Author Topic: Another Massive Best Match Shift (Read 62291 times)

SNP · « **Reply #225 on:** December 26, 2011, 12:27 »

isn't it better that most buyers don't use the slider? it's there to appease buyers that are price conscious and want the ability to sort by price. good that most buyers don't use it.

as for exclusive only content - this is a smart and proven differentiator in commercial business models. iStock should probably go all-exclusive as part of the Getty-family brand, it's a smart move. I definitely feel for independents, especially those I call friends who are affected by this. But independents have the option to go exclusive. (gostwyck, I can hear your guffaw from Canada). where Getty gets a FAIL on their annual report card is contributor relations. undervaluing suppliers is bad business. no work = no success for Getty. all it will take is one pi55-off too many before contributors start divorcing themselves from the Getty family. the RC adjustment was a good move in the right direction.

imageegami · « **Reply #226 on:** December 26, 2011, 12:36 »

Quote from: SNP on December 26, 2011, 12:27

isn't it better that most buyers don't use the slider? it's there to appease buyers that are price conscious and want the ability to sort by price. good that most buyers don't use it.

as for exclusive only content - this is a smart and proven differentiator in commercial business models. iStock should probably go all-exclusive as part of the Getty-family brand, it's a smart move. I definitely feel for independents, especially those I call friends who are affected by this. But independents have the option to go exclusive. (gostwyck, I can hear your guffaw from Canada). where Getty gets a FAIL on their annual report card is contributor relations. undervaluing suppliers is bad business. no work = no success for Getty. all it will take is one pi55-off too many before contributors start divorcing themselves from the Getty family. the RC adjustment was a good move in the right direction.

I for one would be very happy to see iStock go all exclusive. That means that Thinkstock would close its doors overnight due to a lack of content and buyers would leave in droves (even faster than they are doing today) to other sites which pay a fair commission. Unfortunately, its not in the cards.

ShadySue · « **Reply #227 on:** December 26, 2011, 12:40 »

Quote from: imageegami on December 26, 2011, 12:36

I for one would be very happy to see iStock go all exclusive. That means that Thinkstock would close its doors overnight due to a lack of content and buyers would leave in droves (even faster than they are doing today) to other sites which pay a fair commission. Unfortunately, its not in the cards.

Interesting pov, as I'd imagine that if they went all-exclusive they'd force exclusives to place some/all content in TS. IMO, it's a distinct exclusive perk that currently that's a choice.

gostwyck · « **Reply #228 on:** December 26, 2011, 12:51 »

Quote from: lagereek on December 26, 2011, 12:25

Quote from: imageegami on December 26, 2011, 11:59
This best match shift to 100% exclusive content smells like a desperate move to keep exclusives from feeling the full effect of downward spiraling market share. Interesting that any attempt to discuss it in the iStock forum gets snuffed out by Lobo.

They have painted themselves into a corner with this. If they keep this best match long enough, independents will stop uploading and competition will pull ahead. That`s not going to happen because they need to keep feeding Thinkstock. On the other hand, this artificially boosted exclusive perk will now become the baseline with exclusives for measuring normal sales, and if the best match switches back to allowing some independent exposure then exclusives will get hit with declining sales due to best match shift + declining sales due to sliding market share. IMO, no happy ending for iStock here.

Exactly! but even so, it has not done the slightest dent to increase exclusives revenues, heard this through the grapevine actually, its all for nothing, the place is a graveyard.

Yep. I can't see this working at all. If Istock keep this best match algorithm for any length of time it will be the death of them as a force in microstock.

gostwyck · « **Reply #229 on:** December 26, 2011, 13:05 »

Quote from: imageegami on December 26, 2011, 12:36

I for one would be very happy to see iStock go all exclusive. That means that Thinkstock would close its doors overnight due to a lack of content and buyers would leave in droves (even faster than they are doing today) to other sites which pay a fair commission. Unfortunately, its not in the cards.

As far as I'm concerned they have effectively become 'all-exclusive' with this latest move. This December's sales are barely more than half of those in Dec 2010 and I can see January's being halved yet again. This could be Armageddon for independents' sales at Istock. I think that there is a significant likelihood that Istock will drop into 3rd or even 4th place in my earnings. There may even come a point in 2012 when I simply delete my portfolio there. Most independents only put up with the insultingly low commissions because of the historical sales volumes which were a significant proportion of our incomes. If that melts away then there would be little reason to stay and several reasons to leave.

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #230 on:** December 26, 2011, 13:13 »

My sales were well below last December's before the new best match arrived. So far the current best match doesn't seem to have affected them all that much (it's hard to tell at this time of year) but once stuff that was working its way through designers' projects is all taken up, goodness knows if there will be any sales.

