Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Free Image/File Hosting -- The New Trend?

[shinta]

I've been noticing A LOT of free image/file hosting services popping up everywhere recently. Are you guys noticing the same thing? Is there still substantial revenue to be earned in this market? I guess these services make money off of advertising.... I've noticed that at least google adsense payments (for ad hosters) have dropped a bit in the past year, so I'd imagine the market for online advertising is also getting tighter, and hence less fuel to drive the free image/file hosting services....

Anyway, this is an open topic, so feel free to share your thoughts...

[mmaaaaattt]

Yes, I think image hosting is reaching dangerous levels of over saturation at this point. Just look at the offers forum here on WHT... there's like 5 new obscure image hosts for sale every week. The big boys such as http://www.imageshack.us/ have already been established which leads me to believe that the probability of a new image host finding success during these saturated times is quite low.

[SamOwen]

I've seen a big increase in these types of sites as well. In the past they used to spring up one day and be gone the next but I think AdSense and other similar ad revenue sources have changed that.

[VolkNet]

myspace has made the image hosting popular for those who want to host additional images imo.

[dollar]

There is still money to be made in this area, the question is:

Why should they host with you instaed of <insert established company here>?

[LEEnoble]

I run a small free image hosting site (picshack.co.uk) but it's just for fun, non profit, apart from the banner to my hosting company website.

[markjut]

I think it has been overdone so no major profit unless you are a big player

[datums]

There's definitely saturation in this market. The overhead to set a site up is very minimal. As far as making a extra cash with Adsense, it probably won't pay your hosting fees. So if you are thinking of opening up the next free image hosting site, plan a strategy that will at least guarantee, you come out even. Be Creative.

[HostTitan]

It depends--the same argument may be made for hosting companies. But just as hosting companies can distinguish themselves, so too can image hosts. Offer unique features, a strong network, and decent support, and it should work out for you.