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Yahoo Gets Trashed By Users
techcrunch.com — Yahoo took a beating by users angry over the new Yahoo TV product in the comments to their own blog post announcing it. Even a former head of Yahoo Entertainment, Erik Schwartz, chimed in with his own bashing and suggesting that Yahoo has lost its way.
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- RichPowers, on 10/12/2007, -3/+66I used the old Yahoo TV listings every day. Sure, it looked like something from 1999, but it was functional, straightforward, and fast.
The new version is trying too hard to be hip and "Web 2.0." The page's top half is cluttered with useless, slow-loading *****. TV listings - the most important thing - are relocated to a box on lower right. Furthermore, the listings chart runs like total ***** on every PC I've tested it on. Too much clutter and not enough relevant information. And lastly you have to sign in to view local programming information - something you never had to do before.
Screw you Yahoo.- Muyoso, on 10/12/2007, -11/+32Wow, I am sure all of Digg gives a flying sh*t how you (BearOwned) browse for TV listings.
- kaje, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27Thank you Yahoo! for showing me the way...
...to http://www.tvguide.com. - Kido1986, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Ive moved to TVGuide.com now too but I much rather have my old Yahoo TV schedule back. It was fast, simple and effective. I click my bookmark, quickly saw what was on Brighthouse in Orlando and was done. Now its horrible. TVGuide.com isnt great, but its better than the current Yahoo TV.
- bucksfan10, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I HAD used Yahoo TV as my homepage for years. But I switched. The new page is awful.
- javip, on 10/12/2007, -12/+6i'm confused... i've never used yahoo or much less this yahoo tv thing..
but how slow are all your pc's or net connections? i went there and it loaded straight away with no lag or anything
yes it's bloated and i wouldn't use it but it's not THAT bad - Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I use the guide button on my dish network remote but still
yahoo needs to get rid of the whats on tonight garbage stick with the tv listings and learn that web2.0 does not apply to everything
its just a bunch of local shows and if anything most of them suck
when I got satellite most of the local shows started to suck as I found better things to watch
yahoo is just trying to pull up crap people are complaining about
including me - interiot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@javip: It was *much* faster before. When viewing a large lineup like you get on satellite or a big cable package, it's exceedingly slow when scrolling around (for some reason, it wants to load thousands of entries for Dish TV, even though TV Guide's only loads a couple hundreds).
Also, I don't know about other people, but I liked to filter the shows based on different criteria (eg. filter on genre, or search for a specific name) Loading a single page on the new version may not seem unusually slow compared to other sites. But when you compare how much time it takes to load multiple views of the data to get what you're looking for, and the fact that just SCROLLING around on the new one is effectively loading a new page, means that the old one was MUCH faster. - JC4P, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1***** tvguide.com, www.tvlistings.com ftw
- aragon127, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How is this different than anything Yahoo ever does?
All they do is provide aggregation of data found elsewhere loaded with huge ads and other annoying crap. I wasn't even aware anyone even cared what Yahoo did anymore. I stopped caring around 1999.
I'm sure there'll be a GoogleTV soon.
- farazyashar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I don't see why they can't include a simplified version of the site along with all this garbage. That way Yahoo can be all fruity with Web 2.0, and users can get the only thing they came for: TV Listings.
- avihappy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14The Listing TAKES FOREVER TO LOAD!
I want the old one back, it loaded instantly!- merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Says right in TFA that they're working on the speed issues.
- abohling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I don't want it fixed - I want it back the way it was. :(
- kbeeveer46, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I went to use it last night (the 2nd) at 10pm and the tv guide had told me that the 2nd had already passed and I could only view anything from the 3rd and beyond on the tv guide. It knew my location (I was signed in) so I'd say it's still buggy as hell.
- chymmylt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4No kiddin - one of the things I LOVED about the old one is that if I watched a show/movie and wanted to know what it was - I could go back a day or two and look it up
- zyle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11The new Yahoo TV page is atrocious, to say the least. All I want, is to see what's on TV today. To do that, I now have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, past all the irritating ads/commercials. And when I finally get the TV schedule up, it's dead slow with its interactive (AJAX?) interface, at least on firefox. Think I'll have to find something else.
Thanks for the killer update Yahoo.- zephc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I saw that the night it was rolled out and complained to a couple friends who work at yahoo (not that I thought it would help). If you run OS X, and are looking for a replacement, I like the Zap2it dashboard widget. It requires a free account on zap2it.com but it works great.