Juanmonino · « **Reply #231 on:** December 26, 2011, 13:45 »

I am Istock exclusive, always been
I got almost 15000 files in IS
Yesterday December 25th I sold 3 images for a total of 7 dollars
last year same day I sold over $150.00 same day

Today is Monday 26, I have sold so far $23.00 (2:00 pm ET), last year I sold December 26 more than $300.00, and last year December 26 was a Sunday.

Something very serious is going on in IS, something that happened Friday and is affecting not only non exclusives but exclusives as well. Please if anyone else is having similar results let me know, this is like 90% decrease in sales and will put me out of business in a heart beat if not fixed.

aeonf · « **Reply #232 on:** December 26, 2011, 14:34 »

^^^ Why don't you use your talisman ?

imageegami · « **Reply #233 on:** December 26, 2011, 14:54 »

Quote from: ShadySue on December 26, 2011, 12:40

Quote from: imageegami on December 26, 2011, 12:36
I for one would be very happy to see iStock go all exclusive. That means that Thinkstock would close its doors overnight due to a lack of content and buyers would leave in droves (even faster than they are doing today) to other sites which pay a fair commission. Unfortunately, its not in the cards.

Interesting pov, as I'd imagine that if they went all-exclusive they'd force exclusives to place some/all content in TS. IMO, it's a distinct exclusive perk that currently that's a choice.

The only problem with that is that exclusives are only a tiny fraction of iStock. It would still mean chopping the legs out from under Thinkstock and they would also lose all those high margin sales and they would have, I don`t know, maybe 2,000,000 images (I`m guessing on the number but it would be a small fraction of what they have today). Bottom line, that`ain`t gona happen.

lagereek · « **Reply #234 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:22 »

Quote from: Juanmonino on December 26, 2011, 13:45

I am Istock exclusive, always been
I got almost 15000 files in IS
Yesterday December 25th I sold 3 images for a total of 7 dollars
last year same day I sold over $150.00 same day

Today is Monday 26, I have sold so far $23.00 (2:00 pm ET), last year I sold December 26 more than $300.00, and last year December 26 was a Sunday.

Something very serious is going on in IS, something that happened Friday and is affecting not only non exclusives but exclusives as well. Please if anyone else is having similar results let me know, this is like 90% decrease in sales and will put me out of business in a heart beat if not fixed.

Well Juan! if somebody like you reports this! thats alarming and rings warning bells all over the place and thats what I said earlier, this move havent done the exclusives any good at all. Something is going on and I think it could possibly be some sort of orchestrated "end" and what better timing then just before a new year?

mtilghma · « **Reply #235 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:26 »

and my little recent spike was indeed nov's PP sales rolling in

Juanmonino · « **Reply #236 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:36 »

I never seen nothing like this, today is monday and sales are completely dead, I have not sold a single image in hours, like I said last year and the year before at this day of the year I used to sell $250.00 - $300, today I am still at $28.30, this is like a 85% plummeting in sales, and I am exclusive.

I would like to know if other IS exclusives are experiencing something like this during last 4 days. They did something massive last friday, something never seen before. If this stay like this, I will be out of business by january. And I have the 8th collection in IS in size, 57th in sales.

And is nothing we can do, even questions about this matter are immediately censored in IS forums

wut · « **Reply #237 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:45 »

I see very weak sales across the board today, SS is at 25% (up until this hour, not the whole day) compared to last Monday, I'm seeing even less or no sales (at the lousy sites such as BS and SC). So I guess I'm seeing a 80% drop as well, but I'm comparing it to last week since I've almost doubled my port since last Dec (so perhaps this is comparing apples and pears). I think the economy also has much to do with current sales as well as really bad, dark future that awaits Europe in the next few years (I'm getting most sales from Europe, at least at SS).

aeonf · « **Reply #238 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:45 »

I wouldn't jump to conculsion just yet! it is christmas as I remember.
I would wait for in to end as well as waiting for the next best match shuffle which I assume will come soon.
My sales are OK BTW, but I do see a bias towards newer pictures.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #239 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:49 »

Not sure about others but Monday is a holiday in US -- Sunday events are celebrated on Monday.

imageegami · « **Reply #240 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:49 »

Quote from: Juanmonino on December 26, 2011, 15:36

I never seen nothing like this, today is monday and sales are completely dead, I have not sold a single image in hours, like I said last year and the year before at this day of the year I used to sell $250.00 - $300, today I am still at $28.30, this is like a 85% plummeting in sales, and I am exclusive.

