Flickr was bought by SmugMug
Flickr was bought by SmugMug, a pioneer among photo hosting sites, before being overtaken by Instagram, Facebook, Google Photos and many others.
Launched in 2004 by Stewart Butterfield (founder of Slack) and his then-wife, Caterina Fake, Flickr first passed into the hands of Yahoo and, in turn, the American operator Verizon. At Yahoo, a new impetus had been given to the site, including the complete and successful redesign of its mobile app, but the competition had already taken a strong lead in this area.
According to ComScore, Flickr had 13.1 million unique visitors in March. A fairly small number but in progression compared to 10.8 million last year.
Established in 2002, SmugMug is a family-run business that continues to work with photo hosting, online albums, and portfolios. Unlike Flickr which offers a mix of free formulas (with advertising) and pay, Smugmug is totally paid.
Two different positions and Don MacAskill, boss of Smugmug, concedes in an interview with USA Today, that his plan for Flickr is not yet stopped.
The amount of the buyout has not been released but the benefit to Flickr is to have found a new roof in people who know what a service specializes in photography, and whose business model, based on the subscription, seems to work for a little while. For those who remain faithful to Flickr, it’s already encouraging.
Flickr will he be upset with SmugMug at the controls? According to SmugMug, the answer is no. Flickr, as it exists, will stay in place and should gain some new in the future. The teams will be strengthened as well, which is good news in itself given what Yahoo has done in recent years. In addition, Flickr will continue to offer a free offer funded by advertising and a paid offer.
