Verizon’s website announced the platform’s cancellation on Monday with a succinct statement posted on the Yahoo Answers home page. The portal will go into read-only mode on April 20, and enthusiastic users will have until June 30 to download content, Yahoo explained on its help page.
“While Yahoo Answers was once an important part of Yahoo’s products and services, it has become less popular over the years as the needs of our members have changed,” Yahoo said in an email to Answers users sent by The Verge was obtained.
“To that end, we have decided to move our resources away from Yahoo Answers to focus on products that better serve our members and deliver on Yahoo’s promise to deliver quality, trusted content,” the email continued.
Like many corners of the internet, Yahoo Answers has become a cesspool of conspiracy theories and bizarre questions that have brought down Yahoo’s brand as it tries to scale up. For example, one of the main questions on the website Tuesday morning is, “Will Yahoo Answers be closed because conservatives have exposed America’s socialist takeover?”
Verizon VZ bought Yahoo in 2017 for $ 4.4 billion and is now under the umbrella of Verizon Media Group, which also includes Aol. Verizon recently announced plans to double the Yahoo name and create new subscription-based services using the name. Yahoo claims to have 20 million unique daily visitors.