Something people don’t seem to want to talk about, or at least isn’t brought up too often in regards to Flickr, is their famously nebulous Flickr TOS & Yahoo Terms of Service.  I have spoken to some industry professionals about it, and am confident these are quiet concerns people keep to themselves and the kitchen table at 3am.  A few have approached it, as well as there being spirited conversations, involving multiple staff, on Flickr itself.  Just like Yelp’s notoriously vague behind the scene manipulations, people have cried foul to the way Flickr chooses to manage/delete accounts, with seemingly random application of it’s TOS.  What’s more, it seems people aren’t confident in how to use it.  Even the staff have varying viewpoints and opinions on the matter.  At least one majour hotel flag and brand that uses Flickr relentlessly (and incredibly effectively) says he goes to bed at night thinking he will wake up and the accounts will be deleted. Other groups, like craft makers, are completely lost as to what “commercial purposes” means, and are getting frustrated with errant deletion of their groups.

The reason this concerns me is because I see the most avid users of flickr talk about it being “spam central”, and people being incredibly aware that brands are *really* starting to penetrate that site.  The above linked article is from a year ago, but the conversation is incredibly relevant.  If you are still unsure, try searching “flickr” and “TOS” on Twitter Search; that is pretty overwhelming that there is a big question looming.  As Flickr hears more from the community about brand spam, when will they take those famously vague words, “Flickr is for personal use only. If we find you selling products, services, or yourself through your photostream, we will terminate your account.” into account?  When might they start looking at a brand and suggesting it is creating less of a “story”,  and creating more of what their users don’t want.

People do not want their photo sharing site to turn into a business marketplace.  It is obvious by the discussions happening about “commerce and flickr”, and most apparent with commentary on flickr group discussions about Etsy, and people using Flickr to catalogue their offerings.  That is an incredible no no, apparently.  But that certainly draws our line a bit closer and more precarious, as we don’t *really* know what hotel’s photo sharing is about.  Can anyone define that?  We do know that “Flickereeno’s” (Flickr Staff) are incredibly helpful and accessible, compared with some other social sites.  They responded inside some of the above linked threads, as well as directly to people’s earnest questions.

These are some important problems to resolve in regards to exactly what space a hotel operates in, on flickr.  Their TOS expressively forbids businesses for using it, in any way, for commercial purposes. This includes etsy people using flickr to host a catalogue, or private, personal businesses owned by individuals who are using flickr in any way for their biz. This is complex, because they are obviously lenient, and cannot possibly have omnipresent control, but they have the right to clamp down any time they wish.

In a recent meeting, we met with Flickr’s GM on an unrelated note but asked him about brands and photos, *SPECIFICALLY* in regards to hotels.  His paraphrased words are as follows:

“We typically are fine with a collection of images that tells a story”, but they are down on direct advertising.

I doubt they will forbid relevant or useful brands from existing, but there is a chance in the future that they will crackdown.  Until the TOS are cleaned up to expressively permit a hotel from existing on Flickr, their right will be to delete your account without warning or justification. As of now, their TOS suggest that they *will* do this at some point in the future, in that a hotel is not a person using it for personal reasons.

I guess the point is that it is a relevant and important aspect of a hotel social media optimizer’s job.  Use it effectively and it can be an incredible tool to help your hotel.  If you aren’t sure how, you can find interesting articles like this about marketing and Flickr, or simply use Josiah’s incredible work.  You will miss out if you aren’t part of this, and it can really help your overall social media program.

At least for now.

Hello,

Flickr account “framesdirect” was deleted by Flickr staff for violating our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.

www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne

# Don’t use Flickr for commercial purposes.

Flickr is for personal use only. If we find you selling products, services, or yourself through your photostream, we will terminate your account.

-Terrence

My question… how are these hotels and brands getting away with using flickr for business purposes, or better question:

How long before Flickr further cracks down on businesses and starts deleting accounts?

Anyone that understands this complexity with flickr, please let me know.  I don’t get how this is being utilized as it violates the TOS?  Is it ok, or does Flickr just not care until they choose too?  I think there is a transparency and consistency issue here for Flickr?  Thoughts?