Yahoo Messenger API Launch Delayed

Yahoo has recently announced that it plans to launch a Yahoo Messenger API. The plan was to deliver the tools to the developers tomorrow along with the full details of the release. It seems that the company wasn’t able to get the APIs to a level of polish they would be confident enough with to launch, so they’re pulling back on the initial plans. Yahoo says the APIs will be ready soon enough, but they won’t be available tomorrow. What’s more, there’s no new date set for the release, just a vague ‘July.’

“An update on the Yahoo! Messenger APIs: This is taking a little longer than we thought. However, we’ll still be launching the new Yahoo Messenger IM APIs very soon. We have some last-minute details to take care of,” Dudley Wong, Yahoo Messenger Product Manager, explained.

“Let me say that we are really excited about the response and enthusiasm that we’ve received around the opening of the Yahoo! Messenger IM API platform. However, we want to make sure that these new APIs meet your expectations, that they are as simple as possible, and that they contain all the key features that you need to develop great applications and services,” he added.

Yahoo didn’t provide any details about what kind of problems, if any, are keeping the APIs from being ready. In all likelihood, it was a last minute show-stopper that ruined the initial plans as the APIs must have been in the works for some period before the announcement two weeks ago.

In practical terms, it doesn’t mean that much for developers potentially interested in the APIs. Since Yahoo didn’t provide much technical details when it first made the announcement, developers are waiting for the actual release to see what they have to work with. It seems that they’ll just have to wait a little longer, though Yahoo says the APIs are coming “very soon.”