September 20, 2006

Now available in nineteen markets, a new beta version of Yahoo Mail with more powerful features has made its debut. Some of the countries where the new Yahoo Mail is available are the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, China and India.

A rather sophisticated email service using Web 2.0 technologies, the new Yahoo Mail can be accessed from any computer connected to the Web.

"This is an important breakthrough to Yahoo Mail in the ten years of its existence," said Ethan Diamond of Yahoo. "It is all about ease of use and making the basic email tasks faster and easier for the layman."

The new Yahoo Mail features mashups, a blending of traditionally separate programs such as calendars and search, complete with additional features such as weather and maps.

Of course, Google, Microsoft MSN and others are also competing for email users, whose visits translate directly into page views and advertising revenue.

All this functionality comes at a price. According to new data from Nielsen//NetRatings, Yahoo Mail captured more than 40 percent of all online display ads in August, far more than any other single site.

Yahoo Mail even accounted for almost three times as many as the next closest site, MySpace, which accounted for 16 percent of display ads. MSN Hotmail was third with nearly 8 percent of display ads.

The total number of CPM display ads tracked by Nielsen//NetRatings was about 233 billion in August, a big jump from the 187 billion tracked just a month earlier.

Source: eMarketer