A blog post on the company's Tumblr page details a host of products that Yahoo is discontinuing in order to focus on improving its core features.
When Google randomly announces that it is about to axe a product, feature or service, the internet explodes under the weight of criticism and from the offers of companies competing to fill the void that the search giant's exit is about to create. Look at the debacle following the shuttering Google Reader (officially closed as of July 1), which led to White House petitions and pledges from everyone from Digg to Reddit to create a better RSS reader to meet this need.
Now contrast that with Yahoo, which not that long ago was the world's most popular search destination and, along with Hotmail, constantly in the top two web mail services, globally. This week, the company announced the closure of AltaVista. Despite its being one of the web's first search engines, it is doubtful if anyone, even its last remaining users, will mourn its passing on July 8 or launch a campaign to keep it online. There are a host of alternatives on the market, not least from Yahoo itself.
The axing of Yahoo! Axis is a bit more surprising, seeing as it was quite an elegant and well-made browser plug-in and smartphone app and had only been around for a year. It won praise and admirers and was seen as a sign that the company was finally moving in the right direction once again. However, Yahoo is integrating Axis's features into its Yahoo! Search iOS and Android apps.
It is also integrating its standalone content about India's biggest celebrities -- Yahoo! Stars India -- into its OMG India portal.
As Jay Rossiter, Yahoo's EVP of Platforms, explains in a blog posting: "Earlier this year, we announced an ongoing effort to sharpen our focus and deliver experiences that enhance your daily lives. As part of that, today we're shutting down a few products so we can continue to focus on creating beautiful products that are essential to you every day."
The full list of affected products and services: http://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/54125001066/keeping-our-focus-on-whats-next