Google now provides search and keyword-targeted advertising services on an exclusive basis under a three-year agreement. The new functionality allows users to search both Fotolog and the Web from any page. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Fotolog's earlier partnership with AOL allowed the photo-blogger to integrate AOL's Userplane's chat, messaging and advertising technologies.

These new tools cater to nearly 4.6 million daily visitors. Established in 2002, Fotolog is rumored to have lost some of its early users to Flickr. It rebounded to the current growth rate of about 30,000 new members and 700,000 image uploads per day, according to its CEO John Borthwick. All such growth has been achieved virally, with no marketing or member incentives.

Despite its Alexa rank of 21st most-trafficked Web site in the world, Fotolog is not as well known as other photo-sharing brands, such as Photobucket and Flickr. Some attribute this to lack of marketing; others, including Borthwick, point to differences in business models. Industry analysts are now speculating that Fotolog may follow in the footsteps of Photobucket, recently acquired by Fox Interactive.

Om Malik, founder and executive editor of GigaOM.com, thinks the reason Fotolog is not getting the same attention as similar ventures is its non-U.S. user demographics. Its largest audiences are Spanish and Portuguese speakers. It is the No. 9 site in Spain and the most visited site in Argentina. European markets make up 21% of its audience, with Germany and Italy closely following Spain in terms of user growth. Still, Malik thinks Fotolog is a company to watch as a likely candidate for acquisition by "a large media player without a social media play," such as Viacom.