Flickr search issues

[Shaw S Hunter]

It appears flickr's search function is currently broken, at least for non-account holders. According to flickr's own status page they have been aware of a problem since Wednesday and have today implemented a possible solution whose effects are being monitored. In practice any attempt to enter a search request on the site homepage or from an actual image page generates a banner message that enjoyment of flickr's full benefits requires registering an account with them. The same happens when using searches linked from the the likes of bustimes or BLOTW. So is this just a temporary measure to reduce server workload or has flickr joined the ranks of site operators who demand our personal data in return for accessing their pages?

 

[Halwynd]

Since Smugmug took over, the Flickr viewer experience has just got worse and worse if you don't pay the subscription fee. I used to pay for premium pre-Smugmug, but its no longer worth it to me. Apart from its usual problems and glitches, Bad Pandas etc., search seems to be working OK if you are signed in, so they are now trying to push people into opening an account just to view. I don't fully understand how these companies harvest data, but the size of Flickr cookies on my device currently runs to almost 100MB, similar to those from Google, and we all know what their business model is.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Sadly my suspicions have been confirmed. Flickr's status page shows normal operation but non-account holders cannot use the search function. Looks like the "disruption" was just a smokescreen to allow flickr to make an unwelcome change without drawing quite so much attention to it.

Then again I find the whole ethos behind flickr to be a little strange. Like most general image hosting sites it likes to extol the possibilities for photographers to exchange ideas and widen their creativity. Yet it seems anyone who is not a "serious" photographer is not especially welcome. This despite the fact that having generated enough interest such that the site hosts a huge library of images it's inevitable that people will visit the site out of simple curiosity especially those whose common interest groups have failed to generate or sustain dedicated image sites and use flickr as the inevitable default alternative.

 

[VioletEclipse]

Personally I think that restricting search (and therefore effectively access to) to site for non account holders is a massive step in making the site's overall functionality and usefulness as a resource significantly worse, there have been so many cases where flickr has been the only place I could find decent information about various things before I made an account, and now that's no longer doable. Many people these days refuse to make new accounts unless absolutely nescesarry as so many things now require one that it gets hard to keep track of accounts and passwords etc. I honestly don't see this doing much good for flickr in the long run.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Working fine for me at https://www.flickr.com/search/

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Working fine for me at https://www.flickr.com/search/

What happens if you scroll through the results or submit further search requests?

 

[Class15]

What happens if you scroll through the results or submit further search requests?

All works fine for me as long as I go to a specific photo to open the website rather than the home page.

 

[birchesgreen]

Flickr search is very flakey, it will often come up with no results if i am searching for an image of mine which i know exists, then if you refresh the results once or twice the images will turn up.

 

[trainswitheddy]

If on PC just press esc and the sign in pop up disappears. Not sure how to get rid of it on mobile however

 

[Halwynd]

Looks as if Flickr have now removed the need to have an account to use search.

Still an awful, ad-ridden experience if you don't fork out, but there you go...

Edit: Although the box instructing you to sign up to view more has gone, I now only seem to be able to view a limited number of pictures using search. If they're trying to get more people to join up or subscribe then they're going about it in completely the wrong way.

 

[VioletEclipse]

Looks as if Flickr have now removed the need to have an account to use search.

Still an awful, ad-ridden experience if you don't fork out, but there you go...

Edit: Although the box instructing you to sign up to view more has gone, I now only seem to be able to view a limited number of pictures using search. If they're trying to get more people to join up or subscribe then they're going about it in completely the wrong way.

I don't trust flickr to not re-implement the box stopping you without an account in the near future, the current pretty terrible photo page for non-pro accounts with the description in a wee box above ads to the right of the image rather than below it, was trialled, removed after complaint, and then re-implemented after the on-site flickr forums were conventiently removed. Might be being too cynical, and I do realise that hosting millions of photos and videos like flickr does can't be cheap, and they want to do whatever they can to encourage folk to pay for a pro account.

 

[jadmor]

it might be worth trying a third-party site like Flickriver instead.

 

[Halwynd]

I don't trust flickr to not re-implement the box stopping you without an account in the near future...

We spoke too soon, unfortunately the box has returned this morning.

it might be worth trying a third-party site like Flickriver instead.

I didn't know about that, it looks like a decent alternative - thanks very much.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

We spoke too soon, unfortunately the box has returned this morning.

I was going to post this last night: it does seem that whatever Flickr is doing it remains a work in progress. The cookie consent panel disappeared for a while recently but returned this week.

I suspect they are rather keen to increase their revenue but dare not make it a subscription only site. Quite possibly I am part of the problem as I use a browser+ad-blocker combination that means I see relatively few ads anywhere on the Web!

 

[Class15]

In my opinion, probably the easiest solution is to just get an account. It’s free and I see no great problem in it.