WATERMARK

FlickrBlog confirms it today:

Yahoo actually does acquire Flickr

Holy
smokes, SOMEBODY out there is bad at keeping secrets!!  Yes! We can
finally confirm that Yahoo has made a definitive agreement to acquire
Flickr and us, Ludicorp. Smack the tattlers and pop the champagne
corks!

I’ve used Flickr since quite early on, and recently saved my pennies for a pro
membership; I feel some anxiety about this change. My first website was
on Yahoo, and the experience was not a good one. But Yahoo is buying
the Flickr management team, too, and I’ve never seen better, from a
customer point of view.

Maybe the Flickr folks will help make a success of this Yahoo venture:

And if this is a success, it will offer serious competition to Blogger (with its Picasa and Hello photo service) and even to TypePad;
I love TypePad (which also has excellent customer service) but its
photo function is very weak. I have a private family & friends
photo blog on TypePad. I may be moving this to Yahoo 360.

Or maybe not. I look forward to finding out.

22 March:  There is an interesting discussion of this, concerns and congratulations, on Flickr.