Photobucket and Others Restricting Service

Photobucket had become virtually unusable; so I switched to imgur a few months back. Perhaps there was a reasonably worded email describing the need to limit third party linking to free accounts that I deleted without looking; but the notice that my account had been restricted did not sit well with me. I clicked to delete the account

The latest revision of their TERMS (dated 6/28/17) describes the accounts, as follows:
  • Free account : Each individual Member gets one free account that provides 2 GB of free storage or space available for your original photo files, or videos under 10min. The free account does not allow any image linking or 3rd party image hosting. If a free account Member exceeds their Content Limit, their account will be immediately suspended and they will need to become a “Paying Member” (defined below) in order to continue accessing their account. You can upgrade to a Plus account at any time.
  • Ad-free Account : The Ad-free Account offers Members the ability to use the Site without seeing any third party banner advertisements when logged into your Ad-free Account (note, viewers of your images within Photobucket will see ads unless they, too, have Plus accounts and you will continue to see Photobucket offers and announcements). This account level is available for $2.49 / month, payable by the Member on a monthly recurring basis.
  • Plus Account : The Plus Account offers several paid options that may give the Paying Member more storage, bandwidth, 3rd party image hosting, image linking and/or other services as outlined below. Once and during such period of time in which you subscribe to and pay for a Plus Account, we will consider you a "Paying Member." Please note that all Plus Account subscriptions are billed annually at the commencement of the service. Photobucket may also offer a monthly billing option for its Plus Accounts (see terms and restrictions, below).
  • Available Plus Account Plans : Photobucket offers the following Plus Account Plans:
o Plus 50 Plan: 52 GB of Storage for $59.99 / Year. The Plus 50 Plan does not allow any image linking or 3rd party image hosting.

o Plus 100 Plan: 102 GB of Storage for $99.99 / Year. The Plus 100 Plan allows for unlimited image linking but does not allow 3rd party image hosting.

o Plus 500 Plan: 500 GB of Storage and unlimited bandwidth for $399.99 / Year. The Plus 500 Plan allows for unlimited image linking and unlimited 3rd party image hosting.
 
I also run into an issue here where when I am browsing from work the images are blocked it seems dependent on the hosting service.
 
ndmiller said:
They could just close their service because they cannot afford to give away resources anymore..........
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Sure they can, anybody that uses twelve ads and three popups per page with one of those popups having five ads not to mention adware and auto linking and malware with people visiting hundreds of thousands of times can surely afford to offer a free service. They created their own business model and between that and this they are digging their own grave.

Now if they sent their members an email with plenty of warning saying their intentions and offering a reasonable fee then they wouldn't have cut their own throat.
 
Maybe they'll catch a clue now... breaking the interwebs wasn't the best way to get people to subscribe to your service:confused:

~Chip
 
So, this article indicates that there was indeed no warning. To my knowledge no warning was sent to me. I simply received an email - subject line "Some features on your account have been disabled" so I opened it.

Your account has been restricted for 3rd party hosting.
Don't worry, your photos are safe.
In order to restore 3rd Party Hosting,
please upgrade to our Plus 500 Membership.

Well, thank goodness my photos are safe! Can I offer you my firstborn and throw in my beloved spaniel?

I then checked my BF recent posts and it was ugly Photobucket where images had been.

Even a warning that said $399/year or your all your image posts turn into photobucket pumpkins at midnight and all your work in building context around your images over years is snuffed ... well many could/would not pay.

This figure is so totally contrary to building a paid subscription base. Do they want notoriety? Do they think it will shake up the world and that the world will pay? Are the targets actually their free users or the forums and blogs etc.? Something is horrendously whacky with this figure for third party hosting.

I believe that SharpByCoop stated that he pays $75/yr and is served well. Apologies and I stand to be corrected if otherwise.

My sense is that he endorses paying for fair service if I interpret his post correctly. Honestly, I don't think many truly believe that services come at zero cost. I don't.

But certainly 'traffic' has been Photobucket's previous agreement for payment from free members. Perhaps traffic is no longer hoisting the advertisers' flag? So, try telling free users in fairness that no longer will they allow third party hosting unless payment (let's talk reasonable here) is forthcoming from now on.

I think there is another shoe to drop here ... because the ask is bizarre, the withdrawal of images is staggering, the outcome will not see most current free users paying $399/yr to see their own images even within the context of their posts which took a huge amount of their passion, time and effort. Where is the respect for human time and endeavour in this?

