Yahoo Directory To Close

As part of a progress report from Yahoo, it was announced on Friday that the Yahoo directory is to close at the end of 2014.

The post from Jay Rossiter stated:

Yahoo was started nearly 20 years ago as a directory of websites that helped users explore the Internet. While we are still committed to connecting users with the information they’re passionate about, our business has evolved and at the end of 2014 (December 31), we will retire the Yahoo Directory. Advertisers will be upgraded to a new service; more details to be communicated directly.

The directory began back in 1994 when founders Jerry Yang and David Filo created it as a way for people to find information on the web by browsing through organised lists of websites.

Yahoo began as a straightforward directory and stayed that way for many years until the early 2000’s, when it started to become a little more advertiser focused. It was the place to go for all your search needs before Google came about in 1998. Google’s automated search results proved a big hit and focused more on the customer rather than the advertiser, which has gone in its favour.

It is always a shame to see something that has been around for so long come to an end, but with Google forever updating the way it controls the web, making it a better place for users to find relevant information, then I feel it was always going to be a challenge for Yahoo to make the directory as appealing as it once was.