Flickr Without Yahoo?

There was some major news from Flickr today on the inclusion of its three billionth photograph.

That’s incredibly impressive but it got me thinking about how Flickr might have been different if Yahoo hadn’t snapped up the company for a reported $40-million in 2005. Would Flickr be any different than it is today?

It’s obviously impossible to determine either way but I think Flickr would have been a much more interesting, innovative and progressive company. For one, I think Flickr would have embraced video much earlier as opposed to its dip-a-toe-in-the-water entry earlier this year. It’s not to suggest Flickr would have been YouTube but Flickr could have been much more than a photo-sharing service.

I think we would have seen a lot more cool projects such as shape data, which Flickr unveiled last week. If you haven’t check out what Flickr did reverse-geocoding, you should check it out, especially if you’re interested in geotagging and location-based services.

I think Flickr would also have been more ambitious in terms of offering photo-editing services. Until it struck a deal with Picnik.com earlier this year, the photo-editing tool-set was pretty rudimentary.

And, finally, I think Flickr would have been more aggressive and innovation about making money while still being true to itself and its large community. Things like premium and value-add services, third-party partnerships and – yes, I’ll say it – more advertising might have been explored more enthusiastically.

That said, Flickr has done incredibly well within the Yahoo empire. Perhaps the best part is Yahoo hasn’t ruined Flickr by trying to make Flickr something it isn’t.

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