Google this afternoon said it has bought Picnik, a web-based image editing site. Neither company has unveiled the terms of the deal or their immediate plans, though Google has said the deal will help it improve the online photo editing experience. Picnik as a service is expected to remain as-is for the near future.
The deal is very likely to result in upgrades for Picasa and gives Google a much strong influence in web photo tools and potentially gives it an edge over Adobe's Photoshop, which offers a slimmer range of edits. It also provides a decided edge over Flickr; the Yahoo-owned site has regularly directed its users to Picnik but has never incorporated any editing of its own.
An acquisition may also be a cornerstone of Google's long-term plans for Chrome OS, as its dependence on web apps would depend on Google having its own web tools if it wants to avoid the cost of a licensing deal with an outside partner. Android is less dependent as it already has a native port of Photoshop.
