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SmugMug buys Flickr - Huge price increases likely


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Many of us use Flickr for sharing our SL photos, so I thought this was worthy of a few words.

I just got an email informing me that Flickr is being acquired by SmugMug.  I had just renewed my Pro account for two years last month - at a price of $44.95 for 2 years.  I went and looked at SmugMug's packages and the pricing is a huge increase over Flickr.  The cheapest plan (which is all I really need), billed annually, will still cost more than double what I just paid Flickr for those 2 years.  No info yet on conversion of current account plans to SmugMug's.  I imagine they will convert us to the 'Basic' plan, but not sure if they'll honor the 2 year term that I just paid Flickr for.  And it doesn't look like there is a Free plan at all.

Here is the pricing for SmugMug and the link to get the details on those plans:   https://www.smugmug.com/plans

image.thumb.png.4ba48dbf1fbb2a189103b9e6215f7f47.png

 

For those folks that don't use Flickr or those that might shift to something else --- any recommendations on a good photo site?

 

Edited by LittleMe Jewell
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Hmm. The FAQ section states this,

Quote
What will happen to my Flickr account? What will happen to my Smugmug account?
Absolutely nothing. Flickr and SmugMug will continue to operate separately, just as both have been. Your SmugMug and Flickr accounts will remain separate and independent for the foreseeable future.

Both Flickr and SmugMug users will continue to log in with their current credentials and you will have the same experience you are used to. If things do change in the future for Flickr, we’ll be as transparent as possible about the process and give you as much notice as we can about the issues that will matter to you.

and

Quote
Will Flickr continue to offer a free version? Will Flickr’s price change?
Absolutely. Flickr’s free accounts are foundational to its community of influential and engaged photographers. We are not making any changes to Flickr plans or rates at this time. We’ll let Flickr Pro customers know if that changes.

... we'll see for how long.

Edited by Lillith Hapmouche
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The email says that after May 25th, the account will be governed by SmugMug's Terms and such.  That is what has me wondering about pricing changes and when they might happen.  The wording in the FAQ claims that the Flickr stuff will stay the same, but I'm not so sure I believe that to hold true for very long.

Email wording:

"We think you are going to love Flickr under SmugMug ownership, but you can choose to not have your Flickr account and data transferred to SmugMug until May 25, 2018. If you want to keep your Flickr account and data from being transferred, you must go to your Flickr account to download the photos and videos you want to keep, then delete your account from your Account Settings by May 25, 2018.

If you do not delete your account by May 25, 2018, your Flickr account and data will transfer to SmugMug and will be governed by SmugMug’s Terms and Privacy Policy."

Edited by LittleMe Jewell
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Oh, it seems SmugMug have a huge TOS point that Flickr didn't!

Quote

User Content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, sexually suggestive, hateful, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent or otherwise objectionable or harmful, including without limitation: Photos, Videos or other User Content containing nudity that would be unacceptable in a public museum where minors visit;

No Nipples!

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20 minutes ago, Claireschen Hesten said:

Many years ago i used to use a site called Photobucket it's similar to Flickr

I certainly wouldn't recommend Photobucket these days. Last year they stopped all third-party hosting (that is: direct embedding of your images on other websites) unless you paid either $100 USD per year for the personal option (embedding on personal websites or non-commercial forums and blogs) or $400 per year for the business option (embedding on any other sites). The change was made with very little warning, and it left many blogs, forums, and websites absoluely wrecked, showing nothing but 'upgrade your account to see this image' pictures all over them.

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6 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

For those folks that don't use Flickr or those that might shift to something else --- any recommendations on a good photo site?

Here is a list of 15 free sites and what they offer.

https://www.thebalanceeveryday.com/top-free-image-hosting-websites-1357014

SL blogging is all about Flickr.  The number of followers and how many favs per upload are how you know how well you are doing.  If you just want somewhere to store you pics so you can get them anywhere then any of the ones in that list will work.  SL bloggers will be stuck with Flickr for the time being, tho.

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6 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

If you do not delete your account by May 25, 2018, your Flickr account and data will transfer to SmugMug and will be governed by SmugMug’s Terms and Privacy Policy."

OK. Just reading and responding as I go. This is likely NOT good.  

