It was -- assuming past tense remains applicable here -- one of those Internet Easter eggs that would often show up on lists of Internet Easter eggs: Click on the exclamation point after Yahoo on the Yahoo homepage and you'd hear a chorus of yodelers sing "Ya-hooooo-oo." This tribute to the company's 1990s TV commercials had been active since at least 2006 and originally featured a solo by the famous Yahoo yodeler Wylie Gustafson.

Here's what the choral version sounded like (if you don't see the audio player hit refresh):

It is no more, however. Now you can click on that exclamation point all day long and all you'll get is carpal tunnel syndrome. (Just to make sure the problem wasn't in my set, I asked a half-dozen friends and colleagues to try for themselves: Not a yodel was heard.)

(What could go wrong @yahoo.com?)

I can't tell you precisely when the hidden yodel disappeared - or why - but I have asked the Yahoo public relations department for details. My suspicion would be that the move coincided with Yahoo's homepage redesign back in February. The yodel was working last July, according to Quora.

Also, until I hear otherwise I wouldn't rule out a return engagement, as the yodel has gone on hiatus before.

While many have suggested over the years that Yahoo delete the exclamation point altogether from its corporate logo, there does not appear to be any anti-yodeling sentiment at the company these days. On the contrary, Yahoo's music blog interviewed yodeler Gustafson just last month:

However, it needs to be noted that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer doesn't exactly seem to be the yodeling type.