Yahoo Answers Is Shutting Down For Good - Android

After nearly 16 years of existence, Yahoo Answers is shutting down next month, on May 4th. The Q&A platform will be read-only as of April 20. This means you will not be able to post new questions or answer other users' questions on the platform. The site will be completely defunct on May 4th and [...]

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After nearly 16 years of existence, Yahoo Answers is shutting down next month, on May 4th. The Q&A platform will be read-only as of April 20. This means you will not be able to post new questions or answer other users' questions on the platform. The site will be completely defunct on May 4th and will redirect you to the Yahoo homepage.

The shutting down of Yahoo Answers will not affect any other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. If you've been using the platform, you can download your data including your Questions list, Questions, Answers list, Answers, and any images you may have shared. You won't be able to download other users' content, questions, or answers, of course.

The content download is optional. However, if you choose to download, you must submit your request before June 30, 2021. Yahoo says it can take up to 30 days for the company to provide you a copy of your data. It will be formatted in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation).

Yahoo Answers is finally shutting down

Yahoo Answers is one of the longest-running Q&A platforms on the internet. The platform has been operating since December 2005 and also has a mobile app. However, it is now home to some absurd questions and equally irreverent answers. If you look at the current Discover section (which are essentially trending questions), the lack of quality on Yahoo Answers will be immediately visible to you.

As The Verge, who first reported this shutdown, noted, the platform has become a home for far-right conspiracies. "Will America survive 4 years of Joe Biden?” and "Should Trump buy Yahoo immediately to prevent Answers from being shut down?" are the types of questions trending currently. So it's not very surprising the platform lost relevance over the years.

People have moved to other question-answer platforms such as Reddit and Quora. Yahoo Answers badly needed better moderation to survive. However, Yahoo seemingly didn't care much, thus spelling the end of Yahoo Answers for good.

Yahoo, which is owned by the Verizon Media Group since 2017, has sent active Yahoo Answers members a note explaining why it is shutting down the platform. The company admits that Answers "has become less popular over the years". As such, it has decided to kill the platform to focus the resources on products that better serve its users.

Yahoo Answers is the second consumer-centric product Yahoo has killed in the past six months. Discussion board platform Yahoo Groups was shut down last December after a 20-year spell.

To be honest, Yahoo Answers won't be missed much by a vast majority of internet users. But for that small section of wayward people, they will now need to find another platform to host their absurd questions.

The post Yahoo Answers Is Shutting Down For Good appeared first on Android Headlines.