What a difference a night makes. The amount of negative discussion around Microhoo! yesterday weighed on me. I awoke today with the topic on my mind (sad, no?) And, as is often the case, my clear mind provided perspective missing after a day of conference calls, spreadsheets, etc.
Yahoo plays to the masses. As does MSN.com. As, for that matter, does Google. Most of the laments are coming from media insiders who think long and hard about the differences between features, sites, architectures, etc. “Microhoo! will ruin Flickr!”
We’ve heard this before. In fact, the flickr fans so active in protesting Microsoft’s acquisition of Yahoo are probably the same people that protested Yahoo’s acquisition of flickr and subsequent integration offerings.
Has it? Look at the Alexa unique user rankings for the past three years:
Could flickr have grown faster? Sure. Did the wheels fall off when Yahoo! acquired flickr, integrated the flickr ID with the Yahoo ID, etc.? No.
Does this guarantee future success? Could Facebook, myspace or some other photo sharing site take share from flickr? Of course. Flickr continues to satisfy and/or delight millions of users every month. That community can withstand some periodic pressure as long as its rarity is ultimately appreciated and revered.