- IMustBeEmo, on 10/12/2007, -6/+23Yahoo still exists?
What the hell?!- isemism, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14only as yahoo.google.com
- interiot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4For specific niches, Yahoo isn't bad. TV schedules, some stock info, every once in a while there's something decent on Yahoo Groups. I'd never use their search or their site directory, but like Google and Microsoft, they have their fingers in so many pies that invariably a few of their services will be worth using, at least once in a blue moon.
- chroko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No, they also ***** up their stock pages: You used to be able to see the contents of all your portfolios at once (ie: if you wanted a quick overview of how it did that day). With the latest redesign, you have to click through each one individually. And then the stock page itself takes forever to load because it now has all the dynamic / Web 2.0 interactive chart *****.
And their weather page also used to show you your local weather on opening. Now you have to select your location before it'll do that. Desktop widget for the win.
Suck extreme. They've lost focus on the user's path through the site. It now seems to be geared toward how many page views they can extract per visit for advertising.
- synaesthesia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I gave the proverbial finger to yahoo after putting up with one too many of their ridiculous ads that take over half of the browser window. I dont want to see some SUV clambering across the page i'm trying to read, I want to see the information i'm looking for in a quick and timely fashion. Google-styled minimalism isnt required, but neither are the excessive over-the-top advertisements shoved down my throat.
- ThisIsSteve, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Here's a link to Yahoo's TV listing page: http://tv.yahoo.com/
- wstrucke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5yeah... that new site is total *****
whatever happened to "don't fix it if it ain't broke" - KrocCamen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2web2.0 happened to it
- wstrucke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5yeah... that new site is total *****
- isleshocky77, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I have to say in my own opinion the new "Web 2.0" version tvguide.com's tv listings is much better. I'm very happy that they switch from a flash based display to a ajax based display. For anyone who hasn't seen it yet you should check it out.
- bugninja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The TV listings in this crappy AJAX format is just awful. ROLL-BACK!!! The old listings format needs to come back, restore backups, whatever, it just needs to come back.
However, the rest of it, no big deal. People always hate change, they get over it, AS LONG AS it doesn't dramatically interfere with usability, such as with the TV listings.
The "My Reviews" thing is totally buggy. I tried it out by writing my own long review of Heroes and in the process, it messed up my post in the preview, double-upped on some text, I copy and pasted what I could, but ultimately I didn't post because if the final version dumped it like the preview I'd look like an idiot. But "what's new" I guess... - awesomepossum94, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2Gmail pwned the ***** out of Yahoos e-mail users. hahahahaahahahhahah yahoo is teh n00bz0rs
- salimar, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1while i do agree that the new layout design tries too hard to be web 2.0, i myself really have no issues with navigating. using camino 1.0.3 with flashblock, it loads on par with other sites i regularly browse.
- isemism, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Is it just me or is that big walking baby VH1 add the MOST obnoxious use of flash that ever graced a web page? They lost me there. I didn't even bother looking at their listings.
- sweetmartian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I think hanging out in line at the DMV would be a better usage of my time than searching Yahoo.com. i don't think i've done more than a half dozen yahoo searches in the past 5 years.
- sabarsky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21Dear Yahoo,
Function > Form.
Sincerely,
Pissed Off Users- sweetmartian, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5agreed. google is designed as simple as possible, because they are too busy creating bad ass features, to waste it on making neato complex looking buttons that you have to scrap everytime you change everything up. complex graphic design + beta products = lots of wasted effort
- thefutureisours, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Why don't they just put Ms. Dewey on there while they're at it, might make the geeks a little happier at the cumbersome interface.
- Hypn0s, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/guide
Simple, easy to read, and not many ads.- jrob, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1maybe its me but the blue text on white background (used on msn and the new yahoo) isn't as nice/readable as the old yahoo layout.
plus there's no way i'd rather manually type that url in vs tv.yahoo.com - macewan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2msn wants you to signup just to get tv listings. pft
- dpknc84, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@macewan
No, if you bothered to actually step through those pages instead of just looking and seeing "signup" on the page you'd know that you do not have the be a registered msn.com member to use their listings. You have to input your location else you'll get listings from some random city in Alaska.
- jrob, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1maybe its me but the blue text on white background (used on msn and the new yahoo) isn't as nice/readable as the old yahoo layout.
