Geocities is no longer!

I remember way back, when the internet first started... I am talking about when I was still using Compuserve and this thing called the world wide web was something you connected to through your Compuserve account, (which is now one of the only places you will find the 'netscape' logo dominant).  At that time Geocities cropped up, allowing anyone to build their own FREE website.  Now, to learn that Geocities is no longer something that Yahoo wants to take care of, it does make me a little curious if this isn't the start of something much bigger. With Yahoo and Microsoft both discussing business ventures once again, this would seem a likely thing to do, since Microsoft has their own 'hotmail' community, which is now Windows Live...I'm just saying.