MicrostockGroup

Don't get me wrong, I love iStock (most of the time) and I think it's great that RenPhoto got the fab prize she did.  And I also feel that iStock are free to play the game however they want, their business, their rules and all that.

BUT, aren't there some strange coincidences here?

Firstly, the counter hasn't hit three million yet.  The front page says that there isn't three million files in the library.

Secondly, it's an amazingly wow photo.  I love it.  It's very classy.  But seriously, how often do photos like that crop up?  Especially on the long awaited 3M file.  It wouldn't have been good marketing if the 3M file winner was a shot of an isolated apple on a slightly off white background.

And I guess at the end of the day, they wouldn't want to be giving away fab prizes like cameras to someone who would use them to shoot for the competition.  So for it to go to a diamond exclusive seems right.

I'm not bitter, I'm just not a fan of "competitions" when they're so obviously rigged.

But hey, if somehow it is used in marketing and increases my sales then it's all good.

heh yeah clear rigging... Probably understandable though.

On another note, istock seems to have added 50 percent to their collection in 8 months. Right? So to keep the same percentage of your photos that appear in the search, you need to add 50 percent every 8 months. Can ya do it? I can, but only with one hell of a lot of coffee.

Maybe its 3 million files accepted but users may have deleted some old ones.

That's true, didn't think of that.  I've deleted a few.  =D

Why is this such a big surprise, and whats the problem with it anyway.

Of course they're going to pick a good photo from an exclusive, they'd be stupid if they didn't.

Or did anybody really think that the result would be " Hey here's our three millionth image, it's a duck on a village pond submitted by our bronze cannister non-exclusive with a total of six downloads in his portfolio of twelve images"

And more to the point exactly the same would and should happen on any other stock site.

Because then they'd have tons of other contributors whining because they also have great and awesome photos and deserve a new camera! 

When I saw the announcement, I didn't even bother to look to see that it was an exclusive contributor.  I just assumed it would be.  It guess it does makes sense if you're the guys running iStock. 

Yes, what would surprise me would be finding one of mine there! 

Regards,
Adelaide