Yahoo is doing a bit of spring cleaning in the summer

Jun 29, 2013 11:21 GMT  ·  By

Yahoo is taking a page out of Google's playbook and is shutting down even more unneeded and unused products. Granted, Yahoo has a lot more of those than Google. Yahoo Axis, the browser/search app hybrid is dead, Yahoo Browser Plus as well.

Several web plugins and tools are being killed off as well. AltaVista, the ancient search engine, will be shut down soon.

Yahoo Axis, a set of browser plugins and mobile apps that Yahoo billed as a new browser initially, has been shut down. The plugins won't work anymore, but the mobile apps will. They won't be updated though and Yahoo is suggesting users switch to the Yahoo Search app instead.

The Yahoo Browser Plus has been discontinued; it's no longer available and even its online presence has been wiped clean.

Citizen Sports, a community for sports fans, is dead as well. Yahoo is suggesting its Sports section and the fantasy sports websites it runs as alternatives.

The Yahoo Web Player, a JavaScript snippet that gave visitors access to a website to play an MP3 from the page without having to download it, will be shut down tomorrow. Most browsers can now play MP3s out of the box, so there's no more need for the widget.

FoxyTunes, a browser extension that enables users to control media players while browsing the web, will be shut down on July 1.

Yahoo RSS Alerts will be shut down on July 1, and Yahoo Neighbours Beta on July 8. The venerable AltaVista search engine only has a little over a week to live; it will be gone on July 8. Yahoo Stars India and Yahoo Downloads Beta will be dead by the end of next month, on July 25 and July 31, respectively.

Developers using the Yahoo Local API and the Yahoo Term Extraction API should find alternatives, as both are being removed on September 28.