The big news in the tech world yesterday was an agreement between Yahoo and Microsoft which essentially shuts down Yahoo’s search business, with Yahoo searches to now be powered by Microsoft’s Bing search engine and the companies to share revenue from ad sales. Will there be an impact on Flickr, a Yahoo property and one of the most popular ways to share photos online?
I think there are two answers to this question. The first response is that no, there probably won’t be any direct impact on Flickr. I haven’t seen anything in any of the coverage of the agreement that indicates Bing would enter the Flickr world. My expectation is that Flickr photos would be indexed as they are now.
The other answer is that yes, this will affect Flickr. With this agreement, Yahoo is no longer in the search business. Various recent Yahoo changes have pretty much neglected Flickr. Even after Flickr’s creators left the company, other executives (such as the CEO) with responsibility for the Flickr property have remained quiet about Flickr, haven’t used the service, and it’s never included as part of Yahoo’s major announcements about the company.
Yahoo seems to be an organization without direction. While they’re keeping the lights on at Flickr and making minor feature improvements (such as the Flickr Twitter integration), it’s clear that there’s no strong push to innovate. Facebook and it’s millions of users are sharing photos like crazy with the ability to comment, tag people, and more. Sites such as SmugMug and Photoshelter are providing options for those looking for a more professional appearance or wanting to make sales. Flickr is in a middle ground with an uncertain future.
What’s next for Flickr? What do you think?
Photo by Yodel Anecdotal, used under Creative Commons licensing
These other posts might be of interest to you:
