An easy and just as effective way is to not watermark at all.
Otherwise, yes, they're unneeded.
Not everyone watermarks to protect an image, some do it for branding and exposure.An easy and just as effective way is to not watermark at all.
You can't watermark an image effectively (i.e. make it impossible to remove) without ruining it.
Sticking a non-terminal watermark on a photo means two things:
1. People are going to steal your image anyway, they'll just crop it or shop it out.
2. Your image looks worse than it did without the watermark.
Depends what work you do. Kipax shoots... then tries to sell I imagine... in his case, he needs one. Most people don't.
I find with a suitable font, some text can almost enhance and set the mood of an image even if it is just a URL
e.g. a vaguely Gothic font below some ruins etc.
An easy and just as effective way is to not watermark at all.
You can't watermark an image effectively (i.e. make it impossible to remove) without ruining it.
Sticking a non-terminal watermark on a photo means two things:
1. People are going to steal your image anyway, they'll just crop it or shop it out.
2. Your image looks worse than it did without the watermark.