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Video made easy in 9.0 BETA

March 14, 2008 on 3:39 pm | In 9.0 version, Features | 31 Comments

One of the handiest features of the new Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 BETA is the inline video player. Unlike older versions of Yahoo! Messenger, 9.0 BETA automatically plays videos from services like YouTube and Yahoo! Video right in the IM window while you chat. No longer do you have to click the link that a friend sends you to watch on a separate website. Here’s how it works…

If a friend IM’s a video link to you from a site like YouTube or Yahoo! Video, a small video window will automatically appear in your conversation. Just click the play button on the video window to start viewing. The inline video player currently supports videos from Yahoo! Video, YouTube, Google Video, Im.tv, and Veoh.

To share a video from Yahoo! Video or YouTube with a friend, first get the link to the video from the website. On Yahoo! Video, click the “Share” button near the bottom of the video and copy the link in the “Link” box. Or copy the URL from the browser address bar (sample link: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2202820/6961859).

On YouTube, you can copy and paste the link from the browser address bar, such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-jEc5UA_Ew. If you see a YouTube video on another site that you want to share, click the “YouTube” logo button in the lower right corner, then copy the link in the ‘url’ box.

Once you have the link, just paste it into the text box in your IM window and hit Send. We’ll take care of the rest! Looking for some fun videos to share? Check out the 2008 Yahoo! Video Awards.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

P.S. – Are there other video services you often share links from? Let us know by leaving a comment here on the blog and we’ll try to support it in future versions of the inline video player.

31 Comments »

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  1. cool!!!

    Comment by e.p — March 14, 2008 #

  2. can we disable this feature? and the auto picture show (or whatever it’s called)?
    i have a limited quota of internet connection so i don’t want somebody steals my quota for these kind of thing. thx.

    Comment by ariady — March 14, 2008 #

  3. I agree with the above comment. I’d like to also see a way to disable this feature.

    But, I’d personally like to see Myspace and Google videos supported.

    Comment by Venom — March 14, 2008 #

  4. Wow.. thatz way too cool…
    I love it!

    Comment by mayooresan — March 14, 2008 #

  5. It is so exciting to find beta 0.9 on the screen. I am using yahoo since 1999 till today and I am most satisfied with the improvements added and giving lot of pleasure to the user. Best Wishes to the team.

    [A devoted surfer from Mumbai-India since 1999]

    Comment by Sunder Thadani — March 15, 2008 #

  6. There are two other video sites that I know of: DailyMotion and Google Video.

    However, I do miss the Classic skin

    Comment by qct_3 — March 15, 2008 #

  7. dear Yahoo!, when you make final version of messenger 9 ? i am waiting for 5 months and it’s still beta…your company is working or just sleeping ???? kiss for Sarah !!

    Comment by alyn_nr_1 — March 16, 2008 #

  8. respons to alyn_nr_1: 5 months is not bad, the macintosh version has been in beta stage for 2 years now.

    Comment by Mihai — March 16, 2008 #

  9. Can you also add Veoh Videos for this feature?

    Comment by jeffrey — March 17, 2008 #

  10. The currently supported video sites are:

    Yahoo!
    YouTube
    Google
    Yahoo! Music videos
    IMTV
    Yam
    Wretch
    Youku

    Others can be added pretty easily.

    @ariady: if you toggle the video or picture closed, using the toggle button at the end of the URL, the inline players will stay closed until you toggle them open again. URLs from people who are not on your friends list also won’t be shown by default. No additional bandwidth is used until you open the player, and with videos, very little bandwidth is used until you actually click to play the video.

    Comment by JD — March 17, 2008 #

  11. Will this feature be added to the yahoo messenger for Vista. I really like the messenger but whys is it taken so long to release another beta

    Comment by Mark — March 18, 2008 #

  12. I HAVE MY ON VIDEOS N UCTVN.ORG UNDER LAMB OF GOD MINISTRIES.THEY WILL PLAY ON MY COMPUTOR AT HOME ,BUT WANT PLAY
    ON MY LAPTOP.WILL THIS BETA PROGRAM HELP MY LAPTOP ??? PLZ REPLY

    Comment by GENO REID — March 18, 2008 #

  13. Is this able to be turned off? I’m not sure this is even necessary for an IM.

    Comment by Cliff S — March 18, 2008 #

  14. how i use my cam in beta or vista any idea can help thanks

    Comment by joe — March 19, 2008 #

  15. [...] then have to open the link and watch the video with you. Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 is changing that. A new feature in the Y! Messenger 9.0 Beta enables you to share and basically “embed” the video directly within an instant messaging [...]

