Hostage of Photobucket

[RossKean]

The previous model Photobucket was using to make money from cheap guys like me was the (really annoying) advertising. They don't allow you to use an ad-blocker on their site so you can't avoid the ads. They obviously don't get anything for the photos linked to other sites but I assume they still do reasonably well from the ad revenue. You have to visit the site in order to upload!.

Advertising is a perfectly legitimate (and highly profitable) source of revenue on the "'net" if the business model is correct. I don't know about anyone else, but I surely don't pay (directly) to use Google maps or use a Bing search engine. I don't fork out cash to visit websites either. Does anyone pay to belong to Facebook? Arguably, these are valuable sites (to some), they are highly profitable and none of these send a monthly invoice.

Obviously, the model did not work (well enough) for Photobucket. Perhaps they are looking to make a big money grab before shutting down completely or maybe they are trying to position themselves to sell out for big bux.

I don't hate them for it. I am just glad I don't have a lot of work or images invested in the site. Personally, I won't be paying them to host any of my stuff. If I can't find another "free" site, I might consider buying some server space somewhere - pretty cheap these days if you don't need a ton of space or serious bandwidth. There are still lots of photo hosting sites out there that don't require you to pay but they may follow Photobucket's lead. The "hate" for Photobucket is more in the way it was done - not the fact that it was done.

 

[hppants]

The realization of this for me is that I don't get to control anything. Photobucket (and soon Smug Mug) (and thereafter possibly someone else to be named) hold all of the cards. I agree to their terms and conditions, and also agree to pay them (in my case) and they can still change the rules on a whim and I can either like it or go suck my thumb.

Obviously, my contribution and my concern here is for my ride reports. At least for now, it's important enough for me to do what I can to ensure the integrity of my ride reports. I've accepted the fact that it's going to take a while and a shitload of work, and sometime in the future, I may be right back where I am now. But I believe the juice is worth the squeeze.

Really, it's not a whole lot different than my membership to this (and any other) forum. I agree to understanding and following the rules, subject to the sole interpretation and enforcement of the moderator and owner. I don't have to like it (and in some cases I most assuredly do not), but my only other choice is to go suck my thumb. In this case as well, at least for now, the juice is still well worth the squeeze.

I suppose in either case, I could start my own thing, but for someone like me, that's not a realistic and viable option.

I guess what I'm trying to share is that what I'm learning about these kinds of things is that after the initial wave of butt hurt passes, when I realize that the situation is truly beyond my control, then I try very hard not to waste any more energy on it because it's futile. I can't say I'm perfect at that (far from it), but I'm getting better as I get older....

 

[Fred W]

The "hate" for Photobucket is more in the way it was done - not the fact that it was done.

While I agree with that sentiment, that isn't the sense I get. A lot of the people complaining about this would be pissed off even if given fair warning. There are many people saying that they lost photos, which is mind boggling. I mean really: Would you put your money in a free bank?
I do think this was a bad business move by PB, as they have set the price of admission way too high for their largest customer group (forum users wanting to 3rd party host). They would have made much more money by converting many of these users to accounts at a reasonable subscription rate, say between $20-30 per year. Nobody in their right mind is going to spend $400 a year to post pictures on the internet.

PS - @pants - I agree. This isn't the first time for this kind of thing and it won't be the last. Even customers with paid accounts can't expect the terms of service to be maintained forever. My ISP (Comcast) decided to do away with the free website hosting that was a part of our paid service up to that point because in their opinion it was only being used by a small fraction of their customer base (including me). I, of course, had no real recourse except to discontinue my service, which is a monopoly in the area we live.

 

[TomInPA]

i DELETED my PB account with over 11,000 photos, many of which were posted to forums or used in "how-to" threads. All can be replaced, but the links are now permanently broken. Was I too hasty? I don't tolerate having my chain yanked lightly.

 

[rbentnail]

i DELETED my PB account with over 11,000 photos, many of which were posted to forums or used in "how-to" threads. All can be replaced, but the links are now permanently broken. Was I too hasty? I don't tolerate having my chain yanked lightly.

