AMCP Tech Blog

Photobucket, a very popular online photo-sharing service, has released a custom version of the Mozilla-based browser, Flock. The Photobucket branded version of Flock works the same way as the one available at Flock.com, but Flickr support has been taken out, leaving Photobucket as the only choice for photo-sharing. This new version allows users to easily link to images to their MySpace, Blogger, or LiveJournal page using drag-and-drop functionality. Besides the Photobucket support, this version will also allow mass uploads and will notify the user when one of their friends uploads an image onto their Photobucket account. Even more: You can browse Photobucket accounts right within the browser - When you hover your mouse over a Photobucket-hosted image, Flock gives the option to browse the member'’s entire account. The Photobucket version of Flock is available for download here.

While this release has yet to be announced by Photobucket or Flock, I'm sure that Flock is sharing search and revenues streams generated when users use Photobucket - Another way that Flock is trying to make revenue by creating partnerships with other companies. Michael Arrington thinks that Flock is making around $2-3 per user based on the deal (Based on a similar deal by Mozilla and Google). I'm surprised that Yahoo! hasn't released a Flock-branded browser - Since they now have a search deal that makes Yahoo! the default search engine (And Yahoo! services are already integrated into Flock - Del.icio.us, Flickr, and Yahoo! Search).

This is a very smart move by both Flock and Photobucket. Photobucket, which is now the leader in online photo-sharing, has a lot of appeal with MySpace users. By offering a version of Flock that will make it very easy to integrate photos into MySpace, Photobucket is ensuring that they remain popular with the MySpace crowd. On the other hand, this will help out Flock even more because those MySpace users will be in-turn using Flock - Creating more revenue for Flock while getting the public aware of the browser. In the end, it helps both companies gain presence and market share.