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Author Topic: Alexa traffic for microstock  (Read 15751 times)

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vonkara

« on: October 23, 2009, 15:27 »
0
Maybe some people remember the huge drop that Istock took on the Alexa graph. It seem to be back almost where it was before. Though Alexa is not accurate as you need to have installed the toolbar, it's interesting to see the graph comming back. 42% more traffic than 3 months ago

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/istockphoto.com


Quote from Jonathan Klein about Istock:
iStockphoto is the fastest growing part of our business. It is expected to hit $200 million in revenue this year that is growth of more than 35 percent. Maybe just a coincidence but the numbers are near

Also from Jonathan Klein
In recent months, we have seen significant success in growing traffic to our sites. However, we are facing challenges converting these visitors into buyers. This is not just a website issue its also about product, pricing and licensing models



Something bothered me back when I started, still bother me a little today. It's the apparent lack of effort about the asian market. Alexa give the Istock rank around the world with each individual countries. Istock is always ranked good in the occidental world, but is quite behind with the 2 major Asian countries (China and Japan)

Countries where Istock is best ranked___________________
108-Australia   110-United Kingdom   115-South Africa   137-Ireland   147-United States   174-Denmark   177-Canada   212-Germany   222-Sweden

Countries where Istock have the worst rank________________
962-Iran  1,223-Mexico  1,432-France  1,560-Russia  1,694-Brazil  3,199-Japan   4,276-China

Also it look like all the agencies on the graph are having the same jump excepted StockXpert, but I am not surprised of this yet. Note that Fotolia attract way more traffic in France than Istock. Back when I started I noticed that most of the French microstockers were almost only talking about Fotolia, on the french forums.

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/fotolia.com
Alexa rank in France
____________________
Istock-1432
Fotolia-367

This is about it, as we didn't discussed Alexa since a while I thought about sharing this . Still sales and traffic are 2 diferent things like Jonathan Klein said .

« Last Edit: October 23, 2009, 15:29 by Vonkara »


« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2009, 16:46 »
0
For the stats junkies out there, I made a comment about Fotolia on another thread that seemingly nobody else cares about, but I found interesting: :p

Where people go on Fotolia.com:
63.4%      de.fotolia.com

Putting your French comments in context:
6.3%      fr.fotolia.com

While they're clearly quite true, the % of traffic to the German part of the site just astounded me.

I wonder how much of this comes down to something as basic as the fact that "photo" is spelt with an "f" in German?

Another interesting tidbit for those who are into this sort of thing (and missed it in previous discussions) is that we now get a breakdown of US to non-US revenue on SS - my US earnings have been somewhere around 15-18%, which is much lower than expected.

To me the breakdown there is also interesting because it gives us an idea of traffic from submitters vs. buyers:
    *   84.0%      shutterstock.com
    * 12.7% submit.shutterstock.com
    * 2.7% admin.shutterstock.com
    * 0.5% footage.shutterstock.com
    * 0.1% secure.shutterstock.com

Anybody else care about these things??

Thanks for the update... nice to know that I'm not the only traffic stats nerd out there ;)

lisafx

« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2009, 17:05 »
0
Interesting stats, to be sure. 

I'm glad Istock has rebounded from that steep drop, but what I find interesting is that the other micros are also trending upwards.  I think the poor economy may have been very good for micro sales after all. 

« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2009, 18:04 »
0
any ideas on that steep drop for istock back a year ago ? does that link to a certain event ?

« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2009, 18:05 »
0
According to the chart, it looks to me like Shutterstock is lagging behind the others in growth.

lisafx

« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2009, 18:25 »
0
any ideas on that steep drop for istock back a year ago ? does that link to a certain event ?

At the time word from IS administration was that Alexa changed how they recorded traffic.  Must have been specific to the way istock is programmed, because the other sites were not affected.

« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2009, 20:27 »
0
any ideas on that steep drop for istock back a year ago ? does that link to a certain event ?

At the time word from IS administration was that Alexa changed how they recorded traffic.  Must have been specific to the way istock is programmed, because the other sites were not affected.

