Yahoo Mail, which counts 250 million active monthly users, plans in coming months to incorporate the Yahoo Messenger instant-messaging program inside the e-mail service, Yahoo executive Brad Garlinghouse said.

Consumers will be able to run the two programs in one Web browser. There is no need to download Yahoo Messenger software, a complication for users who are not technically inclined.

Yahoo’s melding of e-mail and instant messaging follows the lead of rival Google Inc., which merged its Google Talk instant-message chat service with its Gmail e-mail program. But Yahoo’s audience is roughly 10 times larger than Google’s base of e-mail users, according to industry data.

In the first public demonstration of the combined service at the Web 2.0 conference here, Garlinghouse and a colleague showed how, when a user opens up and addresses an e-mail, an icon appears if he or she is online.

Clicking the icon instantly transforms a conversation from the delayed, read-it-when-you-have-a-chance way people use e-mail into the immediate back-and-forth of an instant message conversation.

The existing version of Yahoo Messenger also offers Web-calling capabilities. Yahoo is considering how and whether to incorporate these calling features inside the merged Yahoo e-mail and instant messaging system, a spokeswoman said.

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