MicrostockGroup

This is really strange. Last downloaded file was week ago(01/16/2012).Having only 1200 files there because of their stupid policy(Too many photos/illustrations on the same subject or from the same series) so stopped upload new files months ago. Last January  had 3x more downloads with 50% less files in port.
"Well" done DT
Just for comparison

So far in January:
SS - 581 dl
IS -  400 dl
DT - 36  dl
Even on Photo Dune have 80 - dl

Any thoughts?

DT has kept going down for me over the last 2 years - no joy there.

As you mentioned the increasing rejections for similars didn't make things easier.

Therefore I only upload a fraction to their collection, still though, I've seen better times with them like 3 years ago.

I made a lot more money with a lot less images. Shame, especially since most agencies keep earning me more and more royalties, no idea why DT can't keep it up for me???

Yep,  its a bit slow at the moment but I think they have been in the process of moving and everything, havent they?  I recon it will all start to pick up again come february.

I believe that the most harmful think for DT is the lvl system. Is a very good think for contributors but not  attractive for buyers that are using credits.

...they have very high prices for lvl 3-5 pictures.

I have around 150 images with them and have had a couple of sales 

I'm only uploading one or two images per shoot to DT.  Not necessarily the best images, just the first ones I happen to process.  The strict "too many simulars" rule is a colossal blunder.  Buyers want to see more then one angle per object.  They want to see more then one expression per model.  They want choice and if they can't get it a DT they will shop elsewhere.  I understand DT's pricing strategy but they should let market forces decide which images rise up the ranks...  DT's market share is falling among the 12 sites I upload to.  That trend will accelerate if they continue rejecting the same commercially viable images other sites happily accept. 

^^^So you feel alright about them because you got lucky with the reviewer?  A significant number of contributors have been put off uploading because it seems such a waste of time when images that would sell are rejected.  Looking at my sales, buyers don't like the changes either.  It's not as bad a situation as istock but they have missed a great opportunity to get more buyers.  As earnings with istock have fallen, they have increased with SS but I can't say the same for DT.  They should be doing really well now but I think they have made changes that have lost them a lot of business.

Just compared Jan 1 - 23 2011 vs. 2012, and found that I'm up about 20% at DT.  I'm not too excited about that, because I've seen much stronger gains at most the other sites.

Like just about everyone else here, I started getting hit with the "Too Many Similars" hammer about halfway through the year and started trickling my uploads to just a few a month.  So I blame my paltry year-over-year increase to my constrained uploading.  I'm confident that if I were able to get the same number approved as I used to (nearly 100%), the site would still be performing strongly for me.

It's just so frustrating that they stubbornly cling to such an idiotic definition of "similar."  I can see limiting someone who shoots the same model in the same location from a dozen slightly different angles.  Yes, limit that person to one or two accepted pics.  But the things I'm getting hit with the "similar hammer" for are just insane... totally different subject matter and concepts.  Keywords that are completely different.  It's almost like they have a robot filtering out anything that has a somewhat similar shape to existing images in your port.  My pics that get turned away by DT sell extremely well at the other sites, and I'm 100% certain they'd be snapped up by DT buyers.  Madness.

Do you have existing motorcycle race photos in your port?  I only ask because DT isn't just comparing the shots in a batch against others in the batch, but they're looking at your whole port.

I can submit a single image to DT, and if there's something remotely like it... can be just a similarly shaped thing but completely different subject matter, concepts and keywords... and it will get rejected.

All these agencies are slowly admitting that their archives are full of repetitious junk and they need to start adddressing that problem.  At the same time they're all trying to reduce costs by outsourcing inspection to companies that are making low bids based on hiring inexperienced people who will be "trained" to the customer's standards.

Put these 2 trends together and you have a recipe for chaos.

Yep DT is having an unusually slow month for me too, especially when for the previous 5 or 6 months things were picking up.

PhotoDune is going pretty well - should you join?

Yep! By using my referral link... 

http://photodune.net/?ref=THP

They have become about my 4th or 5th best agency.

But back to DT, I'm hoping it's just a January slump.

Yes, DT is very slow for me for a week or so. weird...

Another site off the 'possibly worthwhile list', then.
That sounds as arbitrary as the iStock editorial inspector who persists in wrongly rejecting for date, month, year.
Who's got the time/patience for that sort of hassle. 
Sometimes, I think they do it just to annoy us, or just 'because they can'.