I don't either. I'd much rather have my chain yanked firmly, too

.

Yes, IMHO you were too hasty.

 

[hppants]

Well - I got the "can't host at 3rd party sites" email this morning.

I've asked for my current term deadline, and a copy of the terms/conditions that I agreed to for the current term, as opposed to what P/B is going to now and moving forward. I'm hoping that in the absence of specific language in MY agreement, they will honor 3rd party hosting until the term expires. That may give me enough time to move to smug mug.

We'll see.....

 

[FJRfarrier]

Well, I've just received the dreaded email. This occurs just a few days after I decided to invest $2.50/month for ad free. (And a recent RR) Guess I will be looking for a new photo uploading site. Sounds like smug mug is a good choice?

And here I was, just getting used to Photobucket....

 

[Uncle Hud]

Didn't get an email, but the dreaded meter icon has appeared on my earlier posts. Funny, turns out I already have a Flickr account from 2007. How am I supposed to remember that? Photos will be transferred in 20 minutes.

But that's the start of a burdensome job to replace URLs wherever I have an accursed Photobucket icon. Over several years of Forum posts. I feel for all y'all that have lots of photos in your Ride Reports. Pretty shitty of Photobucket, if you ask me.

 

[SacramentoMike]

I didn't, but I agree anyway. Would I still be pissed off if PB had given me fair warning? I dunno. BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T!

 

[Bounce]

Got my letter today.

Went right over and deleted all files, then deleted all folders. It's empty. No originals stored there. Total time ~15 minutes.

 

[Knifemaker]

Have not got the email yet. I went back in the BBQ thread and all the photos I posted via Photobucket are still there... sadly not true for other posters there.

I'm still a moderator on the Vulcan 750 forum. Someone there asked me to contact ALL the members that have technical writeups with photos they posted using Photobucket to go back and edit their posts inserting new photos from a different hosting site.

Well, I'm not going to try and do that...hell, many of those threads are by folks that are no longer active members...some by people that are no longer with us The best I can do is post a request asking those who can to replace their pics.

It's a total clusterfuck that's effected hundreds of online forums. I hope someone has at least contacted whoever runs Photobucket and told them the result of their actions.....

 

[Panman]

I think I'll just let my stuff rot there and let it take up space. I'll add a picture once in a while so they don't toss me.

It's kind of sad how they did it, no real warning that I remember and oh by the way that will be $40 a month.

It's also sad that this is the only place I have used the service, so nine years of interaction with folks here gone.

Oh well, I was just going to post a thread titled 10 Yrs 100 MPH @ 100,000 on Hwy 200 and show the odometer/GPS picture.

 

[Laser Dude]

It's a total clusterfuck that's effected hundreds of online forums. I hope someone has at least contacted whoever runs Photobucket and told them the result of their actions.....

In all fairness, it's not so much their actions, but the actions of forum owners that refuse to setup systems to support people uploading their own photos which would ensure the integrity of their creation (forum). That mere fact is what has CAUSED people to go to places like PB and others. In this day and time, everyone wants everything for free and it's not possible. Want a forum that never has a broken link or missing photo? Then pay $5 a month to support the costs of bandwidth and storage. I'd gladly pay $5 a month to support a site that hosted all the images on it's own servers.

Do you want quality or do you want free? Can't have both.

 

[Bounce]

Setting up a photo support function takes space and bandwidth. That's not free so you end up having to charge people for accessing a forum. From day 1 this site has tried to make it clear that they didn't want to serve up ads to members nor charge them to use it. The only alternative is to ask them to host high load items elsewhere and link to them.

To see what commercialization of a formerly ad-free site does, turn off your ad blockers and check out

https://www.iwsti.com/

https://forums.nasioc.com/

https://www.wrxtuners.com/forums/ (23 cross links on just the home page - plus ads)

Not only are the home pages and the tops of each sub-forum headered with ads, they show up between posts. The animations and graphics are murder on mobile platforms.

 

[Knifemaker]

Yes, but it's like the drug dealers line..."it's free the first time" If you advertise something as free, your not supposed to come back later and change your mind asking for payment.

