External Images or not?

Should one allow hot linking or not?

[NeedScripts]

Due to high demand on our site, we have *link to us* page, and to make it on end user we also provide linking code - where the code is actually taking image from our server. I see few benefits to this:

1) Easy for end user. Just copy paste.
2) They dont' have to know how to download/copy the image and upload it on their site. Also, they dont' have to use their bandwidth for showing our images.

Also, above method has is disadvantage:

1) Bandwidth.

-------------------------------------

I think if someone is good webmater and knows their way around and would like to have our image on their own server, then they would know how to do this, and if someone is not sure, then they can just copy paste the code and it will work. What do you guys think? Would you use the sam approach or do you have some other idea?

Thanks for the help.

Need Scripts

[jdMorgan]

Needscripts,

It is of course, completely up to you if you want to allow hot-linking. The only thing that gets most Webmasters upset is unauthorized hotlinking. If you want to invite it and make it easy, that is your choice.

Another possible advantage to your approach is that you can count pageviews on the pages which link to your images if you mark your images as uncacheable using cache-control server headers. This might be useful for tracking which of these sites are more popular and therefore which you might want to engage in deeper partnerships - if such a thing might be useful to you.

As long as your server can handle the bandwidth, you don't mind paying for it, and it provides some advantage for you, go for it!

Jim