Originally published at: https://tidbits.com/2019/10/20/yahoo-closing-down-yahoo-groups-web-site/
Yahoo has announced that it is effectively shutting down the Yahoo Groups Web interface in December. Now is the time to download any data you want to keep and consider migrating to another service.
Some groups have reported having difficultly getting to their photos even now. Iâm pulling what I can using PG Offline (Windows only )
Diane
What chance is there the Yahoo! mail service will shut down? Is that more of a viable service than Groups?
The explanation on the Yahoo site that Josh linked to has a very interesting suggestion for group members:
âYouâll still be able to communicate with your groups via email and search for private groups on the site. In addition, admins will continue to have limited access to group settings and administration tools.â
Just over a year ago Yahoo got called out for claiming it always anonymized email data when in fact they were not. They also made it rather complicated to opt out:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/28/17792522/yahoo-mail-email-scan-data-advertisers-opt-out
Yahoo and AOL are owned by Oath, which is owned by Verizon, which is In the media and communications businesses. Email gathers a lot more data from a vastly larger audience than groups do, and offers tremendously more targeting opportunities to advertisers. And thereâs also this recent mobile communications development that makes Yahoo email targeting even more attractive to advertisers:
âVerizon uses mobile to get Oath apps on Samsung phonesâ
https://adage.com/article/special-report-newfronts/verizon-mobile-oath-apps-samsung-phones/313354
Yahoo Mail is too valuable for Verizon/Oath to shut down, at least in the near future.
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NO. Yahoo is not closing down Yahoo Groups. This incorrect pronouncement has unnecessarily put non-administrator Yahoo Group members in a tizzy. Iâd like the article to be taken down and replaced with a full reflection of whatâs actually going on.
Verizon / Yahoo is stripping back all its elaborations upon the original eGroups purchased back in 2000. Itâs all going to back to bare bones email text discussions and sharing. Allowing attachments will end. All collected group files will be purged. All groups will be made Private. There will no longer be any Public groups, which IMHO is a good thing considering the subject of SPAM.
Allow me to post the (buggy) link to Yahooâs current explanation along with its text:
Understand whatâs changing in Yahoo Groups
Yahoo has made the decision to no longer allow users to upload content to the Yahoo Groups site. Beginning October 28 you wonât be able to upload any more content to the site, and as of December 14 all previously posted content on the site will be permanently removed. Youâll have until that date to save anything youâve uploaded.
What features will go away?
Files
Polls
Links
Photos
Folders
Calendar
Database
Attachments
Conversations
Email Updates
Message Digest
Message HistoryWhat will happen to the site?
The Yahoo Groups site will continue to exist, however, all public groups will be made private or restricted. Any new group members will need to request an invite or be invited by an admin. Admins will still be able to manage various group settings, though some functionality will be limited.
What will happen on October 28?
On October 28, you will no longer be able to upload any content to the site. To share info with members of your groups, youâll continue to be able to do so via email.
How can I keep my Yahoo Groups content?
Photos and files can be saved right from the Yahoo Groups site, or you can download your data from the Privacy Dashboard.
⢠Email, download and delete photos and files in Yahoo Groups
⢠View and manage data associated with your account
Will I be able to use Yahoo Groups going forward?
Youâll still be able to communicate with your groups via email and search for private groups on the site. In addition, admins will continue to have limited access to group settings and administration tools.
Derek:
Iâm an administrator of a Yahoo Group. I thought we could still send attachments - they just wouldnât be archived on the website.
Did I understand correctly that I canât attach files with the emails (posts) that are sent out?
Thank you
How does not allowing uploads and removing âall previously posted contentâ and reverting to allowing only email communications not count as âYahoo Closing Down Yahoo Groups Web Site,â as the title states? Perhaps there could have been a different headline, but I think everything we say in this ExtraBIT (which points directly at the same Yahoo site youâre copying from) is accurate.
Weâve also heard privately from a group thatâs tremendously concerned about the data that will be lost to Yahooâs move.
