, improved Facebook and Twitter integration, the ability to watch YouTube videos straight from email, and improved search.^[16] Public beta began on October 26, 2010.^[17] In May 2011, the new Yahoo! Mail became the default interface.^[18]

to

In May 2011, Yahoo Mail rolled out a new interface. It included updated design, enhanced performance, and improved Facebook integration.^[19]

Seems to me like all the detail on the press preview is WP:UNDUE. I also swapped all the Yahoo sources for an independent source and revised to reflect.

• Delete

As the new interface became mandatory for users, some users of Yahoo! Mail reported slow typing speeds, contradicting Yahoo's claims of faster performance. Yahoo! offered no resolution to the problem as of September 12, 2011^[update]. Users also missed the ability to paste textual email addresses into the sender box. The new version disabled the use of the "secondary" addresses provided in the previous version. The new interface overrode the browser's right mouse button (making functions such as opening mails in new tab windows unavailable).^{[citation needed]}

This has been tagged with {{Citation needed}} since August 2011, and I couldn't find any RS coverage of these issues.

• Update

China Yahoo! Mail officially announced its shutdown on April 18, 2013.^[20][21] Users were warned that all emails, contacts, and account settings would be inaccessible, unless users migrated to the American version of Yahoo! Mail. Individuals who made China Yahoo! Mail accounts during the Alibaba takeover were required to create new accounts under new usernames.^[21]

to

China Yahoo Mail announced in April 2013 that it would shut down that August as part of Yahoo ceasing services in China since acquiring a stake in Alibaba in 2005.^[22] Users with email address suffixes @yahoo.com.cn and @yahoo.cn could transfer their accounts to AliCloud to continue receiving messages through the end of 2014.^[23]

Swapping in independent sources and updating to reflect.

• After "In October 2015, Yahoo! updated the mail service with a "more subtle" redesign, as well as improved mobile features. The same release introduced the Yahoo! Account Key, a smartphone-based replacement for password logins.^[24]", add:

The app also added support for third-party mail accounts.^[25]

• Add before "In 2020,"

In 2019, Yahoo released a redesigned Yahoo Mail app to organize user inboxes, introducing features including a one-tap unsubscribe tool, package tracking, and travel updates.^[26] In 2020, Yahoo Mail users were able to fill Walmart shopping carts directly from their inboxes,^[27] an industry first.^[28]

• Delete

In 2022, Yahoo! Mail started offering the suffix myyahoo.com for new signups.^[29]

I couldn't find any RS coverage of this.

Add a new subsection:

In 2022, updates to the Yahoo Mail mobile app added tools to help manage receipts, gift cards, and subscriptions.^[30] AI-based additions in 2023 included a feature that automates tracking coupon codes and credits for online shopping, as well as updates to search suggestions, message summaries and AI writing assistance. ^[31] In 2024, updates to the desktop interface added more AI-based features, including a "priority inbox" tab with automatically generated summaries of important messages and automated suggestions of next actions based on message contents.^[32]

In February 2025, Yahoo aired its first Super Bowl ad since 2002, in which Bill Murray invited viewers to contact him at his Yahoo Mail email address (billhimself@yahoo.com).^[33] The address received nearly 150,000 emails in the first two hours after broadcast. ^[34] In June 2025, Yahoo Mail introduced a "Catch Up" feature that provides AI-generated summaries and email previews and prompts users to choose to delete or retain each one.^[35] As part of the feature's launch, Yahoo Mail collaborated with streetwear brand Anti Social Social Club on an apparel release.^[36]

Thanks for your time! Mary Gaulke (talk) 21:58, 17 November 2025 (UTC); adding edit COI template Mary Gaulke (talk) 19:19, 19 November 2025 (UTC)

I have made these changes! Thanks for formatting them nicely with explanations, and for your work updating the article with reliable sources. SomeoneDreaming (talk) 02:23, 27 December 2025 (UTC)

@SomeoneDreaming: Belated thank you for your help! I've also just posted my next few requests (this is batch 2/3) below if you're up for taking a look. Thanks again! Mary Gaulke (talk) 03:10, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

The user below has a request that an edit be made to Yahoo Mail. That user has an actual or apparent conflict of interest. The requested edits backlog is very high. Please be extremely patient. There are currently 399 requests waiting for review. Please read the instructions for the parameters used by this template for accepting and declining them, and review the request below and make the edit if it is well sourced, neutral, and follows other Wikipedia guidelines and policies.

Hi! As mentioned above, I'm a COI editor for Yahoo through my employer Porter Novelli. Sharing my next set of edit requests (batch 2/3), for two more sections of the article:

Update

Their current Webmail interface was introduced in 2017.

to

Yahoo Mail's current webmail interface was introduced in 2024.^[1]

• Update

In order to prevent abuse, in 2002 Yahoo! Mail activated filters which changed certain words (that could trigger unwanted JavaScript events) and word fragments into other words. "mocha" was changed to "espresso", "expression" became "statement", and "eval" (short for "evaluation") became "review". This resulted in many unintended corrections, such as "prevent" (prevalent), "revalidation" (evaluation) and "media review" (medieval).

When asked about these changes, Yahoo! explained that the changed words were common terms used in their privacy dashboard and were blacklisted to prevent hackers from sending damaging commands via the program's HTML function.

to

In order to prevent abuse, in 2001 Yahoo Mail activated filters which changed certain words and word fragments, which could trigger unwanted JavaScript events, into other words. For example, eval" (short for "evaluation") became "review". This resulted in unintended corrections, such as "medireview" (medieval).^[2]

Adding a ref and revising to reflect it.

• Update

Starting before February 7, 2006, Yahoo! Mail ended the practice, and began to add an underscore as a prefix to certain suspicious words and word fragments.

to

Yahoo adjusted its filters to address the issue in July 2002.^[3]

Again, adjusting per added citation.

This section only references primary sources, and I can't find any RS coverage of the topic. I suggest deleting it.

As always, thank you for your time! Mary Gaulke (talk) 03:09, 16 March 2026 (UTC)