Popular Photo sharing app, Flickr is making some big changes this year after it had been acquired by SmugMug early in this year. This week the company has come out to announce that it would be addressing a couple of issues on the site which include spam, customer support and the use of Yahoo for login.
However one of the major changes it is making is the delivery of services for free users and pro subscribers. The changes will see the imposition of limits for free users while it unrolls unlimited storage for its pro subscribers.
In 2013, in a bid to bring more users to the platform Flickr had introduced a terabyte free storage to users, however, with users opting for Google Photos and Apple’s iCloud the move has not yielded the desired effect.
In an announcement, Andrew Stadlen who is the VP of Product said that the free storage had not worked out the best way as it had attracted the wrong kind of user
“In 2013, Yahoo lost sight of what makes Flickr truly special and responded to a changing landscape in online photo sharing by giving every Flickr user a staggering terabyte of free storage. This, and numerous related changes to the Flickr product during that time, had strongly negative consequences,”
Mr. Andrew went on to speak on how Yahoo’s policy affected the applications ecosystem and turned it from a photo-sharing site to a cloud storage service while also turning it into a hub for advertisers.
“First, and most crucially, the free terabyte largely attracted members who were drawn by the free storage, not by engagement with other lovers of photography. This caused a significant tonal shift in our platform, away from the community interaction and exploration of shared interests that makes Flickr the best-shared home for photographers in the world,”
The company is now reducing the free storage to 1,000 as pro members can now subscribe to the service at $5.99 a month or at a 30 percent discount of $50 a year.
The company in detailing some of the changes to be made said that users will be able to sign up with other emails apart from yahoo mail and that users will now also have colorful profiles across its mobile and web platforms, swifter upload speeds and a new partnership with Sift to adequately tackle Spam.
