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Yahoo Shutting Down Alta Vista

By TechTaffy Desk

YahooYahoo is shutting down a list of products, including the company’s Alta Vista search engine, and Yahoo Axis.

The end of AltaVista is the end of an era. Yahoo Axis, the company’s cross-device ‘search browser’ launched with much fanfare last year, on the other hand, is more a marketing fail than anything. A few cosmetic changes and a relaunch may have been more appropriate, but perhaps Yahoo feels way too many brands and brand extensions is diluting its core identity, even as the company is trying to define one, with a new CEO at the helm.

Here is a list of the items that are being discontinued:

  • Yahoo Axis (June 28, 2013) – If you installed the browser plug-in, it will no longer work. If you downloaded the app, it will continue to work, but won’t be actively maintained, says Yahoo. You can use the Yahoo Search app for iOS and Android.
  • Yahoo Browser Plus (June 28, 2013)
  • Citizen Sports (June 28, 2013) – Yahoo Sports will continue to be available, as well as the new Yahoo Sports app for iOS and Android.
  • Yahoo WebPlayer (June 30, 2013) – If you’re a publisher and currently using Yahoo WebPlayer on your site, after June 30 the Yahoo WebPlayer won’t load. Your users will continue to be able to play media files using native browser support.
  • FoxyTunes (July 1, 2013) – Yahoo Music plays on.
  • Yahoo RSS Alerts (July 1, 2013) – Another RSS products bites the dust. 
  • Yahoo Neighbors Beta (July 8, 2013)  
  • AltaVista (July 8, 2013)
  • Yahoo Stars India (July 25, 2013) – Which will continue to exist in a slightly different avatar as Yahoo! India OMG.
  • Yahoo Downloads Beta (July 31, 2013) – Yahoo Downloads will no longer support 3rd party downloads.
  • Yahoo Local API (September 28, 2013)
  • Yahoo Term Extraction API (September 28, 2013)

[Image courtesy: Yahoo]

 

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