Yahoo is restructuring. We already saw layoffs. Now we’re seeing products left for dead, too.
Yahoo Is Killing Off a Bunch of Projects, Including Video App Livetext, to ‘Simplify the Business’
Livetext, Yahoo Games and a few media sites are done.
In a blog post on Friday, Yahoo said that it will shut down a number of initiatives and products, including Yahoo Games, its video messaging app LiveText and a number of regional media properties like Yahoo Astrology (in certain countries). It’s also shuttering numerous parts of its Yahoo BOSS Web search platform.
The Livetext closure is of particular note given the company proudly showed it off to journalists at a New York press event just seven months ago. The app connected users via video chat, but didn’t offer sound. That meant texting with one another while also staring at one another. The idea clearly didn’t work.
Shuttering products is almost always a bad sign, and that’s no exception here. Yahoo framed the changes as part of its “plan for simplifying the business and focusing on our strengths,” which it also touted on the company’s last earnings call during which it suggested that it was putting itself up for sale.
Here’s a partial transcript of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer defending the company and its new three-year turnaround plan with Charlie Rose on PBS earlier this week.
Livetext will shut down at the end of this month, with Yahoo Games set to close in May. The media sites will close “in the coming weeks.”
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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