Photo by Leon Brocard/Flickr
Internet giant Yahoo! is pulling the plug on seven of its products, including its mobile app for BlackBerry smartphones, in an effort to sharpen its focus, the company’s executive vice-president of Platforms Jay Rossiter announced.
Six products will be shut down on 1 April: Yahoo! app for BlackBerry, Yahoo! Clues (beta), Yahoo! App Search, Yahoo! Sports IQ, the Yahoo! Message Boards website, and Yahoo! Avatars. Yahoo! Updates API will be closed as of 16 April.
Consumers who have already downloaded the BlackBerry app can continue to use it but it will no longer be actively supported.
Internet users who want to keep using their avatars on Yahoo’s online services must download their avatar and then re-upload the information to their personalised Yahoo! profiles.
In a post on Yahoo!’s blog, Rossiter wrote that the company is focused on making its users’ daily habits “more inspiring and entertaining”.
“This means that we’re constantly reviewing and iterating on our products and experiences,” Rossiter wrote.
“In other cases, after much thought and deliberation, we decide to shut down some products. Before making these decisions, we look at a variety of factors. The most critical question we ask is whether the experience is truly a daily habit that still resonates for all of you today.
“Ultimately, we’re making these changes in an effort to sharpen our focus. By continuing to hone in on our core products and experiences, we’ll be able to make our existing products the very best they can be,” Rossiter added.
