Hotlinking and Google Image Search

[tux kapono]

How do I prevent others from hotlinking my images without removing myself from Google's Image index?

The last time I enabled hotlinking protection via cPanel, I lost a third of my traffic because Google no longer indexed the images on my site.

If I enable hotlinking again, but this time check 'Allow direct requests (ie. entering the url to an image in your browser)' - will this allow my site's images to still be indexed by Google's Image Search?

It's a definite yes or no answer, I just wish I knew who had the answer.

[Infopro]

I asked google.com
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...ut+no+one+else


And came up with this. Might be useful, might not be.

http://perishablepress.com/press/200...tected-images/

[tux kapono]

Thanks, though I'm still not sure what to do.

cPanel Hotlink Control Panel: Link

Has anyone activated the Hotlink feature (link to image above), enabled "Allow direct requests (ie. entering the url to an image in your browser)", and still had Google index your images?

All I know is when I activated the Hotlink feature and didn't enable "Allow direct requests (ie. entering the url to an image in your browser)", my images stopped showing up in Google three months later, and it took another three months to get it back. Thus, why I don't want to go the trial and error route!

[cPanelDavidG]

If your intent is to block Google from indexing your images, you may want to consult their documentation on how to do this:

http://www.google.com/support/webmas...n&answer=35308