RIP Photobucket...
Discussion
TonyRPH said:
Their infrastructure costs must be high.
To support the distribution of so many (usually large) images would require multiple servers likely spread across multiple data centres.
And then there's the bandwidth costs/
It really can't be cheap.
The reason they probably went for £400 per year was because they realised that as soon as they change their model to a chargeable one - there would be a massive decline in users - so it's striking a balance between users and costs.
I suspect that some people think they would be making huge profits, but I would be surprised if that's the case.
The nature of these businesses is that they aren't primarily looking to be profitable or even have positive revenues. They want 'users' and they will use investor capital to build the largest user base possible. Their primary exit plan is to be bought out by a bigger 'user' machine before they run out of growth in users and access to free investor money. To support the distribution of so many (usually large) images would require multiple servers likely spread across multiple data centres.
And then there's the bandwidth costs/
It really can't be cheap.
The reason they probably went for £400 per year was because they realised that as soon as they change their model to a chargeable one - there would be a massive decline in users - so it's striking a balance between users and costs.
I suspect that some people think they would be making huge profits, but I would be surprised if that's the case.
Fox sold PB about 6 years ago to Ontela. Fox realised they couldn't make it work for them and Ontela appears to be a remarkably private start-up and it's probably run out of free money.
What looks like has happened to PB is that this aim has failed and their last resort is to attempt to convert to a traditional, non FANG, business model. Once user growth tails off so does the free investor money looking for user growth and they must pitch to traditional money that wants to see cost cutting and revenue growth. Or a more insidious commercial deal is running. But all the image hosting services that ran for free to users and all paid for by investor cash are currently seeking the correct commercial step to evolve their model to a revenue one as they are all outgrowing the 'user growth at any cost' phase and fewer major players see value in buying cash destroying, ex growth image hosting enterprises.
The big question for this corner of the web is how do you actually monetise for profit the content that you don't charge the user for hosting and you cannot rent out? One thing PB has shown is that the advertising model doesn't work and nor does the merchandising one. That leaves the most obvious answer facing the industry being to charge the users.
If the whole industry is resigned to charging the user then why not break the waters with a busted flush such as PB? As a course of action industries have done this before so it is not entirely inconceivable.
I think the advertising model can be made to work in some cases* - Facebook is a glowing example of that - however it's all about the implementation, and in Photobucket's case, either someone got greedy, or adverts were literally not covering operating expenses (I suspect the latter).
The last time I visited Photobucket (about 2 - 3 years ago) the site was totally unusable, even with a half decent ad blocker - because large chunks of pages were missing, a 'click through' to see a larger image would also fail because it was supported by an advert - so with an ad blocker one lost the ability to view a full sized image.
Add to that the fact that adverts weren't rendered where probably 95% of the stored images were (forums, Ebay etc.) - and advert revenue just doesn't flow. They may have even been better off overlaying an image with an advert at random - or even a mini slide show - advert / image / advert / image - which wouldn't have been difficult...
The last time I visited Photobucket (about 2 - 3 years ago) the site was totally unusable, even with a half decent ad blocker - because large chunks of pages were missing, a 'click through' to see a larger image would also fail because it was supported by an advert - so with an ad blocker one lost the ability to view a full sized image.
Add to that the fact that adverts weren't rendered where probably 95% of the stored images were (forums, Ebay etc.) - and advert revenue just doesn't flow. They may have even been better off overlaying an image with an advert at random - or even a mini slide show - advert / image / advert / image - which wouldn't have been difficult...
- I think advertising works with Facebook because of the desire by many to keep up with their friends (and Facebook know this - so page visits are guaranteed) - and the ads don't seem to be that intrusive (from what I've seen when my O/H uses it - I have an account but rarely log in).
Edited by TonyRPH on Tuesday 7th November 10:46
TonyRPH said:
I think the advertising model can be made to work in some cases* - Facebook is a glowing example of that - however it's all about the implementation, and in Photobucket's case, either someone got greedy, or adverts were literally not covering operating expenses (I suspect the latter).
The last time I visited Photobucket (about 2 - 3 years ago) the site was totally unusable, even with a half decent ad blocker - because large chunks of pages were missing, a 'click through' to see a larger image would also fail because it was supported by an advert - so with an ad blocker one lost the ability to view a full sized image.