- averageAZNguy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0and I thought I was the few you liked the old one. i was surprise and mad to suddenly one day see a new tv listing if you can call it that. It really helped me find tvguide.com, which really seems to be better than the old yahoo tv listing. Still I miss the old one. Do you think its possible for them to bring back the old one with enough support?
- podoboo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Did you hear Yahoo's new slogan?
"Yahoo TV... the Windows Live Mail of TV Listings." - BlackCow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Wow, it even lags on my gaming box. What a POS website.
- maderation, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its amazing/amusing to see the amount of anger a tv yahoo site is generating. Maybe we should start an online petition to bring back the good ole days and the old site.
- interiot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2One has to wonder how Yahoo became one of the best TV listing services out there, if they can turn around and put themselves in dead last place. Maybe it's just blind luck, and nobody actually knows how design websites that consumers like. Maybe all the TV listing sites just picked random amounts of AJAX and Flash, and Yahoo's previous choice just happened to work well without them really meaning to put up a really successful site.
- Frankie4Fingers, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3If you just want the listings, it isn't that hard. http://tv.yahoo.com/listings is the url. I don't see the problem with the listings... I do use titantv.com though instead. It is much better and it is simple, but it is set up with my PVR device.
- blake_770, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1True, it's easy to go to tv.yahoo.com/listings, but it used to be easier. If I wanted to view my favorite channels before, all I had to do was go to tv.yahoo.com/grid. It would load up a grid of my favorite channels, not every channel I have access to. If you go to tv.yahoo.com/listings it does not do that, it loads up _every channel_. If you want it to only show your favorite channels you have to click the checkbox, or manually type in tv.yahoo.com/listings?showFavorites=yes. Either way, tv.yahoo.com/grid is still easier
- RoboRay, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I prefer http://www.titantv.com
- pinetree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Glad I'm not the only one that thought this was garbage the instant I saw it. The old version gave a tolerable TV listing chart on the main page, which is all I went there for, but even that had room for improvement -- you had to click on the TV show to find out whether or not it was a rerun. It would be much better to put "rerun" directly in the little chart. Now, not only is the chart slow and annoying to use (and too narrow), but you actually have to click on the show twice to see if it is a rerun. You click once to get a one-sentence summary of the episode (the only useful thing on the whole page), and then click "Full Episode Info" to find the "original aired" date and compare to today's date. Did anybody at Yahoo actually try using this mess before they launched it?
- Klinky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2www.zap2it.com has some pretty spiffy listings...
- macewan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Feedback is trashing now?
- gunthr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yahoo Maps is the same way. The new version sucks and they try to force it on you.
- smartass007, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0what did you expect from a company who pushes M$ products on its users??
http://searchviews.com/archives/2006/12/yahoo_pushing_i.php - shango5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I am glad that I am not the only one who hates the so called improvement. My problem isn't the speed. My problem is the same as a lot of people on here. It takes the content that you went there for and makes it insignificant. It's in a little corner on the right hand side. When I click on the complete listing link I get the first set of channels to load properly. But when I go to the second set I get an hour before or an hour after what I want.
I don't mind ajax or a web 2.0 interface and I realize that it is still in beta. So some of my problems are glitches and could easily be fix. But the presentation of content in the way they have placed it is just screwed up. I went there for tv listings not news and gossip. - randubie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Ya-who?
- verstohlen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Holy *****! Are they f'ing kidding me? Goodbye Yahoo TV. Slower than ***** and practically unusable on dial-up (was fast and good before). Good way to weed out any dial-up users, geniuses, and there are still more than they may imagine.
- Pottersquash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, I thought I was only one...
Heres my complaint, you can no longer go back and check what was on yesterday, sometimes I want to read synapis of a show I missed to decide if I wanna search net for it or plan to watch it in repeats
And the speed, wow, not only that but it only loads a portion of it at a time. Ill deal with the load but having scroll and then wait for every 20 interval, wtf....
Where is my option to go back to the old?? I passed on Mail Beta, and Maps Beta why can't I pass on TV Beta. JUST GIVE ME FRIGGING LISTINGS!!!!
Not everyone has Tivo some people STILL use this service!!! - digitalsmash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yahoo is getting retarded with everything they do these days. Their new email? It's super slow, and kind of awkward. It's only natural that their new tv site had to be as well.