I wouldn't mind paying a small fee to have an ad free storage for my photos, but $400 sounds pretty freaking high. I understand PB dilemma, but I think they could have handled the thing better.

Here's the only thing I've seen on their decision:

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/07/06/photobucket-complaints-over-charging/

And to be fair, they still have not contacted me about my account, and I'm thinking here they may never, as I don't have that many photos on their site.

 

[RossKean]

I am in no way trying to be argumentative but does anyone have any idea what the incremental cost would be if this forum decided to host relatively low-resolution photos (i.e. 250 kb max)? I understand that we are dealing with storage space (which has become a relatively low-cost commodity) + the bandwidth (that would be difficult to estimate, I think).

I belong to at least one forum that allows modest-size photo uploads. The site is currently ad-free and does not charge to be a member. It is a far less active site than this one so perhaps the comparison isn't fair.

If someone asked me for $20/year to be a member, I don't think I would hesitate. If it was $100, maybe not. Quite a few would not bother with any sort of mandatory paid membership although many might be willing to make a free-will donation from time-to-time to keep it running.

 

[Laser Dude]

Ross, it can add quite a bit to the monthly bill of the server for sure. It just depends if the server is your own or one sitting in a data center. If it's at your location, you might have to have the line upgraded, depending on the volume. Storage is relatively cheap these days. Bandwidth, not as much. You'd have to have a script written to resize the photos automatically or you'll have 500 threads of "My photo won't upload, it says it's too big and I don't know how to resize photos on my phone"

My guess is that if everyone ponied up a few $ a month, you'd be okay. Again, most people want something for nothing. They think everything on the internet is supposed to be free. Sadly, it's not. The bottom line is there is a cost associated with any site and the money has to come from somewhere. Either advertising or subscriptions, or both. The places I've seen it done successfully run ads (and the forum owner works his ass off trying to sell advertising) for people who don't pay, and people who do pay for the subscription get the option to turn the ads off and post in areas like the classified section. Don't want to contribute? Then you can't sell anything on the site.

 

[garyahouse]

Tried posting elsewhere on this forum, as a search using the term "photo bucket" turned up nothing on this site. Oh well. But now that I'm reading all this, I am hugely disappointed. I've posted so many how to's on this forum and others, and I'm just broken hearted. This is a sad day for the tons of great how to write ups on this site. So many utilized PB pictures. Wish there was another way. Obviously this can't be easily rectified, not unless PB backs off on their new policy. What I don't understand is that even though all my former pictures have disappeared on this forum, how am I still able to post PB pictures like the one below? I can do it now, but everything I did in the past doesn't work.

Feeling blue.

Gary

picture test experiment:

 

[Uncle Hud]

garyahouse posted: Tried posting elsewhere on this forum, as a search using the term "photo bucket" turned up nothing on this site. Oh well. But now that I'm reading all this, I am hugely disappointed. I've posted so many how to's on this forum and others, and I'm just broken hearted. This is a sad day for the tons of great how to write ups on this site. So many utilized PB pictures. Wish there was another way. Obviously this can't be easily rectified, not unless PB backs off on their new policy. What I don't understand is that even though all my former pictures have disappeared on this forum, how am I still able to post PB pictures like the one below? I can do it now, but everything I did in the past doesn't work.
Feeling blue.

Gary

picture test experiment:

Well, Gary, a LOT of folks have been posting that exact same photo, and feeling just as blue.

Sorta like beemerdons posting the same photo of Salma Hayek a hundred times. Except that was appreciated by everybody.

 

[Uncle Hud]

From the Photobucket website ....

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John Corpus, CEO of Photobucket, said that historically the company “relied heavily on advertising revenue but that major industry-wide changes in the advertising space have greatly impacted Photobucket, including the rise of ad blockers and the Company’s explosion of 3rd party hosting that generates zero revenue.”

“This model is no longer sustainable,” Corpus added.

Corpus noted that seventy-five percent of Photobucket’s costs originate from non-paying users leveraging 3rd party hosting.

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I'm thinking about copying their 100% meter image, and uploading it 5,000 times to my PB account. Should be an easy way to 'upload all' ......