MARKET FAILURE — FLICKR SHUTS UP SHOP

Two years after launching Flickr marketplace — aimed to help photographers in licensing their images to editors, bloggers, and creative minds looking for authentic, user-generated content — Yahoo is officially shutting the programme down.

The news was originally delivered to the marketplace users via email and later confirmed by Flickr as authentic.

“Over the past year we have received feedback from several of you regarding your experience around licensing and royalties,” the email reads. “It was our hope to create the right marketplace for our contributors, but based on consistent feedback, we understand there is more work to be done.”

So, Flickr is taking some time out to rethink photo licensing and royalties over the next few months and may return. Still, the news comes as a bleak reminder that even with an extensive user base and with buckets of brand loyalty, attempting to compete with the likes of Getty, iStock, and Shutterstock can be a significant challenge.