Yahoo Directory Shutting Down in December 2014

Here is an interesting announcement that came out of Yahoo last week…

Yahoo has decided to shut down Yahoo Directory! At the end of this year, Yahoo Directory will be no more, and current customers of the directory will be “upgraded” to a new service. They have not disclosed any details about this new service.

For most veterans in the Internet industry, you know what it is. But for those who have never heard of it, you can think of it as one of the top 3 directories that has ever existed up to this point. Yahoo Directory is one of the oldest and most authoritative web directories around. Next to DMOZ, it was probably the most visited and respected directories in the world. For nearly 20 years, SEOs, Internet Marketers, and small business owners all flocked to Yahoo Directory to get their business listed.

According to Yahoo, the reason why they are shutting it down is because their “business has evolved.” I’m somewhat surprised by this move given that they were probably making a lot of money with it. There are many things that they could do with it, instead of just shutting it down.

Despite the unexpected decision by Yahoo, it’s not the first time a major web directory was shut down. Back in 2011, Google decided to shut down their own Google Directory. These decisions are a bit different though considering that Google’s Directory was purely powered by DMOZ, while Yahoo’s Directory is a completely unique database. Furthermore, Yahoo Directory is a paid directory – meaning they charged for every commercial listing.

For SEOs and small business owners, it’s one less strong directory to submit to. For the other web directories, it’s probably good news, as this is a major player that they no longer have to compete against.

What do you think of this news?