    Pingback by Yahoo Messenger Now Comes With Embedded Video | TeqEdge Blog — March 21, 2008 #

  16. Well great feature,i want to add Netlog Movies too,i think you heard about netlog,its a community site and has the Section VIDEOS,well you can put the Netlog Videos on Messsenger Player?

    Thanks

    Comment by Vlad — March 24, 2008 #

  17. It ussually works awsome but some of my friends say all they get is the word “test” on a blank screen. (while on my side the video plays as if it’s working fine). they have the latest version of java and messinger version 9.0. but nothing happens.

    Comment by Sam — March 25, 2008 #

  18. Is this video player supposed to run the video simultaneously? For both viewers to watch together? I tried to use it with a friend using the older version of yahoo messenger and the small circle next to the link that opens the video did not appear for them but it worked fine on my end. I love this. I am glad yahoo made this instead of having users use third party add-ons. This is cool. If the videos are going to run simultaneously that would be awesome. Watching a video while chatting on cam..? How cool is that? I have family all across the country and this would be an awesome tool to use during video conferences with them. Good job.

    Comment by Ross Martinez — March 31, 2008 #

  19. thank u alot

    Comment by eiad — June 13, 2008 #

  20. how about fixing messenger it so it doesnt crash after u log in with vista then worry about what video players to put on it .. i have home premium and it crashes after about 10 minutes and i dont even join a room i just IM friends and i’m on the new 9.0 not the beta version.. the new version looks great and i like the new skins but what good are all these new features if 9.0 keeps crashing

    Comment by zip — September 28, 2008 #

  21. Does getting the video thing cost money? Or does it take downloads?

    Comment by amalin — October 2, 2008 #

  22. [...] a friend sends you a video link from a site like YouTube or a link to an online photo, they will show up right in your IM conversation. For videos, a full player appears; just click the play button to watch it right it in your IM [...]

    Pingback by Fayaballz » Yahoo Messenger 9.0 — November 8, 2008 #

  23. [...] a friend sends you a video link from a site like YouTube or a link to an online photo, they will show up right in your IM conversation. For videos, a full player appears; just click the play button to watch it right it in your IM [...]

    Pingback by Fayaballz » Yahoo Messenger 9.0.0.2034 — December 2, 2008 #

  24. I would like to know if it’s possible to support also videos from Trilulilu (www.trilulilu.ro).
    Y!M is the number one instant messaging program used in Romania, and Trilulilu is the number one Romanian video sharing site used in Romania (here you can find traffic sources http://wall-street.ro/sati). I think most of Romanian users will be more than happy to use this feature, and I think it will make a lot of buzz.

    Please contact me if you can help us with this feature.

    Thank you

    Comment by Calin Biris — March 11, 2009 #

  25. What is the best media player?

    Comment by john locke — June 2, 2009 #

  26. Thank you for helping us with the inline video player feature.
    (trilulilu.ro)

    Best regads

    Calin Biris

    Comment by Calin Biris — July 15, 2009 #

  27. THANKS FOR YAHOO LU LU VIDEO.
    I AM FRM- LAKHISARAI BIHAR

    Comment by HAPPY SINGH CHAWLA — July 18, 2009 #

  28. plz help me to run the online chating because i am the first time.

    Comment by jafour iqball — July 19, 2009 #

  29. to quote JD:

    @ariady: if you toggle the video or picture closed, using the toggle button at the end of the URL, the inline players will stay closed until you toggle them open again. URLs from people who are not on your friends list also won’t be shown by default. No additional bandwidth is used until you open the player, and with videos, very little bandwidth is used until you actually click to play the video.

    The problem lies in that you shouldn’t have to toggle a window open or closed. These links embed with the video player already open, freezing up slower connections. There should be an option to allow or disallow video embedding.

    This is an instant chat messenger, not an internet browser. Sometimes forced embedded content isn’t always a good thing.

    Comment by n — October 18, 2009 #

  30. HI, I want to know if there is possible to implement http://www.zagazaga.ro from Romania, it’s a site with legal sales of copyrighted music. Evereybody share videos, and I think it would be great to have this working in YM.

    Comment by Daniel — October 18, 2010 #

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    Comment by logiciel turf — June 5, 2011 #

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