photobucket may close down my blog

Good day loyal readers!

I am facing a serious dilemma
due to the online photo storage site
that I have been using since 2012 - Photobucket.

I refuse to think this act is out of pure monetary greed,
 considering how this will negatively affect
millions of bloggers and their readers.

In the time that I have used Photobucket
I have noticed a huge increase in pop up ads.
(which companies are no doubt paying them well for)

However,
a few days ago Photobucket hijacked my blog photos
replacing them with a message
demanding that I sign up for a plan
in order to continue to use them.
  
I blog for fun and like most of us, I don't earn a penny doing it. 
My only expense is the Mr Linky service that we use
for the weekly challenges which costs me $20US/yr.
(it would be less if we didn't have thumbnails, but I like them!)

Photobucket is now demanding that I pay them
$100-$400US/yr to use my photos.
That's unacceptable when, in my opinion,
I signed an agreement with Photobucket several years ago
that included the ability to link my photos to my blog.
If that service wasn't included I would not have signed up in the first place.

Although it makes me sad, I may be forced to
close my blog down completely.

Have any of you experienced costs like this
to keep your blog up and running, and if so how do you cover the fees?

Without the photos many of my past posts of craft tutorials,
garden tours and other posts are completely useless.

My tangle challenge "logo" will also disappear and
will have to be completely redesigned.
(not really how I wanted to spend my summer holiday :o(

My hope is that Photobucket will "grandfather" my linked photos up until now, and not leave gaping holes throughout my blog.
Years of creative inspiration, now lost. :o(

I will keep you posted,
~ joey ~
at
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19 comments:

  1. Anonymous9 July 2017 at 14:53

    Are you sure it was Photobucket and not some ransom ware?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joey9 July 2017 at 15:38

    Sadly yes it is Photobucket. It's all over the news.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown9 July 2017 at 17:25

    This is despicable! What can we do to help? I have no experience in this area but this wrong!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joey10 July 2017 at 07:50

      Thanks for your support, my hope is that they honour the past agreements and develop some reasonable plans for the future.

      Delete
  4. Susie Ng9 July 2017 at 21:38

    Have you tried to upload images to flickr.com and then embed in your blogger pages?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joey10 July 2017 at 07:46

      I have hundreds of photos on Photobucket, it would take months to sort out which ones are on the blog and then the time to upload them and learn how to enter them on the blog. I just don't have that kind of time.

      Delete
    2. Susie Ng11 July 2017 at 01:15

      I fully understand and I am so sorry this happened to you, Joey. What a bummer!
      I have been doing websites for 20 years and have learnt a thing or 2. The most important lesson though (I know, you do not want to hear this now, but maybe it helps others): backup and keep copies of everything that is dear to you. Don't rely on host's backup alone, but do your own. Of every webpage I create, I "SAVE PAGE As...". This way I have an exact copy of the webpage online on my computer (text, title, images, links, dates, etc. and side panel). I keep all image originals (.psd and its .jpg) in structured folders. This does not mean it will be lightning fast to recreate the pages, but it means no headaches concerning images/text/links relationships/placement.
      Facebook = I am not with facebook.
      I cross my fingers photobucket will honor your agreement and you can go on kicking us to gear up for the weekly challenges we all enjoy so much. Fight, Joey! and good luck!

      Delete
  5. Susan Theron10 July 2017 at 07:34

    It will be a sad day if you have to close your blog. And I do not like Facebook for these kind of challenges. Best of luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joey10 July 2017 at 07:52

      For me too Susan. All of the fun things that we did with our kids when they were growing up are on this blog. It's like taking the photos from someone's scrapbook and telling them they have to pay to get them back. :o(

      Delete
  6. Alice10 July 2017 at 11:35

    I have the same problem, Joey, and I have 3 blogs that are affected. I have no idea what to do about it. I will NOT pay the $400. I am trying to pull my photos off and save them on DVDs but I am afraid my blogs will disappear. I have no idea what to do about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joey10 July 2017 at 11:41

      I'm so sorry that you are faced with this problem on 3 blogs! My only hope is that the negative publicity will encourage Photobucket to allow the accounts with photos already linked to stay linked. They will need more reasonable rates to encourage new customers though...

      Delete
  7. Lori10 July 2017 at 15:25

    You know, Joey, people like your blog. Folks will be patient as you work through the problem. Start with the most used tutorials and work your way through as you have time. You could have a contest and ask people to help you design a new logo. My point is, please don't shut down. You have much to offer and many people will be having the same problem. Folks will understand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joey10 July 2017 at 19:20

      Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement Lori! I have to believe that this will work itself out one way or another. The most frustrating part is that replacing the photos is almost impossible because I can't see which photos used to be there! One thing is for sure . . . I won't give up my blog without a fight! ;o)

      Delete
  8. ria matheussen11 July 2017 at 05:34

    It will be a pity when you would close your website.
    I'm using Wordpress (free) and I have an account with one.com costs: about 35 Euro a year and 9 Euro for the name. With automatic back-up facilities it costs about 80 Euro (everthing included)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11 July 2017 at 18:14

    Joey, this is horrible, and I'm so sorry you have to deal with it. The loss of all those photos will hurt, I know. And if we lose this blog, that will hurt, also. I can use facebook, I'm on there a lot, but would still prefer that you be able to keep your blog. Man, if I had to wake up on Monday mornings knowing that you aren't here any more, it would really be miserable. I wake up Mondays with "Joey's Challenge" first thing on my mind, I kid you not.

    Sending prayers for this.

    JoyceB

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ilse17 July 2017 at 06:41

    Dear Joey, I only read your message about this very unpleasant (to say the least) situation. I really hope you can work things out with Photobucket. Unfortunately I can't give you any advice in this matter, but I hope and pray you can keep up the all great work you do ons this blog, without losing things...!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Adele Bruno8 August 2017 at 12:25

    Dear Joey, I just read this and I am so sorry. This Photobucket debacle may just cause enough backlash that the company may rethink the new policy - that is my hope anyway.
    Just as Lori said, your blog is wonderful and your readers are appreciative and patient. You can move forward from this without Photobucket.
    You can save photos to your own computer before posting them. That is what I do.
    My logo was the only photo on that site because I needed a specific URL for it. I have since redesigned my logo and uploaded it to Flckr for a new URL.
    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  12. James27 August 2017 at 02:24

    Hi,

    This issue affected a friend's blog (http://herestheveg.blogspot.com.au/), so I wrote a script to move all their photos to Google Photos and relink them in Blogger/blogspot. I've uploaded the application to help others in the same situation. https://jamesoflol.github.io/photobucket-blogger-migratinator/

    It's fairly full-functioning, though if you decide to use it you should probably grab the nearest computer geek for assistance running it, to be on the safe side.

    Cheers,
    James

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3 August 2022 at 10:17

      James, this is so generous I had to comment. I don’t have this particular website problem but I so appreciate your efforts to help people.
      Thank you.
      Eve in AZ, first time visitor and Zentangle enthusiast.

      Delete

I really enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas about the posts that I write here. It's nice to just say hi too!
~ joey ~

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