Photobucket and "third-party hosting"

[MJW]

I just received a notification from Photobucket saying my account has been restricted because I've been engaging in "third-party hosting" by linking my images from another site. Now all my linked images have been replaced by icons saying I need to upgrade my account. This appears to be a new policy, since the Google comments about it are recent. I can, for a mere $399 a year, continue to link to my Photobucket images. Yeah, that's going to happen. (I really hate Photobucket right now.)

 

I need an alternative image site to move my images.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

I've received the same message. The chance of me paying $399 a year (significantly more in $NZ as I assume they're talking $US) is laughable.

 

I recommend you don't move your images just yet, as I hope this stupid policy will be rescinded following the backlash.

 

Hell, for that price you could get three friends together and run your own server.

[Maximilian]

I haven't used Photobucket extensively for several years (I've noticed the service tends to collapse more or less frequently of late). I've been using postimage for a really long time now —over two years or so—, and much successfully. Every now and then their servers may go down for a few hours, but problems have been soon solved at no cost or loss so far. I verily recommend it.

[MJW]

Thanks, Maximilian.

[LionsDragon]

Thanks, Maximilian. I gave up on Photobucket several months ago, and I can't say that I miss it! I've heard good things about Postimage, so yay--the more backups, the better.

[MJW]

37 minutes ago, Ego Eram Reputo said:

 

I recommend you don't move your images just yet, as I hope this stupid policy will be rescinded following the backlash.

 

Do you know if it's possible to relink my SOTW and OOTF comp entries? Photobucket's "You must upgrade" icon is unlikely to be competitive. Now that the polls are open, I assume I no longer have access to the image link.

[Maximilian]

 

20 minutes ago, MJW said:

Thanks, Maximilian.

 

9 minutes ago, LionsDragon said:

Thanks, Maximilian. I gave up on Photobucket several months ago, and I can't say that I miss it! I've heard good things about Postimage, so yay--the more backups, the better.

 

Welcome! I hope both can solve the hosting problems for good.

[AndrewDavid]

@MJW

 

Photobucket has always been too full of ad software to use efficiently.

 

deviantart.com

https://picload.org/

http://imgur.com/

 

are three hosting services I use without any hassles for the past 4-6 months.

[toe_head2001]

5 hours ago, MJW said:

 

Do you know if it's possible to relink my SOTW and OOTF comp entries? Photobucket's "You must upgrade" icon is unlikely to be competitive. Now that the polls are open, I assume I no longer have access to the image link.

 

Give me a new URL, and I can change the display image in the OofF poll.

[Pixey]

I just received one of these notifications also.  Luckily the images for the SOTW are still showing, which I stored on PB.  I tend to use Imgur the most, unless an image has a black background, which doesn't show up well on the forum.  I've had trouble with Postimage in the past with adverts.

 

@MJW - I can still see the entries in the SOTW and OOTF except for yours .

[Seerose]

11 hours ago, Maximilian said:

I haven't used Photobucket extensively for several years (I've noticed the service tends to collapse more or less frequently of late). I've been using postimage for a really long time now —over two years or so—, and much successfully. Every now and then their servers may go down for a few hours, but problems have been soon solved at no cost or loss so far. I verily recommend it.

 

Hi everyone and  @Maximilian! I've been using it for a long time. Thanks to   @IRON67! I'm very satisfied.

Edited June 30, 2017 by Seerose

[MJW]

I signed up for an Imgur account and uploaded my two current comp images. To test the links, and to provide links that can hopefully be used to update the poll versions, I'll post them here, at least temporarily.

 

OOTF:

 

SOTW:

 

 

 

[toe_head2001]

I've updated the display image on the OotF poll.

[MJW]

Thank you very much, toe_head2001!

[Ego Eram Reputo]

I'd sign up for Imgur - except for the bit I've underlined in their ToS below.

Stuff not to do

If someone else might own the copyright to it, don't upload it. Don't upload gore, "hate speech" (i.e. demeaning race, gender, age, religious or sexual orientation, etc.), or material that is threatening, harassing, defamatory, or that encourages violence or crime. Don't upload illegal content such as child porn or nonconsensual ("revenge") porn. Don't hotlink to adult content or to file-sharing, gambling, torrent, warez, or Imgur rip-off sites. Don't impersonate someone else. Also, don't use Imgur to host image libraries you link to from elsewhere, content for your website, advertising, avatars, or anything else that turns us into your content delivery network. If you do – and we will be the judge – or if you do anything illegal, in addition to any other legal rights we may have, we will ban you along with the site you're hotlinking from, delete all your images, report you to the authorities if necessary, and prevent you from viewing any images hosted on Imgur.com. We mean it.

[Maximilian]

Wow, that final part looks worryingly threatening!

[Ego Eram Reputo]

Yeah. The images I upload are not generally 'art'. I'm usually uploading images for tutorials or pdn screenshots purely for use on this forum. I'm sure I would be in breach of the ToS

 

I'm sure users who are showing off their art would be fine. Then there is DeviantArt to consider....

[toe_head2001]

When ImageShack discontinued free accounts a few years ago, I didn't want to get burned again in the future, so I started hosting my images on my own server and domain.

At least ImageShack gave many months of notice (plus a long grace period), and didn't charge outrageous amounts of money.

 

Most people will be migrating away from Photobucket, and Photobucket will lose more from decreased ad revenue than they'll gain from these $400 accounts.

Talk about shooting themselves in the foot.

 

 

On a Photobucket related note, @Ego Eram Reputo, I think it's time to unsticky the following tutorial, as it's content is outdated and not relevant anymore.

https://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/12193-how-to-use-images-in-your-posts-signatures-and-avatars/

[Ego Eram Reputo]

14 hours ago, toe_head2001 said:

so I started hosting my images on my own server and domain.

I'd like to do that too. Being at the mercy of 3rd parties abrupt policy changes is not something I like.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

On 1/07/2017 at 5:26 PM, toe_head2001 said:

I think it's time to unsticky the following tutorial,

 

Done.

 

For anyone interested, I've decided to re-host my images on PostImage.org. Their ToS can be found here.

 

There is no mention of 3rd party linking being a bad thing. They only say...

 

Quote

Please keep the images embedded into third-party websites wrapped in links back to the corresponding HTML pages at our site when possible. The outgoing link should lead the user directly to our web page without any interstitial pages or interruptions. This allows your users to get access to the full-resolution images, and also helps us pay our bills.

 

...so if I use the links they provide I should be fine. I've tried pasting both direct link and thumbnail links into a post here on the forum. Both work flawlessly.