Photobucket Explained

Photobucket
Commercial:Yes
Type:Image hosting service
Registration:Optional (required for uploading files)
Language:English
Owner:Photobucket Corporation
Author:Alex Welch, Darren Crystal
Current Status:Active

Photobucket is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community based in Denver, Colorado, United States. Photobucket once hosted more than 10 billion images from 100 million registered members. Links from personal Photobucket accounts were often used for avatars displayed on Internet forums, storage of videos, embedding on blogs, and distribution in social networks. Images hosted on Photobucket were frequently linked to online businesses, online auctions, and classified advertisement websites like eBay and Craigslist.

The website was founded in 2003 by Alex Welch and Darren Crystal and received funding from Trinity Ventures.[1] [2] It was acquired by Fox Interactive Media in 2007. In December 2009, Fox's parent company, News Corp, sold Photobucket to Seattle mobile imaging startup Ontela. Ontela then renamed itself Photobucket Inc. and continues to operate as Photobucket.[3]

In late June 2017, Photobucket dropped its free hosting service, and started requiring a US$99 annual subscription to allow external linking to all hosted images, or a US$399 annual subscription to allow the embedding of images on third-party websites, such as personal blogs and forums. This policy change, enacted with minimal advance notice, has been highly controversial. Even years after abandoning free accounts, Photobucket keeps sending email "offers" that variously attempt to cajole or threaten users to switch to the paid plan.[4] [5] [6]

At its peak, Photobucket employed 120 people and accounted for 2% of American internet traffic. In 2019, the company employed 10 and ranked approx. 1,500th according to Alexa.[7] [8]

History

Photobucket was founded in 2003 by Alex Welch and Darren Crystal and received funding from Trinity Ventures.[9] [10] It was acquired by Fox Interactive Media in 2007.

In December 2009, Fox's parent company, News Corp, sold Photobucket to Seattle mobile imaging startup Ontela. Ontela then renamed itself Photobucket Inc. and continues to operate as Photobucket.[11]

In 2011, Photobucket became the default photo sharing platform for Twitter.[12] At that time, according to a report by Sysomos, 2.25M images were shared on Twitter daily, which accounted for 1.25% of all Tweets posted.[13]

On November 15, 2012, Photobucket announced the availability of "Photobucket Stories" which enables the user to combine photos, videos, and text into complete, sharable narratives. [14]

On June 28, 2017, Photobucket changed its Terms of Use regarding free accounts and third party hosting (hosting on forums, eBay, etc.). Only the most expensive plan, at US$399.99 per year, permitted third party hosting and linking to forums.[15] [16]

In 2017, Denver Better Business Bureau gave the company an "F" rating, the worst they issue, citing fifteen complaints related to the change in terms and no response from the company.[17]

On May 17, 2018, Photobucket introduced new plans, including US$24.99/year that included 3rd party hosted images.[18]

In 2019, they introduced two plans that include 3rd party hosted images, US$29.99/year with 2 GB or US$69.99/year with 20 GB.[19] Effective June 1, 2019, free Photobucket and the "beginner" paid plan accounts were restricted to a hosting bandwidth of 25 MB per month.[20] Free accounts who use more than 25 MB of bandwidth will have all of their hosted photos watermarked and blurred.[21]

Features

Photobucket offers subscription based accounts.[22] Photobucket supports video uploads of 500 MB or less, and 10 minutes or less. The following video file types are supported: 3g2, 3gp, 3gp2, 3gpp, avi, divx, flv, gif, mov, mp4, mpeg4, mpg4, mpeg, mpg, m4v, and wmv. All video files are converted to mp4 format after uploading.

On February 6, 2013, Photobucket announced a partnership with Aviary, an image editing application suite.

Photobucket has three privacy options for albums: public, private, and password-protected privacy. Only public albums display in Photobucket or web search search results. Photobucket does not allow sexually explicit or objectionable public content.[23]

