Yahoo Hong Kong to begin ‘phased wind-down’ of news business in April
2026-03-17 - 11:33
Yahoo Hong Kong is winding down its news operation in line with its “strategic evaluation and long-term business planning.” A former Yahoo office in Burbank, California. Photo: Wikicommons. Above The Line, a PR company representing Yahoo Hong Kong, told HKFP on Tuesday that the tech firm “will begin a phased wind-down of its media content operations in Hong Kong starting in April, with completion targeted for later this year, reflecting ongoing adjustments across our global business in line with long-term priorities.” An employee in Yahoo Hong Kong’s news content division confirmed to HKFP that the company would cease publishing original reports from April. Instead, it will only publish content from its news partners, an arrangement that will last until the end of June. According to its website, Yahoo Hong Kong’s partners include local outlets NOW News, Oriental Daily, and international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP). The Yahoo employee said the company has around 40 to 50 staff members, including those working in content, sales and advertising. Around two-thirds will lose their jobs, he said, adding that those affected have already received their dismissal notices. Their last day will be March 31. Yahoo Hong Kong’s news page on March 17, 2026. Photo: HKFP Screenshot. The news was delivered during a Tuesday morning meeting involving US management who participated via video call, the employee told HKFP. The company’s PR firm denied that the winding down was related to the political atmosphere in Hong Kong. “This reflects our strategic evaluation and long-term business planning,” the firm said via email. It added that Yahoo’s mail and search engine services would continue to operate. Top trust rating Yahoo Hong Kong was set up in 1999, five years after Yahoo was founded in the US as a web portal offering online search and email services. Reporters in Hong Kong. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. It relied on partners for content until 2021, when it began producing original reports. Its pivot to original content allowed Yahoo Hong Kong to fill a gap left behind by independent outlets Apple Daily and Stand News, which shut down that year in the wake of the Beijing-imposed national security law. According to the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report in 2025, which analyses news consumption trends, Yahoo Hong Kong’s weekly reach online ranked third, just behind TVB and HK01. Yahoo Hong Kong also received the highest trust rating, tied with Ming Pao.