Wednesday, September 12, 2007

How to shut down a popular site

Lessons on shutting down a service from Yahoo! Photos from Signal vs. Noise by Matt

Yahoo! is shutting down Yahoo! Photos in a week. It's tough to paint a pretty picture with that information but I think the way they've handled this touchy situation is impressive.

1) They sent an email 2+ months in advance so customers had time to prepare for the closing.

2) They provide a list of alternative photo sites: customers know their options and don't feel like left up a creek without a paddle.

3) They offer to do the heavy lifting and move photos to any of these other photo sharing services explaining exactly how the transfer works, down to the number of emails to expect and how long it will take.

4) You can download hi-res photos individually or buy an archive CD at a reduced price.

5) They offer clear FAQs about the closing and how to move photos elsewhere.

6) They understandably pitch their own related service, Flickr, but also acknowledge it may not be for everyone.

No comments:

ShareThis