Yahoo! Keeps Angering Customers

from the it's-not-getting-better dept

It’s not clear that Yahoo realizes what sort of publicity mess they’ve gotten themselves into at this point. Beyond the growing anger from many users over the forced resetting of spam preferences, their confusing explanation and user interface have lead to users losing access to their email pop forwarding abilities. The thing that surprises me most about all of this is that with all the uproar from angry users, Yahoo hasn’t said a word. It’s unclear if the decision makers there realize what they’ve done wrong, and just how much they’re pissing off their users.


Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “Yahoo! Keeps Angering Customers”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
4 Comments
alternatives() says:

You havn't figured it out yet, have you?

Yahoo! has a big cost in the bandwidth. (in fact they were just de-peered in many places last month)

The POP people don’t see the advertisments and therefore have no chance of contributing to the bottom line.

The people who are upset over the “please spam me” settings are also ones who are ‘conditioned’ to ‘ignore’ advertising. So they are a cost, not a profit center.

Yahoo! is working to lower its costs by driving away users. They drove me away from Yahoo! search and right to Google when they did the X10 pop up advertising. They don’t WANT people using their bandwidth, and they can’t just paddlock the doors and close up shop, that would get them sued. So, they are ‘using a new business model’, and, well, the old one of giving everything away for free didn’t work too well did it?

Mike (profile) says:

Re: You havn't figured it out yet, have you?

No, I see that that is a possibility. However, the people I’ve spoken with at Yahoo say it’s not true – and I believe them. They still want to keep traffic high (despite everything, advertising still does make money for them). If they piss people off and they all go away, then even their advertising rates go down. Plus, the idea is that the more people they have stick around, the more likely they are to eventually switch to the paid service. So, while I see the argument you’re making, I don’t think that’s what Yahoo is really trying to do.

alternatives() says:

Re: Re: Boggles my mind then.

Well, if Yahoo! isn’t trying to drive customers away, then they failed with me when they started the X10 pop-up ads. I did keep going back for about a month, hoping they’d stop.

My cronies would say “why are you still using Yahoo! ?”, and I’d explain that it was habit, and that my use helped them sell ads.

But no more.

I check in about once a month, just to keep the accounts active, but otherwise, I’m not ‘eyes’ for yahoo! to sell. (I use the accounts for e-mail tests)

coop says:

Yahoo SUCKS!!!

I recently signed up for Yahoo Pop mail access and paid $20 for it. I can not send emails from any pop mail program (outlook, outlook express, etc.) I figure that I’ve spent $30 in long distance charges sitting on hold for hours with their technical support which, by the way, sucks. They refuse to refund my money and I evidently have no recourse. I am becoming a Yahoo hater. They are doing something wrong. I don’t know what they are trying to do but they aren’t making any friends lately. I noticed today that I can’t find the link anymore to sign up for the pop access. I think they may have pulled it due to problems. A week ago they were pushing it like crazy going as far as sending me emails advertising it.

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...