Yahoo Takes Axe To Maps, Regional Media Properties

Yahoo! Inc. YHOO will take the ax to its maps site along with a slew of regional media properties, the company said Thursday.

Yahoo shares closed at $42.88, down $0.33.

In addition, Yahoo will drop support of its Yahoo Mail on Apple Inc. AAPL systems older than iOS5, and support for Yahoo Contacts on Mac computers older than Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

Mail and contacts access on older Apple systems will continue to be available via Safari browsers, the company said.

Yahoo seeks to ensure that "our resources are spent smartly and with a clear purpose," the company's Chief Architect Amotz Maimon said in a statement.

"Part of that focus includes taking a hard look at our existing products and services," Maimon said.

The Yahoo Maps site will close at the end of June, although the company said it will continue to support Maps in the context of Yahoo search, Flickr and several other Yahoo properties.

"We made this decision to better align resources to Yahoo's priorities as our business has evolved since we first launched Yahoo Maps eight years ago," according to Maimon.

Yahoo also said it will retire its GeoPlanet and PlaceSpotter tools as well as Yahoo Pipes, all of which are aimed at developers.

Media sites to close by mid-June include Yahoo Music in France and Canada, as well as Yahoo Movies in Spain.

Yahoo will shutter its Yahoo Philippines homepage and genre-specific media sites, and redirect to the Yahoo Singapore homepage.

At the end of June the company will close Yahoo TV in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Canada, as well as Yahoo Autos in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

In early July, Yahoo Entertainment in Singapore will close.