Yahoo Takes Control Of Flicker.com

Typo-prone photographers appear to owe Yahoo a "thank you."  After making at least one generous offer and then resorting to a lawsuit, the company’s acquired Flicker.com, presumably for the sake of saving people who misspell "Flickr" from visiting the wrong site.

A Hong Kong-based business known as Ashanti first acquired the Flicker.com domain name in mid-2006 for $55,000.  Then, over the next several years, Ashanti published various purchase offers, displayed photography-related ads, and began to announce site stats (you can see a box that’s currently visible on Flicker.com to the right).

Yahoo responded in 2007 by trying to buy Flicker.com for $600,000, according to Andrew Allemann, and in 2009, it took Ashanti to court for (allegedly) cybersquatting.

Now, as Michael H. Berkens first reported, the matter’s been resolved via some sort of undisclosed settlement, and Yahoo’s in control of the Flicker site.  The unusual thing is that Flicker.com isn’t yet redirecting visitors to Flickr.

Flickr should start seeing more visitors before long, though, and this move may boost Yahoo’s reputation in addition to its traffic stats, since helping people reach their intended destination isn’t such a self-serving act.