Yahoo Shunned By TechCrunch

Yahoo! is losing its way, claim many top names in the land of Web 2.0 according to Michael Arrington, from widely acclaimed blog, TechCrunch. The claim came after Yahoo! TV relaunched, just the other day. I reported on it for Profy and many people (inlcuding an angry commenter on Profy) had things to say about the new revamped service, which weren’t all smiles! The former head of Yahoo Entertainment, Mr Erick Schwartz even put his foot into the fray, writing on the Yahoo Yodel blog, also suggesting that the company had lost its way.

Even Yahoo! employees were dragged into the fray, responding to comments, complaints and general ranting. Sal Taylor Kydd was perhaps most active in communicating with the “bashers” (as TechCrunch puts them), after dealing with a handful of complaints and then going on to give a full blown status report on what changes were being made, and doing a general job of keeping the flamers under control.

Of course, the fact that Yahoo! implemented the drastic changes to its service in the first place are quite a shock. I missed the fact that David observed, that you could no longer get a full day’s listing. To tell you the truth, it never entered my mind. At least the company is doing its best to rectify the mess it made. Of course, the swanky design is great, but in the case, usability and general appeal and satisfaction wins.

I suppose it’s another case of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. TechCrunch has quoted Dave Winer calling the whole event, and the way it’s played out and the way Google responded, “fascinating“. The feedback left on the site, was mainly anonymous, and being unmoderated, it shows that Yahoo! has good faith in its users. It’s good that a company that large does not get a swollen head, even in times like this. A good point made by TechCrunch is that “Giving employees the ability to respond directly, permanently and in real time takes guts and a commitment by senior execs to embrace users, even when they hate you.”

I couldn’t agree more. It takes a strong heart to do that. Google on the other hand, opted for the safer route of not allowing comments on their official blogs. And we were left wondering why… Now we know!