Flickr Forces Yahoo Account: Ditches Facebook And Google

Flickr users used to accessing their photo gallery account with their Google or Facebook credentials will have to set up a Yahoo account instead, the sharing service's owner has announced, warning users to switch over before the end of the month. The decision, which was communicated to registered Flickr users in an email this week, is described as "streamlining" the company's sign-in process.

That certainly may be the case for Yahoo itself, but it's questionable whether remembering another set of credentials is beneficial to the user.

Instead, it seems more likely that Yahoo wants to own its own database of users, rather than have Facebook or Google as the middleman. As of time of writing, both of the third-party login options are still offered to new sign-ups to Flickr.

Flickr has come under increasing pressure from both Facebook and Google in photo sharing in recent years. Facebook has become one of the most popular ways to get feedback from friends and family on images, aided by the growing popularity of the social network's mobile apps.

Meanwhile, Google has gradually improved its own photo sharing service, adding photo editing tools available through the browser. Recently, it added Google+ Stories, a way to automatically curate a series of photos into one themed gallery.

Flickr users have until June 30th to set up their Yahoo account.