I’ve seen a few blog posts on this now, and I wanted to add my own thoughts. Some time in the last couple days Yahoo added a message to the top of their forever-in-beta podcast directory site that reads “Yahoo! apologizes deeply, but we will be closing down the Podcasts site on Oct. 31, 2007.” Not really a surprise as far as I’m concerned. Most people in the podcasting community would be able to tell you that Yahoo has ignored the site for months.
Here is what I said about the site when it launched almost two years ago:
Yahoo’s Podcasts directory is put together very nicely, I think. The layout and organization make intuitive sense, and the search functionality seems to work quite well also.
I’m not sure how many podcast directories we need, but I’d have to say that Yahoo’s is a welcome addition to the bunch.
Unfortunately, that didn’t stay true for very long.
Both Read/WriteWeb and TechCrunch invoke the magic word – video – when suggesting reasons for the site’s demise. I’m not so sure the rise of YouTube and the clones had any impact whatsoever on Yahoo Podcasts. As a matter of fact, the site lists both audio and video podcasts.
I think Yahoo chose to kill the site in part because it contains the word “podcast” in its name. I’ve written about this before, as have many others. It’s not the process or idea that’s bad, just the name.
I suspect the main reason Yahoo shut down the site is a renewed focus for the company, as speculated in the comments on TechCrunch. Just as well I guess.
Read: TechCrunch
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