Add to that the fact that adverts weren't rendered where probably 95% of the stored images were (forums, Ebay etc.) - and advert revenue just doesn't flow. They may have even been better off overlaying an image with an advert at random - or even a mini slide show - advert / image / advert / image - which wouldn't have been difficult...
Absolutely. The traffic style of image hosting sites is wholly wrong to be able to build marketing campaigns a la Adwords, Facebook, Twitter. Hence why they plastered their site with '10 celebrities' and get rich quick scams. The last time I visited Photobucket (about 2 - 3 years ago) the site was totally unusable, even with a half decent ad blocker - because large chunks of pages were missing, a 'click through' to see a larger image would also fail because it was supported by an advert - so with an ad blocker one lost the ability to view a full sized image.
Add to that the fact that adverts weren't rendered where probably 95% of the stored images were (forums, Ebay etc.) - and advert revenue just doesn't flow. They may have even been better off overlaying an image with an advert at random - or even a mini slide show - advert / image / advert / image - which wouldn't have been difficult...
- I think advertising works with Facebook because of the desire by many to keep up with their friends (and Facebook know this - so page visits are guaranteed) - and the ads don't seem to be that intrusive (from what I've seen when my O/H uses it - I have an account but rarely log in).
Edited by TonyRPH on Tuesday 7th November 10:46
I can't imagine their all hailed deal with Twitter did anything but add crippling costs. How long do they have to pay to host an image on Twitter?
Image hosting is about grabbing users and steering them to something that is not only profitable but sufficiently so to pay the running costs on behalf of the user.
You can block ads on PB, you can't on FB as they are in the feed. Also FB can target you with the correct type of ads so it's much more successful, PB can't.
PB ads were appalling, at one point they were pron, after that they went onto semi naked bodies which I also don't want to see when i'm looking at photos.
PB ads were appalling, at one point they were pron, after that they went onto semi naked bodies which I also don't want to see when i'm looking at photos.
IanCress said:
Indeed. On one occasion (and I remember because I took a screenshot) I was presented with an advert for a set of particularly nasty looking knives.
It was obvious at that point that they were happy to take money from any old advertiser.
Advertising just isn't that dumb anymore. The ads that are served by the likes of Taboola etc are served because they have analysed all the traffic, looked at their cookies, seen what they have bought, what websites they have visited and made a calculation on the value of the audience. Fundamentally and very crudely speaking, when you arrive on a site which is serving mostly '10 celebrity' tripe then this is either because you are a pennyless It was obvious at that point that they were happy to take money from any old advertiser.
tard or because the vast majority of traffic that uses that site is. It would be an extremely fair assumption to say that the bulk of the 100,000,000 users of PB are/were vegetables and no one has developed a means of targeting the non moron traffic within image hosting environments with any viability. 
227bhp said:
You can block ads on PB, you can't on FB as they are in the feed..
Want to try that one again? http://www.fbpurity.com/
Photobucket's emails are getting to spam levels now, barely a day goes by without at least one email saying how great their "new" system is, how there has been "huge" demand, how amazing their offers are, oh and please please buy one of our mugs. Today's was "Don't lose your memories, print your halloween photos out". Or words to that effect.
B'stard Child said:
Back on topic - Renewal date is December 2017 and my grandfather rights expire then I've been offered 3 choices of renewal
Plus 20 ($59 - double the storage but with no hot linking)
Plus 100 ($99 - four times the storage and no hot linking)
Plus 500 ($399 - the only option with hot linking)
I had one of the original plus20 plan and have had for a few years (maybe 4 or 5). I finally got an email from PB yesterday saying they had been grandfathering my expired plan for my convenience for a few months (since June apparently) and I now need to upgrade.Plus 20 ($59 - double the storage but with no hot linking)
Plus 100 ($99 - four times the storage and no hot linking)
Plus 500 ($399 - the only option with hot linking)
On checking it appears they renewed and charged me for my original plan renewal in mid August 2017 so I have asked them for clarification.
As per the quoted post, I don't have many pictures stored, but the linking option I find useful. I would probably pay around $150/Yr but $400US really ins't an option. Shame really as I have quite a few 'how to' guides on the net that are about to fail.