I don't have a pro account and don't need one. My blog is going to look pretty weird if I have all the photos deleted so hopefully that will not be the case.  I don't have any mail from Flickr AT Flickr and getting into my yahoo account is almost impossible these days (not really new) so I guess I will just wait and see. 

It might certainly change the way blogging is done and as I near 5000 posts on my main SL blog maybe that's OK too :D.   

I was going to say there is Google which I used a lot in opensim. They of course upload all my blog pictures that AREN'T at Flickr and put them in my "album" "for me"  ^^ including some very odd stuff.  I don't use it much any more. 

And to @LittleMe Jewell  I know it likely isn't so much about the money as about the IDEA of the increase, but IF you are charged more or not refunded there is a very good chance that your credit card company will get a refund for you.  I have done that a few times with very good results. Actually just talking to the billing department and mentioning that you certainly don't want to have to backcharge them (costs a TON for a merchant so they SO don't want that to happen) would likely get a refund.  

 

The oh so tired part of me is just interested in watching the show.  I have all my Flickr photos on my hard drive so not a huge thing to replace on Blogger IF I felt like it. Personally I feel that blogging has become way too Flickr-centric and most folks don't even type any more but just credit. When that started OH so many years ago there was a big controversy and outcry but of course "easy" won out and that's the way things are these days. 

The SL fashion blogs mostly revolve around Flickr.   

 

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2 hours ago, Claireschen Hesten said:

Many years ago i used to use a site called Photobucket it's similar to Flickr

I actually have a RL Photobucket account that I set up a long time ago - haven't touched it in forever.

 

1 hour ago, Rhonda Huntress said:

Here is a list of 15 free sites and what they offer.

https://www.thebalanceeveryday.com/top-free-image-hosting-websites-1357014

SL blogging is all about Flickr.  The number of followers and how many favs per upload are how you know how well you are doing.  If you just want somewhere to store you pics so you can get them anywhere then any of the ones in that list will work.  SL bloggers will be stuck with Flickr for the time being, tho.

Thanks - saved me the googling that I was going to be doing.  All I really care about is the storage.  The primary reason I was Pro on Flickr way back was for the increase in the number of albums I could create and the number of photos I could upload.  I don't remember why I renewed it as Pro.

 

I do still have all of my photos on my computer, organized in folders matching my Flickr albums, so I won't need to download them all.  Still, changing sites is a PITA.  However, even though I haven't posted a semi-nude shot in a decade, I'll be changing just on principle - I don't like places that restrict things like that.  They should just create a setting like Flickr has that marks your stuff as adult.

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3 hours ago, Lewis Luminos said:

To be honest, I'm rather glad that someone else has bought Flickr. I think Yahoo is on a steep slide into the grave and I'd much rather someone else owned it than see it disappear altogether.

I just read some articles that paint the Smugmug purchase in a good light. Apparently Yahoo was not the best owner. 

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5 hours ago, Bree Giffen said:

Apparently Yahoo was not the best owner. 

Yahoo! was never the best at anything, except during its very early days when it was just a directory. It only became big because it arrived very early in the web's lifetime. It was only a human-edited directory, and only stayed up with the major search engines because, having come in early, it had a big reputation. They attached a search engine to it, but it wasn't there's. They used other search engines for its results. Search engines didn't make money back then, so Yahoo! stuck with its human-edited directory, which did make money because it cost a significant amount to be listed in it.

It's only when Google came along, showing all the others how to make money with a search engine, that Yahoo! started buying up major search engines and attempting to copy Google. That was after they'd been offered Google - and declined it lol. So, Yahoo! was the best in its field in its first few years, but, even then, DMOZ soon cruised past it. Since then, Yahoo! has been a second class player.

Edited by Phil Deakins
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Waves. This is my very first post on the forum, on the beginning apology for my english, don't bite me pls!

- end of off topic -

Abou the new Flickr owner, please do not panic (yet)!

1/ prices and services -  SmugMug

(I'm not SmugMug customer myself, this is summary what I understood from info on Flickr Help forum about the upcoming changes).

