Skip to main content

Photobucket goes nuclear on its own users, demands ransom to embed images

photobucket
Brandon Miller
Photobucket has long been a useful service for eBay and Amazon sellers as they can use it to host images for their listings.

However, the company has just decided to begin charging anyone who uses its photo service for hotlinking, or embedding Photobucket pictures into other webpages. The unexpected move, which may feel like a ransom payment for users of the service, has caused chaos for many online sellers as images of their products have suddenly been replaced with a rather ugly message (shown) urging them to update their account to enable third-party hosting.

Logging into their account, affected users have been upset to discover that Photobucket is now requesting a hefty $400 a year for hosting services. Until now, it was available as a free service.

Others that have also been hit by the updated terms include bloggers that have been uploading pictures to Photobucket before embedding them in their site.

The change means that across the web, billions of images — Photobucket claims to host more than 10 billion in all — have suddenly disappeared from a huge number of websites, replaced by a message urging the user to take action.

It seems that the firm gave little notice to its users of the change, leaving many ecommerce listings and other sites without their original images. Users are not happy about the current situation, which means they’ll either have to start forking out $400 a year or go through the laborious process of finding a new hosting site and performing the necessary uploads and embeds.

Many hit Twitter to voice their anger, with some users saying they’ve ditched the service and others threatening to do so.

Since the company launched in 2003, most of its income has come from ads that users see when they hit the site to upload images, but Photobucket is clearly intent on expanding its revenue sources.

A recent blog post by Denver-based Photobucket about the move was short and to the point, saying only that it was “committed to providing the best experience and services for all of your photo and image needs” and that users should review its updated terms of service.

The company describes itself as “the premier destination for uploading, downloading, sharing, linking and finding photos, videos, and graphics.” The service has 23 million monthly unique users in the U.S. and 100 million globally who upload over four million images and videos per day.

We’ve reached out to Photobucket for comment and will update when we hear back.

[Update: This article originally stated that Etsy had been affected by Photobucket’s recent actions, however, this is not the case. “Photobucket’s recent changes do not directly impact how Etsy is displayed to our visitors, as no images when visiting etsy.com are served via their service,” an Etsy spokesperson said. We have updated the article to reflect this fact.]

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How to change your language in Google Chrome on desktop
Chrome OS

Google Chrome supports a wide range of languages. While it'll default to English in most cases, there's nothing stopping you from changing its settings and displaying pages in Spanish, French, or dozens of other languages.

Changing your default language in Chrome takes only a few seconds, and the technique used is the same across Windows and Mac. Aside from changing your language, note that Chrome now gives you the option to automatically translate pages written in another language – making it easy to read content from around the globe.

Read more
23 of the best Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks
The Netflix home screen.

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming platforms for all things movies and TV shows. Home to an immense library of titles, the Netflix archive is constantly changing and evolving, and so are the many ways you can use your Netflix account. 

For instance, did you know you can access region-locked Netflix shows and flicks by using a VPN? Or that you can disable that pesky Autoplay feature? There are tons of Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks out there, so we’ve gone ahead and rounded up all of our favorites! 
Expand your streaming with a VPN

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more