Yahoo! pushes e-mail service with Ymail launch

Yahoo! is launching a major push behind its Yahoo! mail service, starting with a new domain main. Ymail.com, which will launch on June 19, aims to bring in new users and drive advertising revenue.

The internet company says the launch follows research that showed that new users were not signing up because they could not get the e-mail address they wanted.

Georges Hadjigeorgiou, general manager of communications and community products, Yahoo! Europe, says the domain name will increase the audience for the mail service, and subsequently increase inventory.

He adds: “If you are paul.smith608@yahoo.com you are less likely to use the mail address in professional circumstances. But if you are paul.smith@ymail.com you are more likely to use this address.”

Hadjigeorgiou says Yahoo! is also preparing to launch new methods of advertising over Yahoo! Mail. It will offer a service called Calendar Events, where an advertiser can send a mail and offer the use a chance to enter a recurring “unobtrusive” reminder into their Yahoo! Mail calendar. Users will also be able to download branded stationary.

Yahoo! Mail is twice the size of its nearest rival, Hotmail, in terms of overall and broadband users, according to Jupiter Research. It currently has over 250 million users.