The current SmugMug prices posted above are NOT for same services as Flickr offers and I dare to say they aren't even for same type of customer. Flickr is social site, has all the shiny tools for connecting with others (faves, comments, groups, galleries ...), other "non-photography" formats are officialy allowed (screenshots, illustrations etc) = the site is supposed to be for everyone who like to connect with others with same proffesion or hobby. Commercial use is limited - originally was restricted to everyone, relatively recently was allowed for PRO accounts only. SmugMug is opposite in this regard - is supposed to be used mainly for business, for professionals who need their own website to show their work to potentional customers and/or want to sell their photos. (Of course you can use it just to show your photos to grandma, but the prices - I believe - were set for business use). SmugMug has tools for creating good looking proffesional web-presentations (missing on Flickr) and lacks the social tools provided by Flickr. Different purposes, different customers, different prices. It gives us no reason to think we will be forced to pay so much for Flickr services as well. 

2/ prices and services and TOS - Yahoo

Yahoo/Oath didn't care at all, Flickr was not in the good hands - bugs, lack of customers support and last but not least NO guarantee of the current prices/settings as well. I remember the old free accounts - they existed, but were so limited that to use them for years was not possible - for the instance they had limit how many pictures in photostream are shown, I'm not sure about the particular number, but I think it was about 200 (last uploaded) only. And there were other limits as well, as number of groups and more. To stay under Yahoo/Oath would not give any guarantee they wouldn't change rules for free accounts again, or even they would keep the free accounts in general.

Some of Flickr accounts were "lucky" to be forced to accept new Oath TOS and they very complained  about its "aggressiveness". Now they will in use only until May 25 (and most of us won't be forced to accept them at all). As I read on the forum, SmugMug TOS are much nicer and don't try to take rights for customer's pictures more then they have to to be able to provide their services.

3/ nudity on SmugMug

I beleive Flickr rules will stay as they are, "no nudity allowed" is old SmugMug rule and Flickr staff already said on the Flickr Help forum, they added first new version of TOS about that, so it seems to be in the process to be adjusted for Flickr users and needs.

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Phoebe Avro said:

I was going to start a thread about this but I thought LL would delete it, lol

Hopefully not. SL has strong and active Flickr community + the "picture of the day" posted here on LL website is chosen from Flickr group (I guess ruled by LL) + SL viewers (or at least Firestorm for sure) have tool to save screenshots directly on Flickr.  Would be sad if we would be allowed to be part of SL Flickr community, encouraged to post SL pictures in official Flickr SL group but not allowed to talk here about it.

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34 minutes ago, Phoebe Avro said:

I was going to start a thread about this but I thought LL would delete it, lol

 

15 minutes ago, loverdag said:

Hopefully not. SL has strong and active Flickr community + the "picture of the day" posted here on LL website is chosen from Flickr group (I guess ruled by LL)

^^ This.  That is basically why I figured it would be safe to start a thread about it.

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So if I keep my flickr as it is,they'll just switch it all over to smughug?

Or am I misunderstanding it?

 

also I went to my Flickr and seen a link at the bottom saying how Flickr is joining Smughug..

The link went to this video..it doesn't really say much other than them getting together..

 

Edited by Ceka Cianci
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2 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

So if I keep my flickr as it is,they'll just switch it all over to smughug?

Or am I misunderstanding it?

Correct - and for the time being there will be no changes in the plans or costs.

However, if your Flickr current has adult photos -- truly showing nude bits -- those will likely need to be removed by that May date or they might be removed for you.

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9 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Correct - and for the time being there will be no changes in the plans or costs.

However, if your Flickr current has adult photos -- truly showing nude bits -- those will likely need to be removed by that May date or they might be removed for you.

Truly as in Real bits or SL bits I wonder? hehehe

I think I have only like two on mine from a long long time ago from an SL magazine.. but were not public I don't believe..

There was some rating system they had if I remember right..just topless ones..hehehe

I'm gonna leave them up and see if they take them down ..:ph34r:

Edited by Ceka Cianci
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There will probably no changes about adult content - I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post link from Flickr Help forum here, so I rather won't -  when you open the forum, on the top is pinned discussion about the new owner and on the page 2 Matthew (Flickr staff) answers about that. This is part of his post "....  I doubt there will be any changes to that going forward, given that such content has always been central to a significant portion of Flickr's community ..."

(Just be sure you have them correctly set as moderate / restricted.)

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