There seems to be some confusion about how Yahoo! Groups uses web beacons within Yahoo! Groups messages. We’d like to clarify this once and for all!

In 2000, over 7 years ago, Yahoo! added information in our Privacy Center about how we collect and use information from cookies and web beacons. That information has not undergone any significant changes since we first posted it and you can see it here http://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/webbeacons/.

One of the most common uses for web beacons is in HTML-formatted messages (they are not used in text-based email, only email that looks like a web page or that includes graphical elements). Beacons are used to count how many messages are opened and how many links are clicked on as a way to measure how useful the email was. We use web beacons in Yahoo! Groups messages to gauge how many ads are viewed and clicked on as well as how many messages were opened and acted upon. These measurements are done in the aggregate and only use anonymous information. For example, if Yahoo! processes 10 million email messages, we’d like to know if 5 million are opened and if 1 million ads within messages are clicked on. This is information we use to measure and understand advertising inventory and effectiveness within Yahoo! Groups. This is important because Yahoo! Groups is free to users because of the advertising we can offer within the messages.

Seven years ago, we were among the first companies to discuss web beacons and how they are used. Today this kind of notice is commonplace in privacy policies for most well known Internet companies. It is also an industry standard practice to use these in HTML email messages, as we do. While Yahoo! engages in practices that many other companies engage in, we are one of only a few companies that offers an opt-out. If you would like to opt out, please go to our Privacy Center page and follow the instructions there http://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/.

We hope that this clarifies the matter. If you have additional questions, please contact us using this feedback form:

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/groups/original/forms_index.html