Like a lot of SPCR folk, I've been using Imageshack to post my images. It's free, and at first there were no strings attached. Then they started optionally asking me to register. Now they ask me to register, period - and I can't get the results of uploading (the URL) unless I do.
This makes me worry some. I don't mind registering at Newegg because I understand their business model - their motive for requiring registration. I understand where Newegg's income comes from.
But I don't understand where Imageshack's money comes from, and that worries me. TANSTAFL - as Robert A. Heinlein wrote often, "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
Are there alternatives to Imageshack, ones where the financial aspect is more transparent?
Imageshack: what's the business model?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
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Felger Carbon
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- Location: Klamath Falls, OR
Re: Imageshack: what's the business model?
Buying your own webspace would work pretty well.Felger Carbon wrote:Are there alternatives to Imageshack, ones where the financial aspect is more transparent?
Business model? I dunno. Probably ads, maybe with a perspective of a youtube-style buyout. I'm sure Google would love to know what you've been uploading, how often, and where.
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Felger Carbon
- Posts: 2049
- Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 11:06 am
- Location: Klamath Falls, OR
If Imageshack gets money from ads, they don't need me to register. The only motivation to get me to register is to somehow convert that information into money. Newegg, for instance, converts the registration into money in a way that's benign to me. I can't think of any benign way Imageshack can do so. 
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Ralf Hutter
- SPCR Reviewer
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Obviously I'm taking a wild guess here, but I can see a few ways how registration could be beneficial to them.
- less random people will use it, so reduce hardware needs (don't need to upgrade as soon). This translates to reduced operating costs.
- reduce liability with copyright infringement. Easier to track down the person if there is a court order to do so.
- the old "you need to uncheck this box when you register or we'll sell your contact info to God-knows-who" marketing ploy.
- get better statistics on usage of the site to help sell ad space.
- less random people will use it, so reduce hardware needs (don't need to upgrade as soon). This translates to reduced operating costs.
- reduce liability with copyright infringement. Easier to track down the person if there is a court order to do so.
- the old "you need to uncheck this box when you register or we'll sell your contact info to God-knows-who" marketing ploy.
- get better statistics on usage of the site to help sell ad space.
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klankymen
- Patron of SPCR
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- Location: Munich, Bavaria, Europe
btw, i can still use imageshack without registering... not sure what the problem is.
but mainly i use photobucket, which required registering.
they send no spam
require no personal information
really all the account does is give you a nice overview page of all the pictures you've ever uploaded, and of course it cuts down on the amount of pictures uploaded (if you're just uploading a single pic youre not going to bother registering, you'll just use imageshack instead).
but mainly i use photobucket, which required registering.
they send no spam
require no personal information
really all the account does is give you a nice overview page of all the pictures you've ever uploaded, and of course it cuts down on the amount of pictures uploaded (if you're just uploading a single pic youre not going to bother registering, you'll just use imageshack instead).
