Yahoo might give YourName@Yahoo.com to someone else

So you’ve got your name as your Yahoo ID, like VickyKapur@Yahoo.com, and you’ve managed to hold on to it for maybe 20-odd years.

Great, but if you don’t use that ID any more – specifically, haven’t logged on to check it for at least the past 12 months, chances are that Yahoo will deactivate it and pass it on to someone else who asks for it.

The Internet giant announced yesterday that, on July 15, it will be offering “short, sweet, and memorable” Yahoo IDs up for grabs. Like I could, in theory, get Vicky@Yahoo.com, if the current user hasn’t logged on for the past 12 months and if Yahoo thinks I am the most eligible user for that ID (Yahoo hasn’t clarified the criteria on which it will decide the allotment of those short, sweet user IDs).

“Over the last few months, we’ve made exciting changes to some of your favorite Yahoo! products, like Flickr, Mail, Weather, the Homepage and Search,” said Jay Rossiter, SVP, Platforms, on the company’s Tumblr blog.

“Today, I’m excited to share with you our next big push: we want to give our loyal users and new folks the opportunity to sign up for the Yahoo! ID they’ve always wanted,” he said.

“If you’re like me, you want a Yahoo! ID that’s short, sweet and memorable like albert@yahoo.com instead of albert9330399@yahoo.com,” he added.

“A Yahoo! ID is not only your email address, it also gives you access to content tailored to your interests – like sports scores for your favorite teams, weather in your hometown, and news that matters to you,” he said.

Starting July 15, Yahoo says it will be freeing up IDs by resetting those that have been inactive for at least 12 months. “In mid-July, anyone can have a shot at scoring the Yahoo! ID they want,” he said.

“In mid-August, users who staked a claim on certain IDs can come to Yahoo! To discover which one they got,” he advises.

If you’re one of those who have a Yahoo ID but might not have logged on for a while now, you have until July 15 to log on to any Yahoo product in order to retain it.

What are you waiting for?

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