I think you're right in the first part. Image hosts have been relying on ad-revenue to survive, but it destroys the user experience of a image host, so then the

I think you're right in the first part. Image hosts have been relying on ad-revenue to survive, but it destroys the user experience of a image host, so then the revenue quickly disappears and the host goes down. This is the life-cycle of a traditional image host. I could see two different models solving the problem. One is a donation model where the image host is collectively paid for by contributors who'd like the host to remain free and independent. The second model is to have funding per image. When a image is first uploaded, it gets 1 week of free hosting, and if people want the image to be available for longer, people can donate for that specific image to stay online for X days, depending on funds donated. Basically crowdfunded media hosting.