I don't understand the downmods on this comment; theklub makes a perfectly valid point. I would agree that the market for the masses in this area is much too competitive (if you think you can trump Google in search, well, go for it), even with just two players (ignoring SmugMug and the tail).

I would agree that niche, if at all, is the way to go. Niche of the upper upper pros, who already pay for Flickr pro but find it limiting.

On HN Downmods are not always reasonable; you get downmod mostly because the witch-hunt folks don’t recognize your ID. If you look carefully you will see people getting Upmod for no apparent reason. I guess there’s some sort of club or circle whatever you want to call it. I stop worrying about karma long ago.

Instead of alleging a conspiracy, maybe you should just relax. Sometimes good comments get downmodded incorrectly, buried low on the page, and not noticed. Sometimes it fixes itself. Like now. Sometimes it doesn't.

It happens, from time to time. Welcome to the Internet, version 2.