by Paul Jay, CBCNews.ca

Yahoo is closing its podcasting directory and listening service at the end of October, just over two years after it first launched.

As Techcrunch notes, it's just the latest peripheral project of Yahoo's to bite the dust since the company underwent a management shake-up earlier this month, joining the likes of Yahoo Photos, Yahoo Auctions, music playlist project WebJay and Yahoo Bill Pay (slated for Sept./Oct. shutdown).

Yahoo's house-cleaning coincides with its renewed push into markets led by rivals Google and Microsoft. Earlier this month, the company announced plans to purchase Zimbra — which specializes in selling e-mail software and hosting services to businesses, universities and internet service providers — and BlueLithium, an internet direct-marketing network.

The moves and the company's low stock price have some observers bullish on Yahoo's prospects, while others are more cautious.

As Mobilcaster blog points out, it's likely Yahoo got out of audio podcasting not because the medium is being squeezed out by the emergence of video, but because it wasn't part of their core business. The site officially shuts down on Oct. 31, 2007.