The companies say that new-community based features will foster interaction in ways that were not possible before for AT&T Yahoo! broadband customers. Photo-tagging, for example, will let users label their photos, exchange comments on shared pictures and rate them for simple searching.
The service is also geared toward photo distribution, due to its integration with AT&T Yahoo instant messaging and email. Users will be able to order prints online for pickup at affiliated retailers as well as home delivery.
Analysts expect Yahoo Photos, the most used photo-sharing service, to collaborate with Flickr, which Yahoo acquired in March 2005. Flickr is currently ranked second in the online-photo sharing market.
According to InfoTrends, the total number of online photo service users is expected to grow from 55 million in 2004 to 83 million in 2009.
