The Dark Side of the Flickr Acquisition
You asked for it, you got it: SmugMug is offering 50% off to all Flickr refugees. Just sign up for our free trial using the coupon code flickr and if you like what you see, you’ll get 50% off your first year.
We’re getting some email from ‘Old Skool’ Flickr users asking us if they can get a discount because Yahoo’s making some changes they don’t like. Thomas Hawk has more coverage over on his blog, you can read the Flickr Forums for more reactions, and even check out the Flick Off group (aka the Flickr Accounts Mass Suicide Countdown group).
I’m afraid this is the dark side of acquisition, especially by a company that doesn’t seem to resonate with Flickr’s core passionate users. Every time someone inquires about acquiring SmugMug, we shut them down immediately because we’re terrified of exactly this happening – our user experience being damaged by a parent corporation that doesn’t “get” our customers.
I should be clear up-front, though, that while we’re thrilled you want to check us out – we’re not Flickr and we’re not trying to be. We’re short on social networking and long on advanced features like customization, style, and user interface. To make your photos look great, we are the place.
Give us a shot, though. It’s free to try, after all. And we have a track record of listening very closely to customer feedback and implementing what they want. So if you like most of what we have to offer, but we’re missing something crucial, let us know. We just may build it for you. 
UPDATE: It was just pointed out that there’s a Flickr-to-SmugMug migration tool using our open APIs. I’m sure there are others, and I know there are SmugMug-to-Flickr tools, too, should you decide you don’t like our service after all.
