07-20-2017, 01:03 AM
(07-20-2017, 12:12 AM)kennyw_imp Wrote:(07-19-2017, 11:53 PM)EmptySea_imp Wrote: I need clarification. Kenny, are you saying that Photobucket is charged something with I embed an image I store there on this forum?
Yes, because it is not stored on this forum. It is stored on the Photobucket server and loaded to everyone's computer from there. Every time it is loaded, either on the photobucket website or this forum, photobucket pays money to their internet provider based on total amount of data transfered. They do get a large discount being a large website with a lot of traffic compared to a small forum like this one but they depend on ads bringing in more income than the cost of the "free" service they provide. They lose big on 3rd party hosting because they are still paying for the storage and bandwidth that your photo costs them with no ad revenue being generated.
This forum could host the photo's and skip that step but would face the same challenge of how much would the storage and bandwidth would cost. Some forums charge a small fee like $25/year for a premium membership to allow for extra features like photo storage.
Yes, because it is not stored on this forum. It is stored on the Photobucket server and loaded to everyone's computer from there. Every time it is loaded, either on the photobucket website or this forum, photobucket pays money to their internet provider based on total amount of data transfered. They do get a large discount being a large website with a lot of traffic compared to a small forum like this one but they depend on ads bringing in more income than the cost of the "free" service they provide. They lose big on 3rd party hosting because they are still paying for the storage and bandwidth that your photo costs them with no ad revenue being generated.
This forum could host the photo's and skip that step but would face the same challenge of how much would the storage and bandwidth would cost. Some forums charge a small fee like $25/year for a premium membership to allow for extra features like photo storage.
Thanks for clearing that up. So, is it inevitable that most, if not all, photo hosting sites will charge the user for the ability to embed photos on other sites (like this one)? Do you think it then comes down to how much each site will charge? If I read correctly, Photobucket's only membership level that allows for this type of sharing costs $500. That seems very pricey, although it may include other features. I pay a few bucks a month to keep the ads off of Photobucket, but I think I can spend the same few bucks with SmugMug and get 3rd party hosting as well as better photo editing tools. Any opinion one way or another on this line of thinking, Kenny?