Hotlinking happens when another website displays an image directly from your server instead of hosting a copy of it themselves. The image loads on their page, but it’s actually being pulled and served from your hosting account each time.
This might sound harmless, but it means you’re footing the bandwidth bill every time someone views that image on a completely different website.
Why It’s a Problem
If a hotlinked image ends up on a high-traffic page you don’t control, it can quietly rack up significant bandwidth usage on your own hosting account, sometimes even slowing down your own site’s performance.
Preventing Hotlinking
Many hosting providers let you block hotlinking through server settings, so images only load correctly when requested from your own domain. Some security plugins offer this same protection with a simple toggle, no server configuration required.
If you ever spot your images appearing on sites you don’t recognize, checking your hotlink protection settings is a reasonable first step.