Yahoo! to free up inactive user IDs for reuse

Remember the Yahoo! ID you had created to join chatrooms all those years ago? Well, kiss your hot_dude@yahoo.com ID goodbye because Yahoo! is all set to recycle your old, unused ID in order to attract more users.

The mail service will be making IDs that have been lying dormant and unsed for over a year available to the public again, in an attempt to make the flailing mail service attractive to users yet again. In a blog post announcing this recycling project, Senior Vice President, Platforms for Yahoo!, Jay Rossiter writes that the mail service wants to give its loyal users as well as the new folks an opportunity to sign up for the ID they always wanted.

“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. 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,” wrote Rossiter.

Missed your chance at snagging your ID 15 years ago? Try your luck again!

How can you go about getting a Yahoo! ID you’ve always wanted? Well, you will have to be very patient, for this process is going to take about a couple of months. Existing and new users will be able to reserve the username of their choice in mid-July. After about a month, users who had staked claim to certain IDs can go to Yahoo! to discover whether or not they’ve received the ID. It’s kind of like a lottery, but you win an email ID that you’ve coveted for long. If you do not wish to get a new ID but want to keep your old ID safe you will need to log in to any of Yahoo!’s services on or before July 25 to indicate that you wish to keep your ID.

Clearly, CEO Marissa Mayer has been working hard to ensure that Yahoo! does not fade into oblivion as a has-been. A refresh to Flickr and the purchase of popular blogging platform Tumblr are indicative that Yahoo! has no intentions of going down, at least not without a fight.

Making older IDs available once again could attract a lot of folk who have always wanted a simple email address, but have lost an opportunity to get them on any other mail service. The lottery process will also make things easier for those with commonly used names, by giving everyone an equal opportunity to snag a simple ID on Yahoo!