• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, June 8, 2006

Yahoo today will begin rolling out an upgrade of its Internet-based photo service by making it easier for users to organize their photo collections and share digital pictures with other Web users.

The enhancements, set to launch in a closed beta test, are the first major upgrade to Yahoo Photos since the company launched the service six years ago.

With the upgrade, Yahoo Photos will include some of the most popular features of Flickr, the photo-sharing site Yahoo purchased last year. New functions include the ability to tag photos, making them easier to view and search; "smart albums" that, like iTunes "playlists," automatically organize new photos based on their tags; and point-and-click caption editing.

But unlike Flickr--which Yahoo purchased last year--Yahoo Photos are not publicly searchable by default. "At Yahoo Photos, moms and dads are very concerned about privacy," said Will Aldrich, director of product management for Yahoo Photos. He added that users can choose to make their photos public.

Yahoo Photos is monetized by ads and a partnership with Target that allows users to obtain prints of their photos from the retail giant. Aldrich said the company also hopes the enhancements will encourage consumers to use other Yahoo services--especially e-mail and instant messaging, which are integrated into the photos service.

With 7.77 million unique visitors, Yahoo Photos was the second most popular photography site in April, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. The leading site, Photobucket.com, drew 7.83 million unique visitors, while Yahoo's Flickr garnered 4.82 million.