So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Zombie_61]

Yes, Flickr currently offers a lot of free space as does Google, but they aren't quite as user-friendly as Photobucket in so far as links and automated resizing goes. That said the future of Flickr continues to be questionable as that site fails to make anyone any money either...

Seriously? There's a photo hosting site out there that's less user friendly than Photobucket?

While doing a little online research earlier today in an effort to find a new hosting home for the image files that I want/need to post, I read something that might spell even further problems for Flickr. Flickr is owned by Yahoo, and Yahoo was recently bought by Verizon. So far Verizon has not made their intentions known to the public, but they have been known to treat their customers even more poorly than Photobucket has handled their latest policy change (and I'm speaking from personal experience), so Yahoo and everything under their corporate umbrella could disappear without a warning before long.

Interestingly (or maybe not), Photobucket's site is down right now. Taking the sum of the above smart comments, I think something else is going on at PB. Maybe they are on the brink of failing and this is a Hail Mary / maybe they want to sell out to someone and need to show a spike in revenue (not that this move wouldn't come up in due diligence) / maybe the terms of some prior funding require a move toward profitability in some time period and they are getting close to the date / etc.

I clearly don't know and only marginally care because it disrupted our fun little forum here. But it does feel as if something behind the scenes sparked this seemingly poorly executed business model change. My guess is PB will either be gone, have new ownership or be back to offering free services in a few weeks or so...

In hindsight, I'm thinking the sudden prevalence of pop-up ads on Photobucket in recent months should have been a red flag that they're hurting for cash. This "third party hosting" situation could be a blessing in disguise by allowing it's "free" members time to retrieve their files before they and Photobucket disappear without a trace.

Did you post pictures here at Fedora from Photobucket and, if so, are they showing here now or are you getting the "update your account" message that I am on the pictures from PG I post here at FL?

I looked at a couple of recent posts in which I had linked to a photo I had stored on Photobucket, and instead of the image there is now only the "IMG" placeholder. But I spent three to four hours over the last couple of days retrieving and/or deleting all of the files I had stored there, so now all of the links I've made over the last 10 years are truly broken.

The wording on that image that Photobucket is using to block our photos is the thing that bothers me the most about this situation. "Please update your account..." suggests that the problem exists because of something that we, the users, have or haven't done, not because Photobucket has suddenly changed their policy and wants to extort an unreasonable amount of money just to use their flawed services.

 

[Fading Fast]

...The wording on that image that Photobucket is using to block our photos is the thing that bothers me the most about this situation. "Please update your account..." suggests that the problem exists because of something that we, the users, have or haven't done, not because Photobucket has suddenly changed their policy and wants to extort an unreasonable amount of money just to use their flawed services.

Horribly obnoxious. I will go to my grave arguing that big business is its worst PR enemy despite all the money it spends with The Boys From Marketing.

I spent about 30 years in Corporate America (work for myself now) and was always in the minority when I argued that we should be honest in our messaging if something is not in the customer's favor. If we are increasing our prices be upfront that it is a price increase and explain why. If we are cutting back on service - say it, and explain why. I argued that people will quickly realize you are increasing the price or cutting service and they'll be even angrier and will trust you less (the PR point) for dissembling.

When I could, I always led with the bad news straight up and honestly and explained why as the reason usually was our costs had gone up, etc. - I can't think of one instant where we just raised the price or cut a service simply to make more money. In most cases that defused the situation - not everyone was happy, but they didn't feel deceived, so it was less negative and many respected the honesty and even understood the reason.

But again, when I argued this approach in meetings it was as if I was suggesting we boil babies or something as every instinct in Corporate America is to put some inane surface feel-good spin on things.

Photobucket is just another in a long line of companies trying to palliate the truth but instead just ended up angering their customers. That is a lesson that is, IMHO, unteachable to Corporate America.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I will go to my grave arguing that big business is its worst PR enemy despite all the money it spends with The Boys From Marketing...

I can't think of too many entities, whether they're an individual, a group, a company, a corporation, or however they're defined, that are willing to be perceived as a failure. Problems exist; it's a fact of life. But it's how those entities deal with those problems that reveal their character, and in this case I think Photobucket has done themselves more harm than good and may have ultimately orchestrated their own demise.

Aside from angering and alienating users like me, for whom their "policy change" is a relatively minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, some people are suggesting they may have set themselves up for potential class action suits because of the way they've handled the situation. One example given is eBay sellers who used Photobucket to host the photos of the goods they're trying to sell. By blocking those images with no warning they have inadvertently sabotaged "live" auctions, leaving sellers with few alternatives to show those goods to potential buyers. I don't know if this has any actual legal merit, but it seems Photobucket could be liable for any lost sales and the associated costs to those sellers.