I would like to know if other IS exclusives are experiencing something like this during last 4 days. They did something massive last friday, something never seen before. If this stay like this, I will be out of business by january. And I have the 8th collection in IS in size, 57th in sales.

And is nothing we can do, even questions about this matter are immediately censored in IS forums

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I don`t think you are alone among exclusives. Can you remember how JJRD declared that Thinkstock is a different customer base and that making images available there would have no impact on iStock sales? Remember how we were promised to be grandfathered into existing commission levels? Remember how we were told by KK that commissions wouldn`t be changed except for the better? Can you recall that money isn`t what makes us happy? Not sure about you but from my perspective, they have lost any and all credibility and entrusting them with 100% of my stock revenue was making me naucious so I became independent, a change which I have not regretted.

loop · « **Reply #241 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:51 »

Today is a holiday in many european countries. Others have holiday because Christmas was on Sunday. Even tomorrow is a holiday in UK.

wut · « **Reply #242 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:53 »

Quote from: WarrenPrice on December 26, 2011, 15:49

Not sure about others but Monday is a holiday in US -- Sunday events are celebrated on Monday.

I just wanted to ask if there's boxing day in the US as well and checked it in wikipedia to find out there isn't. Which holiday is it?

So this explains my sales; Holidays in UK and commonwealth and USA. And panic in Europe. The rest of the world doesn't buy much anyway, well Latin America and Africa is on the rise in the last 6 months or so, at least at SS.

Juanmonino · « **Reply #243 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:54 »

I don't get alarmed very easily, I have seen many changes and shifts, but nothing like this before, this is dramatic,huge,absolute, and I am comparing with same dates last year and year before, sales plummeted more than 85% compering same dates data. just last 4 days, starting friday afternoon.

ShadySue · « **Reply #244 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:55 »

Quote from: wut on December 26, 2011, 15:53

Quote from: WarrenPrice on December 26, 2011, 15:49
Not sure about others but Monday is a holiday in US -- Sunday events are celebrated on Monday.

I just wanted to ask if there's boxing day in the US as well and checked it in wikipedia to find out there isn't. Which holiday is it?

I'm imagining that it's the Christmas public holiday today in the US to make up for Christmas being a Sunday.
Technically, tomorrow in the UK is officially the Christmas bank holiday, as today is Boxing Day.

Buzbuzzer · « **Reply #245 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:58 »

Holiday in Canada too.. 1 sale today... but it's pretty normal.

We' ll see the real thing in January.

Juanmonino · « **Reply #246 on:** December 26, 2011, 15:58 »

Quote from: loop on December 26, 2011, 15:51

Today is a holiday in many european countries. Others have holiday because Christmas was on Sunday. Even tomorrow is a holiday in UK.

Last year december 26th was SUNDAY, and I sold almost $300.00 that day.

Today (I just had a sale) I sold $34.00 and is MONDAY.

wut · « **Reply #247 on:** December 26, 2011, 16:02 »

Quote from: ShadySue on December 26, 2011, 15:55

Quote from: wut on December 26, 2011, 15:53
Quote from: WarrenPrice on December 26, 2011, 15:49
Not sure about others but Monday is a holiday in US -- Sunday events are celebrated on Monday.

I just wanted to ask if there's boxing day in the US as well and checked it in wikipedia to find out there isn't. Which holiday is it?

I'm imagining that it's the Christmas public holiday today to make up for Christmas being a Sunday.
Technically, tomorrow in the UK is officially the Christmas bank holiday, as today is Boxing Day.

That's great, football matches are going to be spread out throughout the day again (not all at the same time so you can watch just one match). UK is great, there's no break in premier league. I guess this is what I like the most about UK

ShadySue · « **Reply #248 on:** December 26, 2011, 16:03 »

Quote from: Juanmonino on December 26, 2011, 15:54

I don't get alarmed very easily, I have seen many changes and shifts, but nothing like this before, this is dramatic,huge,absolute, and I am comparing with same dates last year and year before, sales plummeted more than 85% compering same dates data. just last 4 days, starting friday afternoon.

"I don't get alarmed very easily" LOL!

- you make me seem calm.

I've had not one sale for three days and at previous Christmasses I've always had a small trickle.
The sky may be falling in; but more likely it's because Christmas this year was a Sunday, so even those countries which don't celebrate Christmas wouldn't be working, so it's the Christmas diminution of sales multiplied by the Sunday diminution of sales.

I'll be annoyed if I don't get any tomorrow, but it's still a UK Bank/Public holiday for most except shop workers; but worried if I don't get any on Wednesday. Some people on the race threads have been reporting sales over the holiday.