Yahoo Shuts Down Points Program

Online loyalty and rewards programs are dying a slow death. The latest fruit to shrivel on this once-thriving vine is Yahoo Points, a program that lets people earn points by completing surveys, buying crap with a Yahoo Visa credit card, and performing other Yahoo-related activities I admit to being a little foggy on. These could be cashed in with various online vendors or donated to charity.

Last week Visa cardholders were told their accounts would no longer be hitched to Yahoo’s rewards programs, and late last night Yahoo sent an e-mail out to all Points members letting them know the program would be discontinued this summer. When I reached out to ask why the company was shutting it down, Yahoo issued the following terse statement: “We made a decision to close the Yahoo! Points program as it was no longer aligned with our key business focus and corporate mission.”