Zad said:
Want to try that one again?
http://www.fbpurity.com/
Today's was "Don't lose your memories, print your halloween photos out".
If this is true it's hilarious. Can you post up a copy?http://www.fbpurity.com/
Today's was "Don't lose your memories, print your halloween photos out".
Zad said:
Want to try that one again?
http://www.fbpurity.com/
Photobucket's emails are getting to spam levels now, barely a day goes by without at least one email saying how great their "new" system is, how there has been "huge" demand, how amazing their offers are, oh and please please buy one of our mugs. Today's was "Don't lose your memories, print your halloween photos out". Or words to that effect.
I don't get any. I closed my account when they kicked all this off and then unsubscribed to all their shttp://www.fbpurity.com/
Photobucket's emails are getting to spam levels now, barely a day goes by without at least one email saying how great their "new" system is, how there has been "huge" demand, how amazing their offers are, oh and please please buy one of our mugs. Today's was "Don't lose your memories, print your halloween photos out". Or words to that effect.
te.
AND THEY STILL SEND ME SPAM E-MAILS!B'stard Child said:
I also have a "free account" that has a few how too guides in it that are all still functioning - I put it down to the fact that it's all the account is used for and the bandwidth is very low - I think if I started to use it for anything else it might get affected very quickly
I got a reply saying they would keep my orginal plus20 account running until it expires next year. Hopefully the links stay running until thenAs we know photobucket has gone down the charging route and some great photos from the pages on the forum have all but gone. Use these instructions below and trust me it works. I can see all the photobucket photos on here again. Its from Google and is free.
If you're using Google Chrome, go to the three dots on the top right side of the screen and click them. A drop down should appear. Hover your mouse over "More Tools," and when the next drop down appears, click on extensions. Go to the link towards the bottom that says "Get more extensions." In the search box, type "Photobucket Fix," and hit enter. Click the install button and once it's done, you should be able to see photobucket pictures again.
For FireFox users, click on the three bars on the right side of the screen, then click on add ons. Click search for "photobucket hotlink" and click install. Same result.
Hope this helps.
If you're using Google Chrome, go to the three dots on the top right side of the screen and click them. A drop down should appear. Hover your mouse over "More Tools," and when the next drop down appears, click on extensions. Go to the link towards the bottom that says "Get more extensions." In the search box, type "Photobucket Fix," and hit enter. Click the install button and once it's done, you should be able to see photobucket pictures again.
For FireFox users, click on the three bars on the right side of the screen, then click on add ons. Click search for "photobucket hotlink" and click install. Same result.
Hope this helps.
BossHogg said:
As we know photobucket has gone down the charging route and some great photos from the pages on the forum have all but gone. Use these instructions below and trust me it works. I can see all the photobucket photos on here again. Its from Google and is free.
If you're using Google Chrome, go to the three dots on the top right side of the screen and click them. A drop down should appear. Hover your mouse over "More Tools," and when the next drop down appears, click on extensions. Go to the link towards the bottom that says "Get more extensions." In the search box, type "Photobucket Fix," and hit enter. Click the install button and once it's done, you should be able to see photobucket pictures again.
For FireFox users, click on the three bars on the right side of the screen, then click on add ons. Click search for "photobucket hotlink" and click install. Same result.
Hope this helps.
Thanks. I've just done a search on a fix for Opera and here it is:If you're using Google Chrome, go to the three dots on the top right side of the screen and click them. A drop down should appear. Hover your mouse over "More Tools," and when the next drop down appears, click on extensions. Go to the link towards the bottom that says "Get more extensions." In the search box, type "Photobucket Fix," and hit enter. Click the install button and once it's done, you should be able to see photobucket pictures again.
For FireFox users, click on the three bars on the right side of the screen, then click on add ons. Click search for "photobucket hotlink" and click install. Same result.
Hope this helps.
https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/pho...
giblet said:
So a few months down the line and I still don’t know what alternative to use.
What’s the best option? Flickr with a third party website to create the forum code on a mobile device?
Need something easy to use, happy to pay a few quid a month if needed.
https://imgur.com/What’s the best option? Flickr with a third party website to create the forum code on a mobile device?
Need something easy to use, happy to pay a few quid a month if needed.
Can make albums, have thumbnails for forums. Free.
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