The deletion, from what I've heard, was preceded by publishing the image to the imgur community. If that step is removed, then that shouldn't be a problem.
I honestly don't care who is throwing money at it as long as I can have direct links and not see ads. If someone wants to be the patron of lost causes they can go ahead.
> Or advise people to not use direct links (a decent chunk)/adblock for the non-imgur site.
What's your plan if your site gains traction and big subreddits like r/donald decide its their favourite and they direct link to your site 95% of the time?
[–] NoRagrets ago
Not entirely accurate.
The long version - https://archive.is/dCn7k
TL;DR - Imgur started removing images that were being posted to /r/FatPeopleHate, back when it was a thing. In retaliation FPH posted a PUBLICLY AVAILABLE image of the Imgur staff in the side bar for the sub. Shortly afterwards, Reddit banned the FPH sub.
This came to be known as "The Fattening"