I’m [Finally] Bidding Adieu to Yahoo and Here’s Why

Years ago when I started exploring the world of Internet as a teenager, Yahoo Messenger already rose to fame. I remember creating a Yahoo account -my first ever email ID to start using Messenger and chatting with unknown people from around the globe.

I remember almost all chat sessions beginning with “asl plz” and I had no idea what that meant. Slowly I started getting used to the Instant Messaging world. It was a great experience -talking with strangers, using acronyms and emoticons and all that.

The World of Spam, and More Spam

This was also the time when I first experienced spam. Once I started joining chat rooms, I used to get spam messages from random people. Some wanted me to see them naked (but why?), others wanted to make me the only heir of their property (please do!), sell Viagra to me (no thanks) and what not!

Not no mention this spam was not limited to Messenger. It slowly started taking over my inbox. Receiving such unwanted emails was common in those days and sadly it continues till date. At the time of writing this, my Yahoo inbox has thousands of unread emails -all spams. Surprisingly, my spam folder has fewer emails than inbox!

This is when the actual problem starts. The “spam filter” is supposed to filter-out those unwanted mails and move them to Spam. The irony with Yahoo? It does the opposite! 9 out of 10 emails in my “inbox” are spam. In case you’re thinking I’m talking about the email ID I created in my teenage -years ago, I’m not.

Ads: (Don’t) Want Some? Get Some

If being hammered by this continuous spam was not enough, Yahoo introduced all kind of advertisement it possibly could. On the login page, in my inbox, in search results, in Messenger and everywhere else, ads started taking over content.

Of course Google also uses ads everywhere. But Yahoo was (and is) one (or many) step(s) ahead. Somehow Yahoo though it could slip ads everywhere on their services and it was some really cool thing to do. Those full-page ads, auto-play ads, sidebar ads, rollover ads -every type of ad that ruins your experience can be seen on Yahoo.

You don’t usually get to see such services who use ads as aggressively as Yahoo -especially when it is one of the oldest and most widely used services. After spam, this is where Yahoo failed me.

Ruining Every Aspect of User-Experience

Like millions of other users, I kept watching Yahoo turn into a wreck. Spams, ads and a completely messy experience. Yahoo services take ages to load, even when ads are blocked. The Yahoo homepage is now full with ads which are mixed with content.

If that’s not enough, Yahoo now starts playing useless videos when you enter an empty folder. “Your Spam folder is empty. Here are some great videos for you to watch.” Woo hoo! I just wanted to watch these videos, I mean that’s why I was checking my emails -so I could watch such randomly awesome videos. Keep’em coming Yahoo, keep’em coming.

I Was A Yahoo Fanboi (or Boy, or Something Like That)

There was a time when I used to vouch for Yahoo. When people were creating new emails on Gmail, I used to prefer Yahoo and asked others to do the same. Now it turns out how wrong I was. Yahoo has simply turned into an ad platform and I’m not okay with that.

I know ad blockers can eliminate ads but the spam? No one including Yahoo can get rid of that. The amount of spam I receive sometimes make me think it’s Yahoo who gives away my email! And no, I use other services -including Gmail and Hotmail (Outlook), too.

This can be my personal experience only but Yahoo has turned into a mess. The service which I loved to love is no longer the same. It has been months since I have sent a single email or instant message from Yahoo. And today, I want to make sure it’s the last day I will ever see Yahoo again.

Saying Goo(gle)d Bye to Yahoo

Some of Yahoo’s services have always been great. Its homepage is still one of the most viewed page on the Internet. Yahoo Answers, Flickr, Weather, Sports -all these have been my favorites -but not anymore as I won’t be using them.

In past few years, Google have took over my interest. It provides me with pretty decent and fast email (Gmail), photo sharing service (Google Photos), a social network (Google Plus), messaging service (Hangout) and a lot more. I have completely replaced Yahoo and I no longer feel the urge of using it, just because I’m a Yahoo Fan.

Yahoo Continues to Fall

Meanwhile, Yahoo’s demise continues. Earlier this year, Yahoo announced it would cut-down some 11,000 employees from its workforce as its revenue continues to fall. Yahoo is currently reviewing bid options and corporations like Verizon are in the race.

Marisa Mayer -the millionaire CEO of Yahoo also slowed-down with Yahoo’s acqui-hire frenzy.

I know it’s not only Ms. Mayer’s responsibility to turn things around at Yahoo. But when a top ex-Google employee is hired by a company to save it from sinking, expectations are definitely higher.

Get Well Soon, Yahoo!

It hurts to see one of my favorite online place turn into a mess. I deeply feel sorry to see Yahoo slowly perishing. I want someone to euthanize Yahoo and free it from the pain of becoming some of the worst online services alive.

I hope Yahoo will get well soon, and instead of just thinking about making money off its services -Yahoo will think about improving those services and user-experience.

I wish Yahoo could continue to be my favorite online service but my long-lasted faith is gone now. I am not okay being hammered by spam, ads and horribly slow services it has to offer.

I’m bidding adieu to Yahoo -completely, totally, literately.

Goodbye Yahoo, it was fun while it lasted.

Let me end this by quoting Marissa Mayer about user-experience.

The utmost thing is the user experience, to have the most useful experience.

For the record: I’m not being “paid” by anyone to write this article, as a gentleman from Yahoo implies here on Quora. This article is based on my own experiences.

I mean who would even pay me to write stuff? I wish someone did, sigh.