I thought it would be something like that, thanks

I assume that some of these can't truely be compared to each other as some sites combine buyers and contributors website ie Istock and some other separate them like shutterstock. 30,000 contributors checking their portfolios 10 times a day would drive the numbers up for Istock.


vonkara

« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2009, 22:01 »
0

  I think the poor economy may have been very good for micro sales after all. 
Exactly, I didn't thought about that

« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2009, 01:21 »
0
Something bothered me back when I started, still bother me a little today. It's the apparent lack of effort about the asian market. Alexa give the Istock rank around the world with each individual countries. Istock is always ranked good in the occidental world, but is quite behind with the 2 major Asian countries (China and Japan)

Countries where Istock is best ranked___________________
108-Australia   110-United Kingdom   115-South Africa   137-Ireland   147-United States   174-Denmark   177-Canada   212-Germany   222-Sweden

Countries where Istock have the worst rank________________
962-Iran  1,223-Mexico  1,432-France  1,560-Russia  1,694-Brazil  3,199-Japan   4,276-China


Not just the 'asian' market, the BRICs countries, china you mentioned, all excluding India are in the 'istock worst' rankings - but they are only going to be future markets once they have developed. ebay dived into china and I think got their fingers burnt, microsoft are only just starting to sell their software in china after years of tolerated piracy (calculated with the full knowledge that microsoft would then become a known brand as the market matured).

Japan is a surprise in tho - but there are big culture differences.

aside from language issues making the sites work, translate keywords etc (here is one place where istock have a lead with gettys controlled vocab) then when it makes sense to open a sales offices etc in those countries then someone will, but I think some of the smaller agencies might have a better approach, employing "micro sales agents" local to those countries to market in various new/social media ways highly targeted to those customers.

Also from Jonathan Klein
In recent months, we have seen significant success in growing traffic to our sites. However, we are facing challenges converting these visitors into buyers. This is not just a website issue its also about product, pricing and licensing models

Lots of traffic from search engines does not lots of sales make.

« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2009, 04:56 »
0
For the stats junkies out there, I made a comment about Fotolia on another thread that seemingly nobody else cares about, but I found interesting: :p

Where people go on Fotolia.com:
63.4%      de.fotolia.com

Putting your French comments in context:
6.3%      fr.fotolia.com

While they're clearly quite true, the % of traffic to the German part of the site just astounded me.

I wonder how much of this comes down to something as basic as the fact that "photo" is spelt with an "f" in German?

Another interesting tidbit for those who are into this sort of thing (and missed it in previous discussions) is that we now get a breakdown of US to non-US revenue on SS - my US earnings have been somewhere around 15-18%, which is much lower than expected.

To me the breakdown there is also interesting because it gives us an idea of traffic from submitters vs. buyers:
    *   84.0%      shutterstock.com
    * 12.7% submit.shutterstock.com
    * 2.7% admin.shutterstock.com
    * 0.5% footage.shutterstock.com
    * 0.1% secure.shutterstock.com

Anybody else care about these things??

Thanks for the update... nice to know that I'm not the only traffic stats nerd out there ;)

These Traffic Ranks for Germany are right, as i can see on my german microstock blogs is Fotolia the most used agency.

One reason is maybe the "F" of Fotolia because German Foto is quite the same but another reason is the German/European Look of the agency. Also the Translation is very good and it really is useable as German Website not as a english translated site. Some other reason is the german office and german telephone number on the site, it gives you trust.

About Shutterstock, they are quite big in germany too but they are not so often seen in the market here because their marketing face another group of people then the other agencys do.

« Reply #10 on: October 24, 2009, 10:51 »
0
Alexa now gets it's data from more places than just the toolbar, so it's actually much more accurate than it used to be.  The drop in iStock's ranking was when they added the extra data sources.

« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2009, 11:33 »
0


These Traffic Ranks for Germany are right, as i can see on my german microstock blogs is Fotolia the most used agency.

One reason is maybe the "F" of Fotolia because German Foto is quite the same but another reason is the German/European Look of the agency. Also the Translation is very good and it really is useable as German Website not as a english translated site. Some other reason is the german office and german telephone number on the site, it gives you trust.

About Shutterstock, they are quite big in germany too but they are not so often seen in the market here because their marketing face another group of people then the other agencys do.

Just out of interest, do they actually physically have a physical address there, or is it just a postal address and a phone number that gets handled in New York?


« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2009, 11:36 »
0
Fotolia has a office in Berlin with real people in it.

iStockphoto has more than 8 People in the office in Berlin and expanding (see my interview with Dittmar Frohmann at Youtube) for all europe.

