I've already seen this picture above hit several threads I subscribe to.
Though I have not been effected by it yet(because I have pay account), the whole
we're freezing all free accounts, so either upgrade to a pay account or go away, might kill the whole site.
I get it, the business model they had was unsustainable and they needed to change it.
But they should have made it more practical to upgrade. Basically saying anyone without
the highest level pay account, will not be able to have 3rd party hosting of pictures.
These are your choices below now.
Choose the plan that’s right for you and enjoy the premium member benefits.
Plus 50 offers 50GB of Storage and No Linking or 3rd Party Hosting $59.99
Plus 100 offers 100GB of Storage, Unlimited Linking and No 3rd Party Hosting $99.99
Plus 500 offers 500GB of Storage, Unlimited Linking and 3rd Party Hosting* ad free browsing $399.99
Plus 500 members receive all of the above, PLUS dedicated url and support
Even the pay account I have(Plus 20, which is not even offered anymore) has to upgrade if I want
to post any new pictures to all the forums I'm on, ebay and any other place with 3rd party hosting, unless
I upgrade to the Plus 500, which is $400/year. Or just put in links with the Plus 100 service for $100/year.
There are millions of PB accounts effected by freeze already, with more to come.
I think if they just made linking & 3rd Party Hosting at every level with limits on each, they could have converted
a ton of the free accounts to pay. But with the blogs, on-line businesses, forums and ebay losing 100's of thousand
of pictures, PB may have just sealed their fate.
What do you think?