ReadWriteWeb is reporting from “sources close to the project” that Yahoo will shut down MyBloglog next month. MyBlogLog doesn’t hold the blogging community’s attention today the way it did a few years ago, but if the report is true, it will disappoint many who continue to use the service.

There was a time in 2006 when MyBlogLog was arguably the hottest social networking tool online — certainly one of them. Bloggers everywhere raced to install the widget that (magically!) showed the faces of people who had visited your blog. It was social proof at its finest.

Yahoo bought MyBloglog in early 2007 and expanded the service a bit — basic analytics data, for example, along with more data via paid accounts. As users flocked to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other sites that popularized status updates as social currency, MyBlogLog let users add information from their social streams. But ultimately, MyBlogLog never seemed to live up to its potential after the Yahoo purchase.

In their article, RWW talks to MyBlogLog co-founder Eric Marcoullier, who offered this perspective on what happened after the Yahoo acquisition:

“So much of your company’s long term sucess when it’s acquired is based on the amount of executive juice it has. The only way it survives and flourishes is if you have an executive champion who promotes it internally. Shortly after we were acquired we were transfered away from our champion and under someone who didn’t feel the same way about MyBlogLog. In those circumstances, things simply slow down.”

We have an email in to Yahoo and will update this post with any confirmation and additional information that’s available. In the meantime, there’s more discussion on Techmeme.

Update, December 23: Yahoo has provided an update on MyBlogLog’s future via a post on the Yahoo Developer Network blog. It reads, in part:

“… it’s no secret within Yahoo! that we’re actively discussing the future of MyBlogLog. However, it’s also true that we have not made any final decisions at this point. Is a shutdown on the table? Sure, that’s an option. But there are other options as well. We know this creates some uncertainty for current MyBlogLog users. While we aren’t quite ready to share more details, we promise to keep you posted.”

Related Topics: Top News | Yahoo: Business Issues | Yahoo: MyBlogLog

About The Author: Matt McGee is Search Engine Land's Executive News Editor, responsible for overseeing our daily news coverage. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. See more articles by Matt McGee

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