Yahoo will cull a number of its products over the coming months in an effort to sharpen its focus on its more important assets. On April 1st, Message Boards, Avatars, Sports IQ, Clues, and the Yahoo app for BlackBerry devices will all be shut down, although some parts of the services will continue operating. Yahoo's Finance and Fantasy Sports Message Boards will live on, and although it will no longer be updated or officially supported, users with the Yahoo BlackBerry app already installed will be able to continue using it.
The cuts are just the latest big change at Yahoo
The cuts are just one facet of a continuing line of big changes at Yahoo. After hiring ex-Googler Marissa Mayer last Summer in an attempt to turn its fortunes around, Yahoo recently unveiled a full redesign of its homepage and email services. Yahoo Platforms executive vice president Jay Rossiter says that the closures were the result of "much thought and deliberation," but "the most critical question we ask is whether the experience is truly a daily habit that still resonated for all of you today." The answer to that question was obviously "no." It's not clear if the company will develop a new Yahoo app for the BlackBerry 10 platform, or if it thinks its mobile site — also recently redesigned — is enough for BlackBerry users.