Fuskering

Although it is possible to set Photobucket albums to "private", this does not prevent the photos within being accessed by someone who knows or can guess the URL. Programs called fuskers exist, which can test for likely photo URLs. This has led to "private" photos on Photobucket being downloaded and distributed elsewhere on the Internet without the consent of their uploaders.[24] [25]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2% of U.S. Internet Traffic goes through Photobucket . techcrunch . June 25, 2017 . October 16, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221016171439/https://techcrunch.com/2006/04/19/2-of-us-internet-traffic-through-photobucket/ . live .
  2. Web site: PhotoBucket Closes $10.5M From Trinity Ventures . techcrunch . June 25, 2017 . October 16, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221016171440/https://techcrunch.com/2006/05/14/photobucket-closes-105-from-trinity-ventures/ . live .
  3. Web site: It's Official: Ontela Bought Photobucket from News Corp. . xconomy . February 11, 2010 . August 19, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190819012414/https://xconomy.com/seattle/2010/02/05/it%E2%80%99s-official-ontela-bought-photobucket-from-news-corp/ . live .
  4. Web site: Photobucket's bizarre emails are the last straw for many people . 2023-12-12 . Aqueous Digital . en-GB . November 18, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231118203140/https://www.aqueous-digital.co.uk/articles/photobuckets-increasingly-aggressive-emails-are-the-last-straw-for-many-people/ . live .
  5. Web site: Photobucket.com, Inc. Complaints Better Business Bureau® Profile . 2023-12-12 . www.bbb.org . en . December 7, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211207213340/https://www.bbb.org/us/co/denver/profile/retail-photo-finishing/photobucketcom-inc-1296-90107959/ . live .
  6. Web site: Kenseth . Lars . All the Urgent Messages I Have Received from Photobucket . 2023-12-12 . McSweeney's Internet Tendency . en . November 18, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231118203139/https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/all-the-urgent-messages-i-have-received-from-photobucket . live .
  7. Web site: 2018-12-13 . Photobucket: From Rise of Fame to Breaking Billions of Photos to Present Day . 2023-12-12 . PhotographyTalk . en . November 18, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231118204538/https://www.photographytalk.com/photography-articles/9055-photobucket-from-rise-of-fame-to-breaking-billions-of-photos . live .
  8. Web site: Lee . Dami . 2019-06-24 . Photobucket still has your photos, and it wants you to come back . 2023-12-12 . The Verge . en . November 18, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231118204537/https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/24/18701132/photobucket-photo-storage-pricing-flickr . live .
  9. Web site: 2% of U.S. Internet Traffic goes through Photobucket . techcrunch . June 25, 2017 . October 16, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221016171439/https://techcrunch.com/2006/04/19/2-of-us-internet-traffic-through-photobucket/ . live .
  10. Web site: PhotoBucket Closes $10.5M From Trinity Ventures . techcrunch . June 25, 2017 . October 16, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221016171440/https://techcrunch.com/2006/05/14/photobucket-closes-105-from-trinity-ventures/ . live .
  11. Web site: It's Official: Ontela Bought Photobucket from News Corp.. xconomy. February 11, 2010. August 19, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190819012414/https://xconomy.com/seattle/2010/02/05/it%E2%80%99s-official-ontela-bought-photobucket-from-news-corp/. live.
  12. Web site: Photobucket: Twitter's surprise new partner for photo-sharing tool. The Guardian. Jemima. Kiss. June 1, 2011. December 16, 2016. August 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170816111225/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/pda/2011/jun/01/twitter-photobucket. live.
  13. Web site: How People Currently Share Pictures On Twitter. June 2, 2011. blog.sysomos. Sysomos. June 2, 2011. August 2, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110802233224/http://blog.sysomos.com/2011/06/02/how-people-currently-share-pictures-on-twitter/. dead.
  14. Web site: Photobucket Unveils "Stories" Feature for Creating Lasting Multimedia Narratives. blog.photobucket. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130116040752/http://blog.photobucket.com/photobucket-unveils-stories-feature-for-creating-lasting-multimedia-narratives/. 16 January 2013.
  15. Web site: Photobucket - Photo and image hosting, free photo galleries, photo editing. Photobucket. June 30, 2017. July 1, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701044629/http://photobucket.com/terms. live.
  16. Web site: Photobucket subscription pricing 2019. 2019-10-07. photobucket.com. October 7, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191007110314/https://support.photobucket.com/hc/en-us/articles/200724444-Photobucket-Subscription-Pricing-Info. live.
  17. Web site: Denver Business Journal: BBB issues warning about Photobucket. bizjournals. September 16, 2017. September 15, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170915063659/https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2017/09/13/photobucket.html?ana=twt. live.
  18. Web site: Beginner Plan. Photobucket. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180517114734/http://photobucket.com/beginner-plan/. 17 May 2018.
  19. Web site: Beginner + and Intermediate Plans. Photobucket. September 24, 2017. September 25, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170925022249/http://www.photobucket.com/plans/. live.
  20. Web site: Photobucket Plans. Photobucket. January 20, 2020. January 20, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200120215821/https://photobucket.com/plans/. live.
  21. Web site: Photobucket is going to start blurring/watermarking pics. sevenstring. September 15, 2019. November 23, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201123214511/https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/photobucket-is-going-to-start-blurring-watermarking-pics.336021/. live.
  22. Web site: Photobucket offers subscription based accounts. Photobucket. September 24, 2017. September 25, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170925022249/http://www.photobucket.com/plans/. live.
  23. Web site: Photobucket.com Terms of Use. Photobucket. February 3, 2007. May 25, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070525211814/http://photobucket.com/terms. live.
  24. Web site: Ladies: 8,000 Creeps on Reddit Are Sharing the Nude Photos You Posted to Photobucket. Read. Max. gawker. Gawker Media. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120812044039/http://gawker.com/5932702/. August 12, 2012. August 16, 2012.
  25. Web site: The Dark Art Of "Fusking". Notopoulos. Katie. buzzfeed. August 16, 2012. August 12, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120812050225/http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/the-dark-art-of-fusking?. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Photobucket".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.