Pickle, the video- and photo-sharing startup bought by Scripps last year, is shutting down its site on May 15. The service, which had a strong mobile component, is now being used to power Scripps web sites, according to a letter sent to former users. Scripps had bought Pickle in August 2007 for $4.7 million.

Full sorry-we’re-deleting-your-stuff letter is below the jump.

Hi there,

As you may know, Pickle was acquired last year by Scripps Networks, the company behind such excellent cable networks as the Food Network and HGTV. Since then, our technology has been put to work like never before, letting users upload photos and videos to Scripps websites. However, our focus has increasingly shifted towards powering those sites and away from consumer applications of Pickle.

After lengthy consideration, we concluded that the best course is to retire consumer access to Pickle.com. As of May 15, 2008, you will no longer have access to your Pickle account.

Don’t worry. We’ve made it easy for you to retrieve all of your photos and videos from Pickle. You have 6 weeks to download your content in one easy-to-access .zip file. Sign in and click the “Download All Your Stuff” link on your account home page.

Thank you for your loyalty and for being part of the Pickle community. The last few years have been an amazing chapter in the evolution of the Internet. We’re grateful to have shared a small part of this historic time with you.

Though Pickle is unique, here are a few other photo and/or video hosting services that we like. While these sites are similar, each has its own set of strengths and range of options to explore. PHOTOS Flickr Picasa Kodak Gallery SmugMug

VIDEOS YouTube Metacafe Vimeo

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS PhotoBucket Phanfare

Thanks again for using Pickle. And remember, life moves…

All the best, The Pickle Team