Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Business
  3. News

SmugMug acquires Flickr from Yahoo, says ‘the future is bright’

Flickr gets snapped up by fellow photo-sharing site SmugMug

By
SmugMug + Flickr

In an exclusive interview with USA Today, it was revealed that Flickr, a photo-sharing site purchased by Yahoo Holdings (Oath Inc.) in 2005, has been bought out by SmugMug. 

Recommended Videos

SmugMug, a family-owned photo-sharing site launched in 2002, says Flickr will remain in its current form and even receive updates down the road as SmugMug plans to dedicate resources into the development of the long-neglected service. 

In the exclusive interview with USA Today, SmugMug CEO Don MacAskill said he and his team are “committed to breathing new life into the faded social networking pioneer, which hosted photos and lively interactions long before it became trendy.”

MacAskill, who said he’s been a “longtime fan” of Flickr, mentioned he doesn’t have a definitive roadmap for the platform going forward. “I don’t know what the future holds. This is a new model for me,” he told USA Today, adding, “We certainly think we need to operate it with an eye to our cash flow and our profitability. We are going to have to take a detailed look at the business and make sure it’s growing and healthy.”

What exactly this means for the various free and paid tiers Flickr currently offers remains to be seen, but MacAskill emphasized the importance of making sure the future of Flickr remains in the hands of its users and employees in terms of feedback. “We try to listen to our customers and when enough of them ask for something that’s important to them or to the community, we go and build it.”

Despite the pleas to improve Flickr after Marissa Mayer took over as CEO of Yahoo in 2012, little has been done to keep it up to date after the initial redesign of Flickr’s mobile apps and increase in free storage. Even so, hundreds of thousands of photographers have remained loyal, posting regularly and propping up the platform’s rich groups and forums. 

Maybe now, the patience and persistence of those users will finally pay off. Maybe Flickr can be revived, if only it’s given the attention it deserves.

We’ve reached out to both SmugMug and Oath Inc. for a statement, and will update this article accordingly when we hear back. 

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Gannon Burgett
Gannon Burgett
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Intuit QuickBooks summer savings have us excited for bookkeeping and more
Intuit QuickBooks Online and Payroll Indepence Day deals used by business owner

Being honest, accounting, bookkeeping, and various administrative tasks aren't exactly what most people would call exciting, even if they own a business. It's something you have to do, but not that you necessarily want to do. But you absolutely have to stay on top of it; otherwise, things could get out of hand later, like when you're filing taxes or trying to calculate expenses. As a leader in small business fintech, Intuit QuickBooks is helping over 7 million customers worldwide do precisely that. From a startup to scaling up, the Intuit QuickBooks ecosystem delivers products and services that are a core component of small business growth. Accounting, payroll, payments, capital, and even marketing assistance via Mailchimp are just a few examples of what you can expect from a QuickBooks subscription. Thanks to its current Summer Sale, you can save a never-before-seen 70% off Intuit QuickBooks plans. That offer and these prices excite us for something that, typically, wouldn't be considered exciting.

 
These Intuit QuickBooks Summer Savings are unprecedented
This is the first time we've ever seen prices this low, and it may actually be the only time it happens. Time will tell, but the point is that you can save big on QuickBooks plans that you need for your business. The deal offers 70% off QuickBooks Online for your first three months. With Simple Start -- the base plan -- you get your first three months for just $9 per month instead of $30. That saves you $21 monthly for $63 across your initial three months of service. By comparison, the Essentials tier is only $18 per month instead of $60, and the Plus tier is only $27 per month instead of $90. If you want to splurge and go with Advanced, it's only $60 monthly for your first three months instead of $20h. Those are some incredible savings.

Read more
Grammarly should be your next AI writing partner for all things text
Grammarly-featured-image-with-creative

Not everyone is a writer, and that's okay. However, we do a lot of writing throughout our lives, from essays and school papers to dissertations, work reports, letters, emails, and beyond. Even with the advent of digital platforms, there's still a lot of writing to be done. But some tools can help significantly, like Grammarly.

Despite what the name espouses, Grammarly helps you with a whole lot more than just basic writing structure and grammar. That's thanks to an integrated AI writing assistant that can enhance your writing skills and improve the quality of the content you create. You'll get real-time suggestions about grammar, spelling errors, punctuation, and style. Ultimately, that leads to better writing from you with the complete confidence and clarity of a skilled artisan. Let's take a closer look at what Grammarly has to offer, well, everyone.

Read more
What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app
A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.

Read more