This is #6 on Chris Brogan’s 100 Blog Topics list, and is part of the 100 Topics Challenge.
- Build a tool that people want to use. Check!
- Put in a whole lot of nice crunchy Ajaxy stuff for people to play with. Check!
- Figure out how to make money from it while not chasing away the free profile folks. Double checkmark!
Hmm they also have an butt-ugly UI and exaclty how do they make money? I just looked at a freind’s gallery and there’s no ads anywhere.
I agree to some extent regarding the UI. I’ve seen worse though. A lot worse.
They make money via the upsell: if you want to use video, you need to purchase a “professional” membership.
See here: http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/05/08/is-flickr-worth-4-billion/ – for a discussion of how well they monetize.