Pipping rivals MSN and Google, Yahoo! is set to launch its instant messenger (IM) in Indian languages enabling thousands of Indians to chat with each other in own regional languages or mother tongue. IM is the third most popular application on the Internet after e-mail and search. Google, the path-breaking search engine, offers search in five Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. However, its chat is currently only in English.

The launch is expected to happen before the year-end. Intially, it will be available in Hindi and two other Indian languages and in the second phase in about six Indian languages. Company officials were unwilling to reveal more details. Dan Rosensweig, Yahoo's chief operating officer, said the company would look at products and platforms that scale globally but are local. For instance, IM is a product available globally but which is being localised for India.