« Reply #13 on: October 24, 2009, 12:28 »
0
When FT revealed the buyers' information, I saw that Germans were indeed the most buyers, with many sales also in Austria and Switzerland.  I had some buyers from UK, France and Spain, few from Italy.  Many however were not possible to trace.

« Reply #14 on: October 24, 2009, 13:15 »
0
Fotolia has a office in Berlin with real people in it.

iStockphoto has more than 8 People in the office in Berlin and expanding (see my interview with Dittmar Frohmann at Youtube) for all europe.

I see you recommend Fotolia quite highly...

"Fotolia fr uns die beste lizenzfreie Bildagentur Deutschlands. Fotolia der Aufsteiger unter den Bildagenturen !"
or the google version:
"Fotolia - for us the best royalty free image bank of Germany. Fotolia - the climbers among photo agencies!"

I think many on this forum would disagree. Why exactly do you recommend them so highly?

« Reply #15 on: October 24, 2009, 15:14 »
0
Because its the major player on the german market and the quality is quite OK.

From the perspective of a Fotographer from Germany Fotolia is quite good to sell through a german website often.

And as i can see from my Stock Photo Buyers page, they all love Fotolia to buy, much more then iStockphoto (sorry to say that).

« Last Edit: October 24, 2009, 15:17 by Amosnet »

lisafx

« Reply #16 on: October 24, 2009, 15:32 »
0
Your input on the German buyer's experience and also your interviews have been really interesting Amosnet :)

Sounds like Fotolia has put most of their efforts and money into building the site to please the buyers.  That is smart business. 

However in the process they seem to be neglecting contributor relations, and if that is not corrected it will hurt them in the long run.

« Last Edit: October 24, 2009, 17:15 by lisafx »


ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #17 on: October 24, 2009, 16:26 »
0
Because its the major player on the german market and the quality is quite OK.
Gosh - really THAT good!?   ;)

« Reply #18 on: October 24, 2009, 17:08 »
0
Because its the major player on the german market and the quality is quite OK.

From the perspective of a Fotographer from Germany Fotolia is quite good to sell through a german website often.

And as i can see from my Stock Photo Buyers page, they all love Fotolia to buy, much more then iStockphoto (sorry to say that).

I see that you've never compared the relative merits of the different agency's "Partnerprogramm"... either for buyers or sellers... you don't think that's of interest to potential buyers or sellers?

« Reply #19 on: October 27, 2009, 08:19 »
0
Because its the major player on the german market and the quality is quite OK.

From the perspective of a Fotographer from Germany Fotolia is quite good to sell through a german website often.

And as i can see from my Stock Photo Buyers page, they all love Fotolia to buy, much more then iStockphoto (sorry to say that).

I see that you've never compared the relative merits of the different agency's "Partnerprogramm"... either for buyers or sellers... you don't think that's of interest to potential buyers or sellers?

I have compared the "Partnerprogramm" of all the Agencies for Buyers and Sellers but it do not really help if the customers like one agency more then the others.
I know that my "Blogs" are maybee not really look independent but as i recommend the agencies which offer a propper German support from german people.
You can not earn any money on affiliation photo sellers to any agency at the moment, they dont pay enough.

I dont want to describe myselfe as a Microstock specialist, iam just a blogger who write about the german microstock market.

« Reply #20 on: October 27, 2009, 08:30 »
0
Your input on the German buyer's experience and also your interviews have been really interesting Amosnet :)

Sounds like Fotolia has put most of their efforts and money into building the site to please the buyers.  That is smart business. 

However in the process they seem to be neglecting contributor relations, and if that is not corrected it will hurt them in the long run.

It's really hard to reach german buyers, they are quite picky and they want a save and easy solution. iStockphoto is also doint a good job in germany with their buero in Berlin and
Shutterstock is also doing well in some other niche markets in germany. If you can talk german, then you can see Martin Ruges (Fotolia) Video on Youtube, he explain why Fotolia is so big in Europe.

I want to know how is the microstock business running in your country?



« Reply #21 on: October 27, 2009, 10:46 »
0

I have compared the "Partnerprogramm" of all the Agencies for Buyers and Sellers but it do not really help if the customers like one agency more then the others.
I know that my "Blogs" are maybee not really look independent but as i recommend the agencies which offer a propper German support from german people.
You can not earn any money on affiliation photo sellers to any agency at the moment, they dont pay enough.