 

[Stearmen]

Not sure if maybe a hacker has decided to punish Photobucket, but I can not get to my photos, I just get a jumble of words! There are a few photos I would like to retrieve.

 

[Stearmen]

They sure have sucked the joy out of the internet!

 

[Lean'n'mean]

They sure have sucked the joy out of the internet!

Not quite, there's still much joy to be had from internet porn.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Not sure if maybe a hacker has decided to punish Photobucket,

That's what I'm hoping, just a ransomware or some kind of virus that will be cleared up & things will return to normal & we'll all live happily ever after.." Zip-a-dee-doo-da, zip-a-dee-ay "

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Just as a matter of interest, has anyone on this forum actually paid the demanded fee & if so, were their " 3rd party hosting" photos restored ?
Y'all probably read this but.....https://petapixel.com/2017/07/01/photobucket-just-broke-billions-photos-embedded-web/ doesn't sound too good for other image hosting sites either.

 

[MisterCairo]

And people ask me why I continue to use a film camera...

 

[Trenchfriend]

And people ask me why I continue to use a film camera...

When all DSLR are gone by technology-chain and attrition, I will still got my Pentax ME Super.

 

[Zombie_61]

That's what I'm hoping, just a ransomware or some kind of virus that will be cleared up & things will return to normal & we'll all live happily ever after.." Zip-a-dee-doo-da, zip-a-dee-ay "

I wouldn't count on it.

...Y'all probably read this but.....https://petapixel.com/2017/07/01/photobucket-just-broke-billions-photos-embedded-web/ doesn't sound too good for other image hosting sites either.

My first thought was that other image hosting sites might follow Photobucket's lead, but considering the extremely negative reaction I'm now thinking (and hoping) they'll regard Photobucket's actions as an example of what not to do.

I think the real issue isn't that Photobucket has decided they can no longer offer free hosting, it's the amount they're demanding. If they had sent out e-mails months ago that said, "We can no longer provide free services, but for only $5 a month/$60 a year you can continue to use our services," I think people would have been more receptive. But "free" to "$400 a year" is a big ask, and it's just not affordable for a lot of people (myself included). If the other hosting sites decide to follow suit and start charging for their services, I hope they'll be more reasonable.

 

[2jakes]

Photobucket:
After less than 24 hrs. the photo was removed and replaced
with this meowing cat!


Although the bike photo is still in my Photobucket folder, I have to
upgrade to $400 per year account to be able to upload to a
forum.


Fedora: (thumbnail)

 

[vitanola]

How nice for you. Ever one of my thousands of links has been replaced with that misleading Photobucket broken link message.

I see that I should have quoted your original message, for after these recent developments this reply makes no sense in the context of this thread.

 

[Stearmen]

Last night at Midnight, I was able to get onto Photobucket and retrieve the photos I wanted. I left the rest on there to see what happens. I agree, it's not so much paying, it's the exorbitant price they want. If the charged just $10, times just one million patrons that's $10,000,000 right there, and they have a whole lot more patrons then that!

 

[Zombie_61]

I left one image on Photobucket:

They'll probably delete my account without anyone at Photobucket ever seeing it, but just in case...

 

[2jakes]

I left one image on Photobucket:



They'll probably delete my account without anyone at Photobucket ever seeing it, but just in case...

I'm gonna miss that bucket.

 

[vitanola]

When I signed on tap Photobucket this morning in hopes of retrieving some of my photos I was bombarded with "Congratulations! You are a Google WINNER! Aware and could do nothing yo save my pictures. Of course, as we know from the new terms of service the $40.00 per month subscription service i
s adware free. Surely this must be an unfortunate coincidence, no? The cupidity of Photobucket management could not extend THAT far, could it?

 

[Fading Fast]

I'm thinking Photobucket's new business model will last as long as New Coke's did.

If the ad-supported model was no longer economically sustainable, then - with plenty of warning to its users - the proposed change should have been announced well ahead of time. As suggested above, a thoughtful explanation of the costs involved and the modest (not $400 year) new fee would have been accepted by some (I now pay Apple a modest fee for cloud storage because they rolled out their fee-based model this way and it made sense to me).

As an aside, I thought storage and server costs were still falling, so PB's high price makes even less sense to me.

You don't just cut a service you've been offering and announce it will cost $400 a year to get it back. How did that ever seem like a good idea / a good way to go about making the change? Here's the thing - all good will for PB is gone. If they did offer a reasonable fee now, something I would have paid before this insulting approach, I'd tell them to pound sand. Good will, once lost, is very hard to get back.

 

[MisterCairo]

We are looking at our photo albums this week oddly enough, family visiting from out of town. Great memories...

 

[ChrisB]

I have family photos that are 150 years old, I wonder if our digital photos will last 15 years.