I used to buy domains that were already listed. It was usually cheaper and a lot less hassle than getting one of my own on their list.

Sometimes I think that the people who complain about Google (and yes there is much to complain about) should think themselves lucky that Yahoo didn't finish up on top. What was it? 295 dollars and no guarantee of acceptance springs to mind.

Interested to see what it is...

"Advertisers will be upgraded to a new service; more details to be communicated directly."

Will they be refunding all the money for those that paid to get listed? It really doesn't cost them much to just keep it online.

FWIW, search is NOT the way to go when you're looking for some stuff and curated lists such as a directory are much more efficient, this sucks.

Definitely a milestone of sorts. There was a time, pre-Google, when the most common question on many web marketing forums was: "How do I get listed in the Yahoo directory?"

I'll miss the good old days where I had to pay $300 to get Yahoo! to review / list my site, and I remember so fondly how they could keep the $300 whether the site was approved or not. Oh, wait, I won't miss those days ;p So long Yahoo! Directory.

I managed to get quite a few listed for free... although the time delay from suggestion until inclusion could be a year or more.

Mack.

So... has/will G and other SE's officially modify their algorithm to no longer factor in a listing there? Did G get forewarning and incorporate it into the 9/25 update? We had a few free "nearly 20 year ago" links from YD and had a sudden drop today.

It will be nice not to have to fork out the annual listing fees that some regional Yahoo's charged. I won't miss that.

Also, I got little or no traffic from many listings, so other that the potential Google boost they had been useless for years.

I wonder if BOTW business will pick up on account of this.

definitely a chapter closing.

20 years? makes me feel my age!

incrediBILL - my thoughts too, why not just leave it online but close submissions?

with all that has been happening in the search world and google not being able to make up its mind what is relevant and what is not, a good directory would be worth its weight in gold

I got my sites in for free, but spent hours and hours trying to get clients in for $295, and then remember what a PITA it was if you had to get the description or category changed?

#goodtimes

Time to edit SEO proposal that says "Listing in quality paid directories such as Yahoo Directory..."

Typical of the shallowness of a lot of these internet companies I guess, even General Electric continues to make light bulbs as a nod to their legacy.

I once spent ages on VLIB directory which was the internet original directory looking for dropped domains that were listed. Finally I found one and bought it. Great I thought, pre google domain with a link from Tim Berners Lee, dmoz and yahoo........ I was ready to dominate the world!

About a month later someone hacked the page I was listed on (on VLIB subsidiary) and it has yet to return. So a lesson learnt "Never count on directories" they all suck.

There is a huge hole out there. It would be nice to have a human curated online directory where you could go and find a mostly complete, quality directory. No such thing exists now and probably never well since it is hard to avoid the greed, the tricks, the corruption that inevitably occurs.

It would be nice to have a human curated online directory where you could go and find a mostly complete, quality directory. No such thing exists now

They do but they are niche

"Advertisers will be upgraded to a new service; more details to be communicated directly." That intrigues me.
Clearly, there is income, and it must be significant if they are to want those paying to continue. They call them "advertisers."

One has to wonder what value there is in the directory, apart from the historical aspect. Why is a listing important? Why continue to pay for a listing or an ad listing? When was the last time you got a click from the yahoo directory?

And the wider question: Is there a future for broad line directories in general?

Directories have been finished for awhile now. End of an era with Yahoo because it's one of the first places I used to seek things online with...