Gosh, if I were to take a fly, I would think that Photobucket has been hacked in an effort to kill a competitor.
 
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RayseM said:
I've been using PB for years now too. Have yet to have them drop the bomb on me :confused:

BUT - I have recently discovered with the BF new format I can just run a JPG of any of my photos through my Adobe Elements program to make sure it is a decent size - 72 to 120 pixels per inch and maybe a 6" wide photo and this is what I get now on BF. I just drop it in to the post and choose THUMBNAIL, or in this case, FULL IMAGE. Gets the point across without the middle man.

Ray is spot on here. Just upload a jpg file and choose the option you prefer! No need for PB. Anyone using android phones can use google photos which is easy enough without ads.
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Polynikes01 said:
Hey I'm switching to flikr where is the correct link to copy so I can post pictures?
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Photostream -> Click on Pic --> 'Share Photo' (bottom right of screen, arrow pointing right) --> Copy/Paste BB Code --> Just leave text including and inside the two ['img'] brackets.

I hope this is easy to follow. If not, let me know, I have a good link from Spark somewhere...
 
First it was Dropbox, now PhotoBucket. Not surprising, but at least Dropbox gave its users some notice. Funny (if not sad) thing about PhotoBucket is that even after the change, if I go to one of my PB albums I still see options to embed images on other sites!!!!! You would think they would be smart enough to disable the feature for everyone but those who have nothing better to do with $400 a year than pay hosting ransom to PB!

PB.jpg


So, now begins the monumental task of changing photo links in all the forums to which I post. While easy, it is certainly time consuming. I went with Imgur .... but have mixed feelings about that. Easy to upload and renders quickly, but ..... organizing images is a little more difficult and (more importantly) if Imgur ever follows suit, changing future links will be near impossible, since Imgur shortens the direct links (essentially eliminating the file name).
 
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I've been using Photobucket since 2007. Over the past year or so they have increased their annoying pop-up ads and basically made their site annoying to use. On a mobile device it is even worse. Well today they changed their policies and have disabled every picture that I've ever shared on the internet since 2007. There is no 3rd party sharing of any of the hosted photos unless I want to upgrade. The upgrade fee is $399 for one year. WTF.

Has anyone else been affected? I saw Will Power's pictures are not showing up either. What site would you recommend I use in the future?
 
I noticed this too. Safe to say bladeforums has a lot less pictures to admire today than yesterday. Its a shame, and hard to believe that is a good move for a site like p-buckt. People will just go elsewhere, taking eyes off their ads, etc. Who is really going to pay that for what was free yesterday, with so many options out there.
 
It is the human time and passion related to the image that this power to disconnect threatens. That's emotional and powerful ... and often financial. Photobucket dismisses everyone's efforts, their time, their passion ... spent in contributing to a service they offered for free to users and for which their advertisers paid. Now they hold it ransom for a totally unjustifiable cost.

You know, I am one of the least affected by this, but injustice just rubs me the wrong way ... you know, like sandpaper.
 
Huh, this is a pic from the Bucket I just uploaded, and I haven't paid them anything extra. I only interact with that site and this through my phone, no idea if that has any bearing on it or not.

 
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I keep all my knife photos on my laptop or iPad. The new forum software allows the easiest way to post. Just use the "Upload a File" button
 
In case you have not heard, Photobucket has gone off the edge. No more free picture hosting for 3rd party sites, which means you can use your free account to post pictures anywhere. This means a lot pictures on this and many other forums are gone for good. Many lengthy posts full of photographic documentation will be useless. Way to go Photobucket. Corporate greed at its finest.
I delete my account today. Everyone who has an account should do the same and let PB know that the little people who made them are not happy......
 
Whetstone39 said:
Huh, this is a pic from the Bucket I just uploaded, and I haven't paid them anything extra. I only interact through with that site and this through my phone, no idea if that has any bearing on it or not.

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That was my exact experience until last night :(

~Chip
 
joeradza said:
I keep all my knife photos on my laptop or iPad. The new forum software allows the easiest way to post. Just use the "Upload a File" button
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This is exactly what I do as well. Of course it would depend how much storage one has on their laptop/iPad/devices but external storage devices are so cheap now I quit using hosting sites.

Take Care,
Mike
 
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