Now You Can Sign Up for Flickr Using a Google Account

Just one day after Flickr announced its Facebook integration, the site is announcing that Google users will be able to register and log in using their existing accounts. This is done via the wonders of OpenID and will be extended to other OpenID providers beyond Google.

"Flickr is rolling out a new feature to make it easier than ever for new users to join our community," Flickr's Denise Leung wrote.

"We’re introducing OpenID on Flickr, a service that makes it faster and easier to sign-up for new accounts by letting you use one identity across multiple websites," she announced.

"So starting today, you’ll be able to use a Google account to sign-up for a new Flickr account. We’re pleased to announce Google as our first partner, but stay tuned as we continue to add even more in the future!," she added.

Both Google and Yahoo have been strong supporters of OpenID and, while they've both had their own take on the authentication and identity provider standard, they've worked quite a lot to drive up use of the technology.

For the users, it means that they'll be able to sign up for Flickr a lot easier even if they don't have a Yahoo account. Considering that Flickr hasn't been exactly exploding with growth lately, it's probably a good move.

Signing up for Flickr will only require a few clicks while you authorize the site to use your Google credentials. After registering, you'll be able to log in with just one click, provided you're already logged into your Google account.

If you use other OpenID providers you'll have to wait a little longer, but Flickr has said that it plans to expand the support.

Google introduced the possibility to sign up for its products with Yahoo accounts, again via OpenID, last month.