Microsoft, Yahoo Link Instant Messaging

Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., in a move to challenge America Online Inc.’s dominance of Internet messaging, have linked their services.

Subscribers to the latest versions of Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger with Voice now can communicate over the Internet with one another, the companies said.

The partnership may help Microsoft and Yahoo, owner of the second-most-used Internet search engine, gain ground on AOL and lure more users to their websites as both try to fend off Google Inc., the world’s most-used search engine.