It's sad... but i even liked their OLD homepage layout better... i kinda want it back. Yahoo, PLEASE return to your glory days! - jcs_goog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree that Yahoo was stupid. I can't even find TV Listings. How stupid! I am now going to use TVGuide.com - http://www.tvguide.com
- cruelpupet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The only time I ever went to Yahoo was to use their TV listings. I havnt looked for replacement yet, but I gather from the above posts that many others used them only for their tv lisitngs. Seems that they will be losing a bit of revenue from the loss of ad views.
- Sevensins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I saw this last night and couldn't believe they changed it. I use to use tvguide.com before yahoo, until they changed.
I am going to use this site now:
http://tvlistings5.zap2it.com
Hopefully it won't change too. - spira, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A better web 2.0 approach is tv listings is at meevee.com, which I use sometimes.
- TunaHelper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Sure am glad to see I wasn't alone.
I freaked so fast. I had had that thing totally tweaked and customized. Now it's pure garbage.
Jumped and setup a personalized page at http://www.myway.com (add free, I might add) Customized my page so that there is nothing on it except one big TV listing grid, all customized with my channels. Order is returned to the universe.
Like the other guy said... Ya who? See ya. - mikesum32, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I quit using the tvguide.com listings and now I guess I'll quit using yahoo's if they don't change back.
It super slow to load and it only loads some channel (first 20 or so) then when you scroll down to the next 20 or so it loads them, then you have to wait.
Scroll down and wait some more.
It sucks ass. - timlee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I never used Yahoo TV listings before but I went to check out what all the commotion was about. I actually found myself liking the site, though granted I never saw the old site. I liked the integration with my TiVo (has it always had that?).
My only complaint is that Yahoo doesn't seem to know how to do AJAX (Yahoo Mail is painfully slow). Using an inaccurate scrollbar to advance the listings? That's a bad idea to begin with and coupled with the 5 second delay in loading the new listings, I can see why people dislike it.
But if they fixed the AJAX and perhaps allowed me to type in exactly what time/date I wanted to display, then I actually don't see too much difference between Yahoo's new page and TV Guide's page. - msteve1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This change isn't anything new or original that Yahoo! came up with. They have been partnered with Tivo for quite some time and you have been able to record to Tivo from the Yahoo! guide for a while.
The new Yahoo! TV guide mimics the one that is on Tivo's website. When you click a show title, the listing expands with a thumbnail, description, and option to record on Tivo. This is just Yahoo! furthering their partnership...
Like everyone else, I am now looking for something new.
This is Tivo's guide. It is better than Yahoo!'s version, but you will see where they got the idea: http://www3.tivo.com/tivo-tco/tvlistings.do - jellygraph, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1You guys are messed up... The new Yahoo TV looks and works great!
- rac3r5, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Ok,
I just checked out the site, and clicked a lot of links and stuff seems to work very well. The site is very well designed, nice colours, easy to navigate. The longest stuff took to load was about 3 seconds. And those 2 seconds was just a big long image of the Desperate house wives loading. It seems to me that ppl are just complaining about having to deal with a new UI? If the site is slow, maybe u guys should stop using dial-up.
Maybe yahoo could include an option for a lite and an enhanced version? Probably suggesting it to them would be more productive than complaining on blog. - wildthing202200, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11 big error with all these listings, Charter dropped NFL Network last year so the channel shouldn't be listed but it shows up anyway.
- KrocCamen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's the first time in a long time a webpage actually made my computer crawl whilst the page loaded. It was closed as soon as the X button responded.
- misterpony, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's been a couple days now since it's come out and although it seems to be loading faster, they still haven't changed the TV listings back to the way it was. Nor have they allowed the old version to be available for users to choose if they want, which is a great suggestion in the Techcrunch post.
The major problem is the TV listings and until they fix this, this entire "update" can be viewed as a total disaster. C'mon Yahoo! I want my normal TV listings back. - cathyn28, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It seems silly for something most would think trivial to cause such an outrage. Life for most of us moves at a pace that is mostly not of our choosing. We have jobs that force overtime, we have school, and we have children. All of these things must come before TV so we record the few enjoyable shows that help make our world a little brighter to watch in those miraculous moments we have to relax. This being said, coming home and rewinding that tape and sitting down to a rerun is most depressing. I do agree with most of the comments listed so far, the new format, while cute, is not user friendly. TV listings only need to give basic info. Title, time, channel and whether or not it's a repeat. So, FOR ALL OF YOU OUT THERE SEARCHING FOR A SITE THAT gives you this info in an easy to navigate, quick to load site, head over to TVLISTINGS.COM. It was very refreshing after spending so much time pulling out hair over yahoo.
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