If you install the newest Yahoo Messenger 8.0 (and I'm sure it's hard to resist to Yahoo's update dialogs), you'll notice a very annoying animated ad at the bottom of the main window.
How to get rid of the ads?
1. Close Yahoo Messenger.
2. [For Yahoo Messenger 8.0.0.683 or lower]
Save This File (.bat text file) and execute it.
[For Yahoo Messenger 8.0.0.701]
Save This File and execute it. You won't be able to enter the chat rooms, so if you use this feature, don't run the patch or Downgrade Messenger and run the file from the previous section. To prevent the automatic update, rename yupdater.exe from C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger to yupdater.exe.bak.
The .bat file you've just downloaded edits most registry values related to the ads in Yahoo Messenger from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Yahoo\pager\YUrl, replacing the data with a dummy asterisk. Here's the list of string values:
Messenger Ad
Webcam Upload Ad
Webcam Viewer Ad
Webcam Viewer Ad Big
Webcam Viewer Ad Medium
Change Room Banner
Conf Adurl
Chat Adurl
If you install new versions of Yahoo Messenger, you'll have to repeat the steps above, as Yahoo setup rewrites the registry entries. New versions will most likely make removing the ads more difficult or even impossible.
