[Arizoni]

Anyone here who uses Photobucket to store their picture images?

Do you ever "link" the Photobucket image address in your posts on the web forums so your friends can see the picture in your post?

Be prepared for a shock.  The picture links may stop working and all you'll get is a Photobucket saying "Please update your account..."

Updating your account so you can link your pictures on other web sites will cost you a cool $399/year.
How's that for being friendly?

They didn't even have the decency to warn its members that they were going to make this change to their accounts. 

If you've uploaded pictures directly to our ClassicMotorworks site, they will continue to work but if you used the "IMG" command to link a photobucket picture, don't be surprised if it isn't there anymore.

Here's a link to PC Magazine's story about it.

http://sea.pcmag.com/webcom-web-hosting/16382/news/photobucket-breaks-image-links-across-the-internet

[heloego]

   Interesting, especially since I'm one of those "lower tier" members paying $.99/month just to keep the ubiquitous pop-ups from ruining my forays in the site.
   Damned if I'll pay the upgrade $$ just to link from a third party.
   I have a LOT of stuff stored there!  And if I have to DL each and every image to my HD I will before I cancel my account!
   That said, if I can somehow do it as batch files maybe the job will be a bit easier.

[Chasfield]

The Cloud at work again.

Somebody recently pointed out that the Cloud is just somebody else's computer. We are constantly being reminded of this.

[High On Octane]

Oh my freaking God.  Just TRIED to get on PB, and yep, the site is now just a wad of advertising.  I wasn't even able to access my 1,011 pictures I have stored there.  I was able to glance at the new Terms, and sure shit, you do have to pay to be a "member" now.  But seriously, what is the point if the entire site is just click bait and pop ups?  So sad, it used to be an amazing resource.

[High On Octane]

This post is just to see if the phone app is still working.  It appears it might be, but the actual website is an absolute disaster.

[High On Octane]

Interesting.  So, the phone app does still work as it used to.....

[singhg5]

What do you guys think of using Flickr for photos ? 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dodgydago/3411011589/in/photolist-6cqjUD-cFxnqN-oD5b7B-mGfg8m-dq7t1Q-K1KK9-aGroaM-ng3g7A-bx1tRS-93in2P-c7eDTQ-7jFy7e-afMLHG-dnPqez-r5Sy28-4kTLbZ-q4Xzc7-oay47F-dchT4V-RT1CQG-93muCb-ne1hZh-93inap-dx92wR-n56usx-oHB6JG-9WF2qa-njXqv1-dchNRs-rLs6je-nHqEYW-nKb8KK-8BHnzy-uNZdUn-oqjUgi-eeroWP-uRAkAY-ayQPPR-31TR4Z-RTzhJU-9USNEt-gztUTN-aEmv8V-9xu3xU-o7WAKd-reQW6B-9USNTK-ayTuDs-e9RPgx-aeXNbK   

[Arizoni]

High On Octane

This new Photobucket policy seems to be effecting only the people who have made a LOT of photo links on various forums.

Apparently, you and I are among the few that aren't effected because we haven't linked that many pictures?
 I know my pictures are still showing up in the various posts where I have put them.

I also know of a lot of people who like to post a LOT of pictures in the posts they make on the various forums and every one of them was hit with this non-working picture crap.

As for Flicker, I set up an account there quite a long time ago and it seemed to work.
At the time, it didn't want to give me a direct link to my pictures so I could easily post them on various forums but I figured out how to make a "work around" for the problem.
The work around was a pain in the ass so rather than using Flicker I just continued to use Photobucket.

Now, I'm considering setting up a account at  Imgur.
They are getting very good ratings and it's free.

https://www.thebalance.com/imgur-review-1357009

[heloego]

   Don't seem to be having a problem with my PB account either.
   Thanks for the link to imgur, Jim! Think I'll check it out further.

[Aus.GT]

Top of the page seems to be proof.

[malky]

Top of the page seems to be proof.

You just beat me to it. Plus I use various sites for reference purposes, and every one without exception has been affected. There must be millions of people out there really pissed off, many of them like me who don't even use photof#ckit as an image host. What a business model.

Update.
Just went to a site I use for pictorial reference for reassembling small mechanisms, and every picture is down. Back to the good old fashioned manuals.

[gizzo]

I don't use Photobucket (or Imgur or anything) so I don't have a dog in this fight. But I went and had a quick look at Photobucket's website to see what the fuss was about. I found a press release dated yesterday that includes this:

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.

He seems to make a fair point. They're a business and have to make money to live and look after their families and workers and stuff. The service they provide has been pretty much free all this time apart from advertising revenue. Everyone using ad blockers makes buying ad space in PB less attractive, PB loses advertising money. Meanwhile the same users who reject the advertising are happy to use up PB's free storage for their own means. What's left but charging them to use the service? Or am I missing something?

[malky]

Or am I missing something?

Possibly the total lack of warning about the effect to users and non users alike. If you become almost reliant on the web for reference purposes, and then "everything" vanishes and you start to slowly learn about it from forums such as this one, then even if a change had to be made in order to make the business viable, which is understandable, the PR surrounding it stinks.

[Otto_Ing]

There is no such thing as a free meal. We have been lured in many "free" things over the years which we would be better of without. Personally, I started disliking computers already with the introduction of the "user friendly" systems such as Windows. My reason for it was that it was impossible to keep track of what's going on the background. Today I watch my Windows machine degenerate on a daily basis with every sooo much needed update to every part of the operating system and software.

[JVS]

I've had my Photobucket account since 2005. All the topics/threads I've made in this forum with photos etc were all hosted on Photobucket. Even the pic in my signature 

Now I've got that same message, along with an email asking me to upgrade. Oh well. Not sure how to restore my images in all the topics I've made on here.

