I maintain a web site for a family member and, over the years, it’s gone through various phases of hosting, domain names and designs. At one point, early on, while it was still hosted on his ISP’s server, we used a free redirect from cjb.net to shorten the domain name. Since then, I got him a decent domain name and moved it to a shared hosting plan that is more than adequate for his needs. Apparently he decided to search for his site on Yahoo and found the old redirect URL right below the listing for the current site. Unfortunately it also read, “Warning: Dangerous Downloads” (in bright red).

So, I contacted the redirect service to see if they can remove the account, thus, eventually, eliminating the listing. Also, knowing it’s a long shot, I decided to contact Yahoo and see if they could eliminate it from the listing. Since the redirect is hosted elsewhere, I have no way of denying the Yahoo search bots from indexing that URL. It redirects to the new site/domain, but neither of us want to be associated with “dangerous downloads.” I have yet to hear back from the redirect service, but have received several automated emails from Yahoo.

The method I used to contact Yahoo should have been fairly straight forward. When you hover your mouse over the red warning link, a popup appears (see below) with a link to “Site owner support.”  Click on that and you get a form to contact Yahoo about the warning.

Logic would dictate that this would be a simple, direct way to resolve this issue, or at least get you a nice rejection email. Yahoo’s logic seems to state otherwise.  Apparently, they like to give you a bad link and make you work a little harder. After two confirmation emails, I received a third that states, “We are writing in response to the email you recently sent to Yahoo! url-support.  The url-support email address is no longer an active email” and provides this URL:

http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/

Once there, you are to review the FAQs, and when you don’t find your answer, select the “No” radio button at the end of any page where it asks you, “Is this enough information?” Great, but I don’t see that question… The only Yes/No radio buttons to be found are in response to, “Was this article helpful?” However, below that is a button to “Contact Customer Care” (see below).

Clicking that button takes you to another form where you can, again, contact Yahoo regarding this “dangerous downloads” warning. And, again, I’ve received two automated confirmation emails. I have yet to receive a response from either party.

So, if you ever need to contact Yahoo, 1) use this link, and 2) don’t hold your breath waiting for a personal response.