What and why of Error 999

Some of our users have reported getting an error page while adding members to their groups with error code 999.This post is to clarify what causes error 999 and why users are seeing it recently.

This error page is invoked when a user tries to create too many groups and/or tries to add too many members within a short duration.  What is too many ? We have pre-set limits on these actions. These limits are there to prevent abuse (spammers and automated programs to create groups and spam users).  Recently, we’ve changed these limits and have seen reduction in spurious spam groups.

But as a consequence, some legitimate users trying to bulk-add members might have been affected as well. We’ve listened to the feedback and have again adjusted the settings.

So if you are trying to add a lot of members in a short span of time – you might face this issue. As a work around, you could try to add members in smaller quantities spread over a day or two. We recognize that we have to balance the need of our users to add many members quickly, while preventing the spammers from abusing. We are working on making it easier for legitimate users to bulk-add members. We will keep you posted on further developments.

- Yahoo! Groups Product team