Yahoo Confirms Layoffs, Will Shut Down Multiple Services Including Delicious and Buzz

December 17 (Beijing Time) -- According to foreign media reports, as part of its efforts to restructure its struggling network business, Yahoo! might close some well-known Internet products, such as the social bookmarking tool Delicious and the social calendar Upcoming. Dana Lengkeek, a female spokesperson for Yahoo!, confirmed this news on Thursday.

On Thursday, multiple websites circulated a piece of news showing screenshots of leaked Yahoo! documents indicating that some Yahoo! services would be shut down or merged with other services. This photo was first posted online by Eric Marcoullier, the founder of the blog social network MyBlogLog acquired by Yahoo! in 2007. Marcoullier no longer works at Yahoo! and stated on Twitter that he found the photo online.

In addition to Delicious and Upcoming, the screenshot appears to show that other independent products, such as the news aggregator Yahoo Buzz and the search tool AltaVista, will also be merged or closed. Dana Lengkeek, a female spokesperson for Yahoo!, said via email: "The internal restructuring will involve cutting investments in underperforming or non-strategic products, and better focusing on our core strengths and investing in innovative technologies. We plan to close products like Yahoo Buzz and Traffic APIs in the coming months. We will announce specific plans at the appropriate time."

If this were another Internet company, such news might cause panic. Although Yahoo! failed to take advantage of the social networking space dominated by Facebook and Twitter, many of its tools, including Delicious, which it acquired in 2005, were among the first services targeting social networking and reshaping the way people share content online.

Yahoo! announced on Monday that it would lay off 650 employees, about 5% of its total workforce, to cut costs. These layoffs are expected to come from Yahoo!'s product department responsible for services like Delicious and Yahoo Buzz.