Iâm sorry Adam, but I have no idea why you accept that syntax. The âwebsiteâ for all groups will remain. Your article title suggests the end of Yahoo Groups. I have been contacted directly by my group members thinking this title and article are saying Yahoo Groups is ending, period. This title is quite wrong. I cannot capitulate on this point. Iâve been running groups via eGroups and then Yahoo Groups since 1998.
So propose an alternative title that makes it clear how Yahoo is stopping all uploads and deleting all archived Web content. If thereâs nothing on the Web site, how is that business as usual or positive in any way? This will have to be done in a very short time because weâre about to distribute the issue and once thatâs done, we donât change articles in any substantive way.
Letâs see. How about âYahoo Groups to Eliminate Web Features and Delete All Content; Email Continues.â Iâll go with that unless a better alternative is suggested in the next 15 minutes or so.
Frankly, if I did anything with Yahoo Groups, I would be looking for an alternative option right away. Any company that treats its users and their data like this clearly has no qualms about eliminating the remaining services in the future.
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I think the original header is 100% accurate, and more catchy and concise. Itâs what a good headline should be.
I changed my mind! I just thought of a more accurate headline:
âYahoo groups is shutting down its website and punting member participation to Yahoo Mail so it can more effectively track user data and sell more targeted ads on all Yahoo/AOL and Verizon propertiesâ
I canât find anything wrong with the article itself and wasnât really bothered by the title, but since that has now been changed, Iâm of the opinion that weâre all good now.
The admins of the Yahoo Groups that Iâm a member of have made the decision to move group due to the constraints imposed by the new rules. Many of the members have donated sufficient funds to pay for a premium move of past content to the new home.
My suggestion would be to poll your membership to see if they are OK going forward under the new rules or feel they are to oppressive to suit the needs of the group.
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No where is anything said about the Yahoo Groups âwebsiteâ going away. Thatâs an invention. Please read what Yahoo wrote and express exactly what they wrote. Thatâs clear enough, I hope. Otherwise, Iâd have to walk you through how Yahoo Groups works and will continue to work in the future, with the individual group websites as ever, but without the majority of content users have become used to. It really is as simple as reading what Yahoo wrote and not adding to what your title mistakenly assumes without merit will also occur.
This is too strange a conversation for me, clearly off on some tangent not making sense to someone whoâs been a eGroups / Yahoo Groups administrator for 21 years and has read through Yahooâs statements and understood them. I know exactly what Yahoo is stripping out and what will remain on each groupâs web page.
As for rewriting your article title, that request is too surreal for me.
Thank you Al, as ever. What group sites has your group considered (apart from Facebook)?
Of the groups I administer, one of them has collected a lot of media over time that includes audio files, member polls as well as images. Our immediate solution, as suggested from our membership is to collect all the media for future use. In response, I will be posting everything into cloud space I have available and allow open access to it as a sort of museum of the past. As this particular group is 19 years old and not very active, despite continued relevance, there is no urgent need for a recovery to full functionality.
Thank you Adam! I also entirely agree with your assessment of this situation. Dysfunctionalizing (my word) Yahoo Groups is an example, among many, of Verizonâs general attitude toward its users. Judge and respond accordingly.
Has anyone tried the Python script mentioned in the article on a Mac? It does say it needs Mongo database, but the description says it can just produce a mirror of the Yahoo site. It also says it needs a GUI because it uses Selenium (a browser automation system).
I am in the situation of having moved my groups to groups.io a couple of years ago, and left the Yahoo groups around as archives. But I would like to keep the discussions and the files, as much as anything for the timeline all the messages provide.
Iâve been recommending people move to Groups.io. They have the same functionality and then some. I use it to interface with Facebook and my Squarespace webpage. When I create a new article on my webpage, it gets mailed to my group.
If youâre using your Yahoo Group to just announce, you should look at MailChimp. Both of these have free services and a paid level.
Iâve been moving off of Yahoo Groups for a couple of years. It was obvious it was being less maintained and the direction it was heading.
Typical Yahoo/Verizon! I went through the rigamarole to get access to my stuff. (I have a bunch of photos posted to model train groups.) After a week or more, they came back with a link. I clicked on that link, and was told ânothing found.â
NO COMPANY has ever been more appropriately named than Yahoo!