R.I.P: Alta Vista, search engine, to be killed July 8

Alta Vista, in case you wondering isn't already dead and will be officially shut down next week, due in part to the rise of Google, which was and is, a far more powerful of a search engine. Yahoo purchased the once #1 search engine in 2003 in an attempt to remain relevant, and probably more so to 'buy' up the existing customer base.

According to a blog post from Jay Rossiter, EVP, Platforms at Yahoo, the company announced earlier in the year that there was an "ongoing effort to sharpen our focus and deliver experiences that enhance your daily lives." As part of that, "today we’re shutting down a few products so we can continue to focus on creating beautiful products that are essential to you every day."

He goes on to provide the following products and dates scheduled for closure:

Yahoo! Axis (June 28, 2013)

If you installed the browser plug-in, it will no longer work. If you downloaded the app, it will continue to work, but won’t be actively maintained. We encourage you to use the Yahoo! Search app for iOS and Android.

Yahoo! Browser Plus (June 28, 2013)

To see all of our current developer offerings, please go here.

Citizen Sports (June 28, 2013)

You can still get all the latest sports news on Yahoo! Sports, play fantasy sports like Fantasy Football, and stay up-to-date when you’re on the go with our new Yahoo! Sports app for iOS and Android.

Yahoo! WebPlayer (June 30, 2013)

If you’re a publisher and currently using Yahoo! WebPlayer on your site, after June 30 the Yahoo! WebPlayer won’t load. Your users will continue to be able to play media files using native browser support.

FoxyTunes (July 1, 2013)

To see the latest in the music world, please visit Yahoo! Music.

Yahoo! RSS Alerts (July 1, 2013)

To continue to get the latest content that you care about, you can subscribe to Keyword News alerts at our Yahoo! Alerts and receive them via email.

Yahoo! Neighbors Beta (July 8, 2013)

You can visit Yahoo! Local Search to find out what’s going on in your neighborhood.

AltaVista (July 8, 2013)

Please visit Yahoo! Search for all of your searching needs.

Yahoo! Stars India (July 25, 2013)

To stay up on all your favorite celebrity news, check out Yahoo! India OMG!.

Yahoo! Downloads Beta (July 31, 2013)

Yahoo! Downloads will no longer support 3rd party downloads. It will continue to offer downloads of Yahoo! products like Yahoo! Toolbar or Yahoo! Messenger.

Yahoo! Local API (September 28, 2013)

As part of this shutdown, all Yahoo! Local API documentation will also be removed from the Yahoo! Developer Network portal.

Yahoo! Term Extraction API (September 28, 2013)

We are eliminating direct access to the Yahoo! Term Extraction API and as of September 28, will require developers to go through YQL. We encourage all existing users of the Term Extraction Legacy API to migrate to YQL requests by September 28. You can use the YQL forums for any questions you might have about migrating to YQL. If you are already using the Term Extraction API via YQL, you don’t need to take any action.

So we will bid Alta Vista adieu; and say fondly, hasta la vista Alta Vista!