Shoutbox

The adverts at the right are called tabs. They can be removed by going to the main Messenger Window > Tools > Options > Security > uncheck the box next to "This is a shared computer so don't display my tabs".

You can pick which search engine you want that search bar to use with StuffPlug-NG

The status idea is useless because you can already see it in the yellow box under their name.

You can deactivate the nudges in the Messenger Settings.