I've noticed a Yahoo Toolbar suddenly making its appearance in IE on 2 of my machines. I have no idea where they came from, since I never use Yahoo. I'm guessing they piggybacked on some software, but I don't know which or how long the toolbar has been there, since I rarely use IE anymore.

Then I read this arcticle:

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/01/yahoo-switching-ie7-settings-without-permission.html

Exclusive - Yahoo Using Dirty Tactics to Switch Google & Firefox Users?
The power struggle between Yahoo and Google for your desktop just took an evil turn, with evidence that suggests Yahoo is covertly trying to switch Google search users without their explicit permission.

Over email, Jarrod Hunt of Text Link Brokers explained how a recent upgrade to Yahoo Messenger includes an innocuous “auto-update” option. When the user gives Yahoo permission to “update” – what they think is just Yahoo Messenger – the updater downloads IE 7 (which we already know to be buggy) and then proceeds to hijack many browser preferences – including search engine settings.

The updater’s first sneaky switch is to associate all web links to IE instead of the user’s default browser – in Jarrod’s case all links started opening in IE instead of Firefox. The next step in the process is an ambiguous error message saying your search settings have been changed and would you like to either “fix settings” or “allow change”. Thinking you are about to have your browser settings switched away from your default; most users – like Jarrod - will click “fix settings”. Upon doing so, they’ll find their homepage is now switched to Yahoo as the default!

There's more and some updates so its worth clicking on the link to read.

While I haven't had this particular experience, the tactic pisses me off. IMO there is little difference between Yahoo and Spyware now. So the answer is no, I do NOT Yahoo!

-Steve G.