So, after 16 years of helping people find answers to questions that they would not otherwise be able to find on their own, Yahoo is finally pulling the plug on Yahoo Answers. If you have ever had the opportunity to use Yahoo Answers before, you will recall with nostalgia how it was the first name on your lips when you want an urgent answer to those difficult questions.
In a message it sent to users yesterday, the email giant said the service will sunset on May 4 this year. According to Yahoo, the service has become less popular over the years as “the needs of our members changed.” Starting from April 20, you will no longer be able to post new questions or answers to the platform.
“However, you can still view any posted questions and answers until May 4th. On May 4th the site will be shutting down. If you would like to download a copy of your questions and answers you have posted, you can do this by signing into Your Privacy Dashboard and requesting a download. You will be able to do this until June 30th, 2021 after which your Yahoo Answers data will be securely deleted and no longer available. The closure of Yahoo Answers will not affect your Yahoo account or other Yahoo services,” Yahoo said in an email it sent to users on Sunday.
Yahoo said in the same email it sent out to users that its focus will now be to better serve its members and deliver on its promise of providing premium trusted content.
Surely it is the end of an era for a service that brought smiles to the faces of millions of people. The truth is that several other platforms with similar features and services sprang up during that period, which affected its user base. Services like Quora and even Google became even more popular; providing solutions backed by improved technology.
In the interim, and before the curtain is finally drawn on Yahoo Answers, you can visit your Privacy Dashboard to request a download of your data. You will have to do this on or before June 30 after which you will not be able to do that again.
“you and millions of other users, we built the best place on the web to ask and answer questions on a variety of topics, creating a community of global knowledge sharing.”
