Yahoo's reintroducing of Flickr Pro during this past week was eye-catching in a tech world where super cheap or absolutely free unlimited photo storage from Google, Amazon, and others has become the status quo. The $50-per-year upgrade of the premium image-and-video hosting service provides users with ad-free access to sharing statistics, Adobe discounts, and a 1 terabyte (TB) space cap. Its target market is undoubtedly consumers who want to store full-resolution pictures and videos.
Flickr hopes that current and possible customers will get on board with Pro. Members will even receive a "Pro" badge plastered on their account, to set them apart from non-paying accounts, according to Tech Times.
This is technically a rebirth of Flick Pro. Yahoo revamped the service in May 2013, maintaining current subscriptions and unlimited storage space, but not allowing new people to sign up.
Non-paying users got 1TB of space. Meanwhile, $50 was the price tag for an ad-free Flickr version.
Only Flickr Pro has the ad-free perk now. It also has a mishmash of different features that the service has developed over the years.
They include the choice to opt in a $6 monthly subscription, a 20 percent discount on an Adobe plan featuring Creative Cloud Photography, and free United States shipping or half-priced international shipping ($25 minimum purchase) on Flickr products. Pro could actually pay for itself.
Companies such as Amazon are already providing unlimited storage space. However, paying $50 yearly for 1TB of free space could be justified considering that Flickr's membership is 113 million users, and a terabyte is more than enough space for most folks.
Flickr product director Rajiv Vaidyanathan pointed out that fewer than 100 members have ever exceeded the 1TB of free storage space, according to Wired. Photo storage in full resolution is a bigger priority.
Google's unlimited storage service caps images at 16 mega pixels (MP), and videos at 1080 pixels, which is certainly okay for smartphones and tablets. For pro equipment owners, Flickr Pro is a better choice.
Flickr was launched in 2004 by a Canada-based company, and then acquired by Yahoo during the following year. It has become a popular resource for netizens who use social media and blogs.