Yes you can remove these, however keep in mind that these "ads" pay for the service that
you're using. Not only could they be made more "annoying" then the small animated gifs that
they are now (for example, AOL Instant Messenger now adds sounds to their advertisements),
but they could also end up in the actual conversation windows (like ICQ).
However, it's understandable (especially in corporate settings), and if you really "must"
remove these, you can use a third-party utility like Messenger Plus (http://www.msgplus.net).
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
Messenger Plus is a third-party addition to Messenger, it's not its own Messenger client.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com