Yahoo will ring in the new year by killing its website directory

Yahoo, which got its start as a digital phone book of websites, is closing that book.

Yahoo will shut down its Directory service on Dec. 31, the company said Friday in a blog post. As for why, the company did not say much beyond this: “While we are still committed to connecting users with the information they’re passionate about, our business has evolved and at the end of 2014, we will retire the Yahoo Directory.”