I dont want to describe myselfe as a Microstock specialist, iam just a blogger who write about the german microstock market.

You've compared the referral program, but just haven't posted your comparison on any of the sites... or don't disclose the commissions you earn? Something like the fact that Istock gives a $10 one-off payment, whereas FT pays 15% of purchases?

If you can't make "any" money on the sites, why not disclose that earn commission... or even maybe tell us how much? Lots of people here disclose their earnings... just it seems not commissions.

If Fotolia is so good for the German buyers and sellers ("the best") - why are there just as many complaints about how anti-contributor it is on the German forums as here? Do you actually have a portfolio on any of the sites... or is this just a money making scheme giving out "expert" advice without any real experience?

« Reply #22 on: October 27, 2009, 10:54 »
0

I have compared the "Partnerprogramm" of all the Agencies for Buyers and Sellers but it do not really help if the customers like one agency more then the others.
I know that my "Blogs" are maybee not really look independent but as i recommend the agencies which offer a propper German support from german people.
You can not earn any money on affiliation photo sellers to any agency at the moment, they dont pay enough.

I dont want to describe myselfe as a Microstock specialist, iam just a blogger who write about the german microstock market.

You've compared the referral program, but just haven't posted your comparison on any of the sites... or don't disclose the commissions you earn? Something like the fact that Istock gives a $10 one-off payment, whereas FT pays 15% of purchases?

If you can't make "any" money on the sites, why not disclose that earn commission... or even maybe tell us how much? Lots of people here disclose their earnings... just it seems not commissions.

If Fotolia is so good for the German buyers and sellers ("the best") - why are there just as many complaints about how anti-contributor it is on the German forums as here? Do you actually have a portfolio on any of the sites... or is this just a money making scheme giving out "expert" advice without any real experience?

Hello Holgs,

yes i do have a portfolio, no i dont earn big money with my photos, yes i earn money with affiliation on my websites, why do you not ask LEAF how much money he do on the microstock group forum affiliates? Why should i tell you what i earn? Will you tell me what you earn for living?
I think its Fotolias problem if some people complain in their forums not mine, i just recommend different agencies and the people must decide by themselves where they want to join at.

If you think iam just doing this for money, i don't care, your choice. Show me people who work for nothing? Are you working for free? I dont think so!

And finaly i dont understand whats your problem with me?

« Reply #23 on: October 27, 2009, 11:48 »
0

I have compared the "Partnerprogramm" of all the Agencies for Buyers and Sellers but it do not really help if the customers like one agency more then the others.
I know that my "Blogs" are maybee not really look independent but as i recommend the agencies which offer a propper German support from german people.
You can not earn any money on affiliation photo sellers to any agency at the moment, they dont pay enough.

I dont want to describe myselfe as a Microstock specialist, iam just a blogger who write about the german microstock market.

You've compared the referral program, but just haven't posted your comparison on any of the sites... or don't disclose the commissions you earn? Something like the fact that Istock gives a $10 one-off payment, whereas FT pays 15% of purchases?

If you can't make "any" money on the sites, why not disclose that earn commission... or even maybe tell us how much? Lots of people here disclose their earnings... just it seems not commissions.

If Fotolia is so good for the German buyers and sellers ("the best") - why are there just as many complaints about how anti-contributor it is on the German forums as here? Do you actually have a portfolio on any of the sites... or is this just a money making scheme giving out "expert" advice without any real experience?

Hello Holgs,

yes i do have a portfolio, no i dont earn big money with my photos, yes i earn money with affiliation on my websites, why do you not ask LEAF how much money he do on the microstock group forum affiliates? Why should i tell you what i earn? Will you tell me what you earn for living?
I think its Fotolias problem if some people complain in their forums not mine, i just recommend different agencies and the people must decide by themselves where they want to join at.

If you think iam just doing this for money, i don't care, your choice. Show me people who work for nothing? Are you working for free? I dont think so!

And finaly i dont understand whats your problem with me?

Sorry Amos its nothing personal. You've stumbled in and have a site that happens to endorse the site that has yet again gotten on the nerves of many contributors, mine included, so that's a big reason why you've become the target of my somewhat unfair prodding...

