del.icio.us-logoAfter a leaked screenshot revealed that ​Yahoo would be “sunsetting” popular bookmarking​​​​​​​​​​​ site Delicious, the struggling company is clarifying ​​​​​​​​​​​​that decision​​​​​​​​​​​​​. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Yahoo hasn’t made very many popular choices lately, what with laying off 600 employees and making a host of property cuts. And user feedback on Delicious’ fate specifically has not been kind. Immediately after the classfied memo hit the web, Twitter starting overflowing with “save Delicious” statements. Yahoo originally claimed that, “We continuously evaluate and prioritize our portfolio of products and services, and do plan to shut down some products in the coming months….We will communicate specific plans when appropriate.” And apparently Friday was more “appropriate,” as Yahoo revealed it plans to find Delicious a new home.

In a blog post from Delicious’ site, users are being reassured that the site is being shopped around and that no account information​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ data will be lost in the acquisition process. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​But some are saying it’s simply too late for Delicious, and that the fault is Yahoo’s.

TechCrunch blogger Jon Orlin was a Yahoo employee for five years, and claims that he isn’t surprised by the company’s inability to develop Delicious. He questions the strategy or lack there of given to the site, saying “…when you have ‘the biggest collection of bookmarks in the universe’ in a potentially very social product and you can’t figure out how to run it in a lean, innovative and profitable way, it’s a real sign you are in trouble.”

He also argues that Yahoo, and whoever acquires Delicious, has missed the boat for the innovative startup. Bookmarking products are many times more popular and numerous than they were in 2003 when Delicious debuted, and of course this means it’s worth less and also faces some very able competitors, like Pinboard and Diigo. It now sounds as if Delicious, which once had all the potential in the world, is now going to struggle and face some real challenges in keeping and gaining users.