You are the product.

I use it purely for image hosting/no ads/no public gallery. It's amaaaazing haha

I imagine they will run at a loss until they can monetize effectively like reddit. I know everyone tells us that reddit is not profitable but they are selling their front page to advertisers quietly.

I recently saw a front page post that was just a Taco Bell sign that was 20 years old. A fluff bullshit post with little discernable value. Now I don't suggest that the user paid to post it, that sort of stuff would be found out quickly, but it was up voted enough to get it into the hot\rising queue and by virtue of appearing there it made it to the front page.

We know that in the early days the admins/founders used fake accounts to simulate activity on the site and I not imagine that has changed. So they use these accounts to boost up votes and almost guarantee a front page position.

They are also happy to remove front page posts that advertisers don't like e.g sears

Imgur was bootstrapped until relatively recently and has always been profitable. Only at the beginning did Alan have to request donations.

I'm not sure if this is still the case but they used to delete images that did not gain any views in 6 months. Something to be aware of.