Photobucket

[BoSoxGal]

In order to access 3rd party hosting, they're now requiring $40/mo. membership.

I'm guessing we'll have lots of broken links in the archive now . . .

[Guinevere]

Damn.

Testing from the app:


Is there an image? It shows up for me in preview mode.

[BoSoxGal]

Yes - are you upgraded?

[Guinevere]

Nope. There is nowayinhell I would pay for that service.

[BoSoxGal]

I just got the email yesterday telling me about the new policy, and my linked image here went dark today. I wonder if they're phasing it in in stages? If you go to the website there's a message about the new 3rd party hosting policy.

[Guinevere]

No such message on the app. Perhaps it's dependant on how you access the site (which would be weird).

[Crackpot]

The way I viewed the image you were replaced with yesterday is that they want you to pay once you've used a certain amount of data

[BoSoxGal]

[quote][Please review the latest changes at Photobucket.

Posted by Photobucket Support+ on Jul 6, 2017 in Uncategorized | No Comments
1. Why Photobucket?

Photobucket is the global destination for linking and 3rd party hosting. In
Photobucket’s 14-year history, the Company amassed over 100 million
registered users, over 15 billion images stored, 2 million daily uploads
and 60 billion photos accessed monthly.

2. What is 3rd Party Hosting?

Photobucket defines 3rd party hosting as the action of embedding an image
or photo onto another website. For example, using the <img> tag to
embed or display a JPEG image from your Photobucket account on another
website such as a forum, auction listings, blog, etc.*

3. Benefits of Photobucket’s 3rd Party Hosting

Easy to Use – Upload a photo from any device and copy the embed code with
one click to host a photo with no development or technical knowledge
required
Competitive, fixed pricing
Offers the only unlimited 3rd party hosting plan (Commercial and Personal
Use)


3rd Party Hosting Specifics

1. What plans offer 3rd Party Hosting?

Only the Plus 500 plan supports 3rd Party Hosting
Upgrade to Photobucket’s Plus 500 Subscription by visiting    http://photobucket.com/pricing
or http://photobucket.com/p500

2. What do I get with the Plus 500 Plan?

Unlimited 3rd Party Hosting
Unlimited Bandwidth
Full Resolution Photo Storage (We do not compress your images)
High Capacity Storage
Dedicated and Priority Customer Support
Photobucket.com Promotional Opportunities

3. What users are affected by the changes to our 3rd Party Hosting
policies?

Moving forward, new and legacy free account users will NOT have third party
hosting available.

If you were a Plus Account subscriber in good standing as of June 1, 2017,
you will continue to have all the privileges you have enjoyed including 3rd
Party Hosting until December 31, 2018 as long as you maintain your
subscription.

Non Plus 500 Account subscribers that purchased after June 1, 2017 will not
have access to 3rd Party Hosting.

4. Are my pictures still safe?

Yes! All your photos are still available by logging into your Photobucket
Account. Photobucket has only restricted the ability to view your photos on
3rd party sites.

5. Can I download my Photos?

Absolutely, at any time. It is an easy four step process:

Step 1. Login to your Photobucket Account

Step 2. Navigate to your library page

Step 3. View a photo and click the download button

Step 4. The picture will be saved to your computer

For our official statement please click here





*Etsy was mentioned in error, and Etsy does not permit third party hosting/embedding of images


Recent Posts

PHOTOBUCKET LAUNCHES UNLIMITED 3RD PARTY HOSTING PLAN
July 6, 2017
/quote]

[BoSoxGal]

Apparently they started this back in June, and it's rolling out in phases - all free accounts will eventually be affected, so beware.

Photobucket replaces millions of images with 'ransom demand'
Photobucket tells users no more free hotlinking for you, replaces millions of images with 'ransom demand'

If you’ve been shopping online over the last week or so, you may have run across listings that do not include an image of the product but do include a Photobucket error message image. That’s because the company quietly did away with free image embedding on third-party websites. It’s a move that is being compared to Photobucket holding its users’ photos for ransom.

Over the last 14 years, Photobucket claims to have hosted over 15 billion images for 100 million registered users, serving up more than “120 billion photos and videos to over three million websites.” The difference in the number of the photos served as opposed to hosted is because a user may embed the same image on multiple shopping sites, such as eBay, Amazon and Etsy, as well as on forums and other sites. By doing away with free hotlinking, Photobucket has effectively broken billions of images on the internet.

Sure, bandwidth is expensive, but the company previously made money by serving up ads to its users as they used the site. While it’s not a crime to try to make a profit without depending on ads, Photobucket seems to have shot itself in the foot, aka corporate suicide, after replacing countless embedded images with an unsightly image saying, “Please update your account to enable 3rd party hosting.”

On June 26, the Photobucket blog briefly noted its updated Terms of Service, which went into effect on June 20. In the three-sentence post, there is no mention of the end of hotlinking unless users pay a $399 annual fee. After clicking to view the new terms, there is a list of three paid account plans, but only the $400 Plus 500 Plan allows for third-party image hosting.

Loyal Photobucket users are furious; many describing the move with terms such as ransom and extortion.

Instead of paying the ransom annual fee, many Photobucket users are turning to other sites that still allow hotlinking.

Stampboards pointed out that users “have no guarantee [Photobucket] will still be in business even in a month the way this disaster is rolling out.” Instead of paying to remove the “’WannaCry’ Gangster like $US400 cash Demand dial,” the forum announcement suggested, “someone at Photobucket with a brain will see the disaster they have unleashed, and back off totally, or in large part in the next week.”

A few other users have come up with workarounds, such as a Chrome extension that is supposed to show the actual embedded image instead of the error message and a fix that is supposed to convert blocked Photobucket images into a working URL.

Maybe you don’t have 14 years of images and artwork stored on Photobucket, or you might not use Photobucket and therefore believe this change in policy won’t affect you at all. However, as a Reddit user suggested:

Regardless of your feelings about Photobucket, yes they suck, yes you should have seen this coming, yes there are other image hosts, it’s all irrelevant. You will search Google for a DIY how-to and the pictures from 2006 will be down. You will search a Honda forum for how to repair a 2010 Honda Pilot power steering noise and the pictures will be down. You will look for a Halloween pumpkin idea from a blog and it will be text only with a bunch of photobucket.com/P500 image links.

There are other options, but if you are considering Imgur then you might be interested to know that at least one Imgur user claimed, “Direct Imgur file links now hijack your browser with custom scripts that track you while doubling the load time. Even worse, it defeats its own purpose by shrinking images to half the size."

[Econoline]

Here's a good article on this, which was posted on the digital photography site DPReview (Digital Photography Review) on July 3. (There's also a long, thorough, lively discussion of this decision—both pro and con—in the Comments.)

Photobucket breaks billions of photos online, upsets millions of users

I've never used Photobucket myself...in retrospect I guess that was a smart decision.

[Guinevere]

I only use it for things I want to link. There is nothing in my PB account that is unique or original. I'm fine abandoning it. It's just a shame, because it was a good service. I suppose I'll finally have to get going on creating my own website for my photography.

[Jarlaxle]

Damn.

Testing from the app:


Is there an image? It shows up for me in preview mode.

No-you've been Photophucked.