One of the first and best-known photo-sharing services, Flickr, has been bought by the independent image-hosting firm SmugMug, as Verizon begins the breakup of Yahoo.
The deal, terms of which have not been disclosed, sees Flickr – with its tens of billions of photos and 75 million users – become part of a similar family-run service in SmugMug.
The Silicon Valley firm, founded by a father and son team in 2002 without the help of venture capital or outside investment, says it intends for Flickr to “continue to operate separately, just as it has been”. SmugMug said no changes would be made to Flickr’s current plans or rates: “Flickr’s free accounts are foundational to its community of influential and engaged photographers.”
Don MacAskill, the SmugMug chief executive, told USA Today: “Flickr has survived through thick and thin and is core to the entire fabric of the internet.
“It’s a fantastic product and a beloved brand, supplying tens of billions of photos to hundreds of millions of people around the world.”
MacAskill pledged to invest in Flickr and restore it to its former glory. SmugMug intends to migrate Flickr’s back-end infrastructure over to its technology, but maintain the pioneering social photo-sharing service as a separate entity and site. Flickr’s user and photo numbers are thought to dwarf those of SmugMug.
Flickr was started in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo in 2005 for approximately $25m (£18m). The site proved popular with both professional and amateur photographers, forming a central role in the cultural life of the internet, hosting 6bn photos by 2011 and 87 million registered users by 2013.
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
