Forum Moderators: phranque
OK, I have a website and I sell things and write artcles. I take pictures and I use and edit pics that some manufacturers give me of their products.
I only recently have begun to notice that I'm getting hits from sites that are using my images, and how I know this is the name of the files and when I right click on an image I think is mine, the properties box gives my web address, (mysite.com/Images/pic.jpg) I now have a bunch of people on Ebay using my pics. I found this out by checking my stats one day and a bunch of hits from ebay came up that wasn't from me.
How do I handle this? I've started to delete the images that they are using from my server and creating new ones with a watermark of my company on the image. Or should I just redo the images that are being used with my new watermark so that when the offender's webpage comes up with my image my company's name will be shown? BTW All the images that I have shot in my studio have a watermark that can't be cropped out. I just haven't put a watermark on ever single pic I have.
PS is this considered hot linking?
Thanks in advance for any info, advice, etc.
Lots of people I've found use my pics in blogs and forums to talk about a product, how to use something, etc, which I don't have a problem with; it's those strangers using my bandwidth AND my images (thusly my dime and hardwork) for their stores that I do mind.
BTW Am I crazy to be upset or is this common practice with webmasters?
:)
Thanks again.
[webmasterworld.com...]
You can use .htaccess to deny images to external sites, preventing the bandwidth drain, or you can use it to display your logo and web address in an image, or one of those "I must not steal bandwidth" messages. I think both approaches are equally valid.
While hot-linking pictures may constitute unwanted usage and costs bandwidth ... it is a free incoming one-way link, isn't it? With every hotlink, people are voting for your site which may help your site in regard of Google ranking. Other SEOs buy backlinks for money, while these are free.
Personally, I have taken down any "thou shalt not hot-link my pix" measures on my sites and just let it go, if it is for low-level private use only.
Tolerating some hot-linkers does not mean that you couldn't or shouldn't go after more flagrant stealers.
Kind regards,
R.
The bandwidth issues can be significant, depending on the type of site. One of my clients is an erotic photographers. His bandwidth use dropped in half when I took over his site and stopped hotlinking. It is not uncommon for people to try posting a large selection of his photos to forums or to their blogs. The bandwidth leakage was significant.
In his case, we just serve up an image with his url in it and use the (lower) bandwidth to advertise his site.