But...my problem is that you clearly endorse a site, claiming that you're giving an independent review while not disclosing that the very same site pays you commission. You then come back and claim that you don't earn "any money" on commissions when clearly that isn't the case.

I don't care if people make money through advertising, commissions or whatever, but when you claim to be a test site, there are actually rules that apply, and one of them generally is that you need to disclose when a product that you're recommending gives you a commission. When you don't do that, personally I find that to be deceptive.

How would you feel if say test.de clearly endorsed a product, you bought it based on their recommendation you had a problem with it, then turned around to find out that the website received a 15% commission from the sale?

In many countries there are disclosure laws that apply when you give advice. For example in Australia, the way you present your site is probably actually in breach of the Trade Practices Act - you may think that doesn't apply to you, but what happens if a German-speaking customer signs up in Australia based on the content that you're distributing world-wide over the internet? I'd be surprised if Germany didn't have similar laws. Might be something to look into before someone else does.

« Reply #24 on: October 27, 2009, 11:58 »
0

I have compared the "Partnerprogramm" of all the Agencies for Buyers and Sellers but it do not really help if the customers like one agency more then the others.
I know that my "Blogs" are maybee not really look independent but as i recommend the agencies which offer a propper German support from german people.
You can not earn any money on affiliation photo sellers to any agency at the moment, they dont pay enough.

I dont want to describe myselfe as a Microstock specialist, iam just a blogger who write about the german microstock market.

You've compared the referral program, but just haven't posted your comparison on any of the sites... or don't disclose the commissions you earn? Something like the fact that Istock gives a $10 one-off payment, whereas FT pays 15% of purchases?

If you can't make "any" money on the sites, why not disclose that earn commission... or even maybe tell us how much? Lots of people here disclose their earnings... just it seems not commissions.

If Fotolia is so good for the German buyers and sellers ("the best") - why are there just as many complaints about how anti-contributor it is on the German forums as here? Do you actually have a portfolio on any of the sites... or is this just a money making scheme giving out "expert" advice without any real experience?

Hello Holgs,

yes i do have a portfolio, no i dont earn big money with my photos, yes i earn money with affiliation on my websites, why do you not ask LEAF how much money he do on the microstock group forum affiliates? Why should i tell you what i earn? Will you tell me what you earn for living?
I think its Fotolias problem if some people complain in their forums not mine, i just recommend different agencies and the people must decide by themselves where they want to join at.

If you think iam just doing this for money, i don't care, your choice. Show me people who work for nothing? Are you working for free? I dont think so!

And finaly i dont understand whats your problem with me?

Sorry Amos its nothing personal. You've stumbled in and have a site that happens to endorse the site that has yet again gotten on the nerves of many contributors, mine included, so that's a big reason why you've become the target of my somewhat unfair prodding...

But...my problem is that you clearly endorse a site, claiming that you're giving an independent review while not disclosing that the very same site pays you commission. You then come back and claim that you don't earn "any money" on commissions when clearly that isn't the case.

I don't care if people make money through advertising, commissions or whatever, but when you claim to be a test site, there are actually rules that apply, and one of them generally is that you need to disclose when a product that you're recommending gives you a commission. When you don't do that, personally I find that to be deceptive.

How would you feel if say test.de clearly endorsed a product, you bought it based on their recommendation you had a problem with it, then turned around to find out that the website received a 15% commission from the sale?

In many countries there are disclosure laws that apply when you give advice. For example in Australia, the way you present your site is probably actually in breach of the Trade Practices Act - you may think that doesn't apply to you, but what happens if a German-speaking customer signs up in Australia based on the content that you're distributing world-wide over the internet? I'd be surprised if Germany didn't have similar laws. Might be something to look into before someone else does.

Holgs, you are absolutely right good to hear that its nothing personal.

I am sorry i cant find the post where i say that i am not earning affiliation money, sorry if i have said that.

In the case of my websites, we are not do a official test, its something like a review quite the same as somebody write a review here in the forum and shows his (affiliate)links.

We just recommend  agencies to photo buyers and we have no real test sheet or a overview or something.
You are right, i should mark some of the links as Partner Link or something.

Iam just telling where they can buy photos at, not realy to claim iam a test site and my other website are just claiming that we help to sell your photos, nothing more.

But anyway, thanks for your input i appreciate - back to business talk.

What do you think about Panther Media in Germany?


 

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