As Matt mentioned below, Yahoo finally confirmed the rumors about it buying photo-sharing site Flickr. Co-founder Caterina Fake explains the meaning of the deal for users at the Flickr blog. No word yet on the terms of the acquisition, which was likely a cash and stock deal. But one source told us the total price tag was about $30 million. Flickr reportedly has more than 250,000 members.
The announcement caps a furious round of jockeying for Flickr by all the major search engines. Ask Jeeves (which is apparently being acquired itself) was once a bidder, as was Google. The Google talks apparently broke down, we’re told, when the Flickr team couldn’t come to terms with Google about how to merge the service with Picasa, Google’s photo organizing software. It should be an interesting year for online photos. From what we’ve seen, Yahoo may have some other surprises up it sleeves, as well.
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