Yahoo Kids
| Company type | Web portal |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet |
| Predecessor | Yahooligans! |
| Founded | March 1996 |
| Defunct | April 30, 2013 |
| Fate | Discontinued; services redirected toward mobile app development |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | English and Korean-speaking children aged 4–13 |
| Owner | Yahoo! |
Yahoo! Kids was an online web portal created by Yahoo! that provided age-appropriate digital content for children between the ages of 4 and 13, available in both English and Korean. Designed to combine education with entertainment, it originally launched in March 1996 under the name Yahooligans!, making it the earliest online search directory specifically tailored for kids.
The service was discontinued on April 30, 2013, as Yahoo! redirected its efforts toward mobile app development.
History
Established in March 1996, Yahooligans! was Yahoo!'s initiative to offer a secure online environment for children. Known as the oldest children’s search directory on the web, its editorial team described the site as "cool, goofy, fascinating, fun, hysterical, philosophical, surprising, sedate, silly, seismic, popular, obscured, useful, and interesting." By October 1999, it attracted approximately 463,000 monthly visitors and was ranked 991 out of over 22 million websites by Alexa Internet.
In 2004, Yahoo! collaborated with DIC Entertainment (currently WildBrain) to introduce Yahooligans! TV, providing access to DIC’s extensive library of 3,000 hours of children’s programming. This alliance facilitated cross-platform advertising opportunities with revenue shared between Yahoo! and DIC.
The brand underwent a name change in December 2006 from Yahooligans! to Yahoo! Kids.
Closure
Yahoo! Kids ceased operations on April 30, 2013. Earlier that year, in February, CEO Marissa Mayer revealed plans to streamline Yahoo!’s portfolio from around 70 products down to a focused dozen, emphasizing mobile applications. On April 19, 2013, Executive Vice President Jay Rossiter detailed in a blog post that this closure was part of concentrating resources on core offerings such as email and weather apps for mobile devices. He mentioned that younger audiences could still engage with Yahoo!’s services through the Family Accounts program and age-appropriate sections like the "Family Movies" category on Yahoo! Movies.
Japan
The Japanese version launched in November 1997. Managed initially by Yahoo! Japan Corporation and later by LY Corporation, this version continues to operate independently from the discontinued US service.
Content
The platform combined educational material with entertainment features. Yahoo! Kids included curated directories such as "Around the World," "Arts & Entertainment," "Computers & Games," "School Bell," "Science & Nature," and "Sports & Recreation." The "School Bell" area contained "Homework Answers," which linked users to resources covering geography, history, and mathematics. The "Around the World" section provided information on countries, political topics, and historical content; meanwhile, "Art Soup" focused on museums and theatrical arts. The "Scoop" delivered comics and newspapers including an Associated Press segment featuring child-friendly news stories.
A dedicated parents’ section offered guidance on safe internet use along with links to website blocking and filtering tools. Educators could access lesson plans organized by grade level from kindergarten through eighth grade in the teachers’ section.
All websites listed were reviewed and approved by education professionals and former teachers. The homepage featured links to games, jokes, news updates, and sports content tailored specifically for children under age 12. Yahoo! Kids directed visitors to child-appropriate sites like those of the Smithsonian Institution and the Louvre Museum. In 1995, it adopted the character of Bill Clinton’s cat Socks to introduce users to the White House website. Available games included Chinese checkers, Go Fish, and Checkers; additional age-suitable games were accessible via a dedicated "games" tab linking to external sites. An instant messaging feature allowed children to engage in live chats with prominent figures such as Bill Clinton, J.K. Rowling, and Bill Nye the Science Guy.
In March 2011, Yahoo! Kids collaborated with the television show Star Wars: The Clone Wars near its season finale by enabling children to submit questions for Chewbacca through SurveyMonkey. Responses from Chewbacca were shared in a roughly three-minute video featuring pantomimed answers to questions like "How do you deal with all that hair?"
Reviews
In August 1996, Greg Mefford from The Galveston Daily News characterized Yahooligans as both entertaining and educational, offering connections to nearly every topic imaginable. In January 1998, Amy Irick, a columnist for the Kokomo Tribune, described Yahooligans! as an excellent alternative to the Yahoo! search engine tailored for younger users. Later, in August 1999, she commended its intuitive layout and the inclusion of a teachers' guide, labeling it essential viewing for educators. John Smathers of the Indiana Gazette emphasized in June 2002 that Yahooligans.com served as an effective resource to help children enhance their Internet navigation skills.
By June 2005, Gail Junion-Metz writing for the School Library Journal praised Yahooligans! Games as one of the premier destinations for child-friendly games that do not require any software downloads. Earlier, in September 1998, John Hilvert and Linda Bruce from PC User (now known as TechLife) recognized Yahooligans as one of the top specialized search engines, particularly valuable for homework assistance.
In July 2007, Holly Gunn of Teacher Librarian acknowledged Yahoo! Kids for delivering helpful and straightforward search results but criticized its interface for being overcrowded with advertisements and distractions, which obscured valuable content beneath entertainment elements.
External links
- Yahooligans! archived November 6, 2006 (via Internet Archive's Wayback Machine)
- Yahoo! Kids archived April 26, 2013 (via Internet Archive's Wayback Machine)
- Yahoo! Kids Japan