[gizzo]

Possibly the total lack of warning about the effect to users and non users alike. If you become almost reliant on the web for reference purposes, and then "everything" vanishes and you start to slowly learn about it from forums such as this one, then even if a change had to be made in order to make the business viable, which is understandable, the PR surrounding it stinks.

That's a fair point. Some warning would have been good form.

[Narada]

I don't care about "storage", I just want to post my pictures and have to use some method of getting that "img" format without which pictures won't go onto a forum... for some reason.

[Richard230]

It looks like even our host is getting the Photobucket treatment. 

[Arizoni]

Because this forum allows members to edit their old posts, they can fix the frinkled up pictures by uploading them on a different Photo storing site and then plugging in the new Image address into your post where the messed up one is.

In reality, that's too damn much work IMO.

As for advertising, Photobucket is going to learn all about it.

Tens of thousands of people visit the PB site to upload pictures they want to post out on the web as "3rd Party Hosting Usage".
While they are there, they see the ads.

The advertising departments look at the number of "hits" a site gets and based on that number, decide whether to advertise there or not.  The number of "hits" also determines how much a advertising company will be willing to pay for the ad space.

Now that PB has screwed the pooch, those tens of thousands of people/day are going to say "Screw this.  I can't even show my pictures in my posts anymore.", so they will stop going there.

With no one showing up at the PB site, the ad guys are also going to say, "Screw this.  No one is seeing my ad's so, I'm going to cancel my contracts with PB."

After PB realizes its visitors are down and they are losing ad's, they might try to reinstate the free 3rd party hosting but even if they send out E-Mails to all of their old members trying to lure them back, it will be too late.

I and the millions of others who are pissed off have already found other sites to store our pictures.  We will remember how PB shut off access to our old pictures and in a unnamious voice will say loudly, "Screw you Photobucket!  It will be a cold day in Hell before I'll venture back to your site."

Another fine example of "short term and greedy thinking", sinking a company.

[malky]

^^^^exactly.

[Narada]

I have never seen anything like the amount of ads PB tried shoving down my throat.

It was self defence to get in and out of there fast as possible before they locked up my computer!

Then they expected you to pay them to block some of the ads which they put there. It was like extorsion and I would not pay.

I may not yet be affected by this since I don't post elsewhere, but I am done with them. Good riddence.

[Narada]

Wow, they did delete all my pictures from my posts.
F - them!!!! A-holes!!! They can s#&% my c¤Ω*!

[Arizoni]

On forums like this one, you can upload pictures directly to the forum from your computer and they won't vanish.

Other forums don't want to use their storage space to store zillions of bits of photo data so they are set up to only show pictures that are stored on another web site like Photobucket or Flickr or whatever.
This saves the forum a lot of space which can be used to store great topics like this one. 

The reason it saves a lot of space is because, when the forum computer sees a photo link in your post it just goes out on the web and temporary calls up the data from the storage site and then shows it like it is really there.
When you leave the topic, the temporary picture data is forgotten by the forums computer leaving memory available for other stuff.

A person can get their own "web site" and store their pictures there.
If they do this, they can link the pictures on their web site in their posts on those other forums that don't offer to upload pictures and the pictures will show up as long as their own web site is operating.

I don't know the fine points but a man I have great faith in when it comes to computer stuff on the web said while speaking about uploading your pictures to your own site, "You would need to learn a little about uploading the files (via FTP)", whatever that is.

GoDaddy will set up a web site for you for about $12 for the first year and $100 per year to keep it going.
With your own web site you can post just about anything you want to and you are in total command.

[heloego]

   "FTP" is "File Transfer Protocol". Supplied in-house by the site vendor, and/or cab be a solo program on your own PC. Original files are stored on your PC. Copies are uploaded to your site.
   I had a web site for several years. Depending on the vendor, when you have your own site you have the options of designing/building your own site (with Dream Weaver for example), uploading, downloading, restricting access with a password, having your own forum, providing real-time links to other sites, and often MANY more options. So many it can be very confusing if you're not a hardcore webster.
   Mine was Flight Sim related (specifically Il-2 Sturmovik) but since I abhorred the idea of subjecting people to pop-up ads to support it finances kept me from continuing the project.

   As for PB...F*ck 'em.

   All my files are on my laptop, PB can shove it, and I'm looking at other options.

[voodoochild]

On forums like this one, you can upload pictures directly to the forum from your computer and they won't vanish.
Other forums don't want to use their storage space to store zillions of bits of photo data so they are set up to only show pictures that are stored on another web site like Photobucket or Flickr or whatever.
This saves the forum a lot of space which can be used to store great topics like this one. 

Our hosts CMW have so graciously provided this forum for new and veteran RE tinkerers. I sure have always found answers in old posts especially those with pictures ( a picture is worth a thousand words!) extremely valuable. I'm still a  "Neophyte" on this forum and the few posts I've included photos in, I've uploaded directly to this forum instead of linking from Photobucket or any other site. I wonder if we will hit the  storage ceiling on CMW's webhosting package soon if we all start uploading our photos to this forum. Maybe imgur.com is a good alternative. I will try and use that from now on.

[Arizoni]

On another forum, the members who have switched to imgur have had good luck so far but, according to Imgur's rules, they also say its members should not link pictures stored there on other forums.

It's strange they should say that because their site gives you the your picture address, to post on other forums.
So far, these people who have switched to it are having good luck in posting the picture on other forums.
I guess we'll see.

[mattsz]

May be old and irrelevant by now (this thread, not me! Well, maybe me, too...), or already discussed or solved on another thread - if so, sorry!

I just discovered a thread on ADVrider.com where a kid has written and posted browser add-ons which allow photobucket images to show.  It works...

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/photobucket-fixer-see-all-photobucket-images-again.1256340/