Flickr Acquired by Photo Hosting Company SmugMug

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SmugMug and Flickr

SmugMug’s CEO promises to breathe a new life to the dying social media pioneer.

SmugMug and Flickr

Professional photo hosting service SmugMug has purchased Flickr in a deal which closed this week. USA Today first broke the news of the acquisition for an undisclosed amount.

Founded in 2004, Flickr is one of the social media pioneers. Before the rise of Facebook and Instagram in the smartphone era, Flickr was THE place to share photos while others commented.

Despite being overshadowed by the competition, the site still managed to hold on to a loyal following of photographers. Currently, the image and video hosting website has 75 million registered photographers and 100 million unique users.

SmugMug on the other hand is a much smaller, family-run company which started in 2002. As a photo hosting website, it won over its users with focus on photography and personal touch. Unlike free photo hosting services that rely on ads and user date, the company offers four subscription categories, all of which are paid but secure.

“Flickr is an amazing community, full of some of the world’s most passionate photographers. It’s a fantastic product and a beloved brand, MacAskill told USA today. “Flickr has survived through thick-and-thin and is core to the entire fabric of the Internet.”

Yahoo first bought Flickr in 2005 for $35 million. Even when the search giant tried offering new services and doing redesigns, it was never able to fully revive it. Verizon bought Yahoo last year but it was not clear what the plans for Flickr was going to be.

SmugMug plans to keep Flickr as a standalone community with better resources. Hopefully, under the SmugMug’s umbrella, they will “together represent the world’s most influential photographer-centric community”.