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Author Topic: Could it be using a shutterstock controlled revenue system?  (Read 49646 times)

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« Reply #75 on: June 21, 2018, 17:30 »
+3
There are only 100 image in the first page of every search result and in some categories, there are over 100,000 images fighting to get on that page. If you're not in the first few pages, you're pretty much invisible.

There is no controlled system and if there is one, it's the same algorithm that controls everything. Everyone face the same visibility struggles and if your work is not up there with the best of them, it's impossible to get on page 1.



« Reply #76 on: June 23, 2018, 00:56 »
+2
There are only 100 image in the first page of every search result and in some categories, there are over 100,000 images fighting to get on that page. If you're not in the first few pages, you're pretty much invisible.

There is no controlled system and if there is one, it's the same algorithm that controls everything. Everyone face the same visibility struggles and if your work is not up there with the best of them, it's impossible to get on page 1.
Especially if you try to compete in already oversaturated categories. If you get away from the obvious there are still gaps.

« Reply #77 on: June 23, 2018, 03:07 »
0
yep isolated tomato catfish burger has only 17 images and none of them are actually isolated.

« Reply #78 on: June 23, 2018, 03:53 »
0
yep isolated tomato catfish burger has only 17 images and none of them are actually isolated.
Off to catch a catfish as we speak ;-).

Phadrea

    This user is banned.
« Reply #79 on: June 24, 2018, 04:39 »
+3
And nobody has mentioned the multiple image theft sites that are springing up all over the place that steal from ss while they sit back and do nothing about it, despite it being reported.

Its gone abysmal at ss since this has happened.

« Reply #80 on: June 24, 2018, 04:59 »
+2
And nobody has mentioned the multiple image theft sites that are springing up all over the place that steal from ss while they sit back and do nothing about it, despite it being reported.

Its gone abysmal at ss since this has happened.

Is this part of how SS is "controlling" your revenue?
I hope you posted on the wrong thread!

Phadrea

    This user is banned.
« Reply #81 on: June 26, 2018, 17:16 »
+1
As you seem intent on defending SS with facetious comments, I am guessing that you are having GREAT sales with them ?

« Reply #82 on: June 26, 2018, 18:42 »
+4
As you seem intent on defending SS with facetious comments, I am guessing that you are having GREAT sales with them ?

Exactly!
June is already the best month of the year for me and much better than June 2017.

Absolutely no signs of revenue control, in my case :P

Maybe your conspiracy theory allows exceptions, you never know!  ;D

PS. I'm not defending SS. I'm defending logic and common sense.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2018, 19:21 by Zero Talent »

Phadrea

    This user is banned.
« Reply #83 on: June 27, 2018, 00:06 »
+2
Just as I thought. Im alright Jack and will knock people who are seeing their sales ( and livelihood) shot to pieces when they are down.

« Reply #84 on: June 27, 2018, 05:07 »
0
Just as I thought. Im alright Jack and will knock people who are seeing their sales ( and livelihood) shot to pieces when they are down.

This may very well happen. But not because SS decided to "control" my revenue.

I enjoy the ride, with its daily and monthly normal (therefore expected) ups and downs, producing, with each photo, the best work I'm capable of, trying my best to keep offering photos customers need.
I take nothing for granted.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2018, 05:13 by Zero Talent »

farbled

« Reply #85 on: June 27, 2018, 12:43 »
+4
I enjoy the ride, with its daily and monthly normal (therefore expected) ups and downs,

This part. This is what some others don't have. I don't even look at my earnings anymore. I know what it will be at mid-month and at month end. I don't have ups and downs month to month. No matter how much or how little I upload.
 


« Reply #86 on: June 27, 2018, 12:58 »
0
I enjoy the ride, with its daily and monthly normal (therefore expected) ups and downs,

This part. This is what some others don't have. I don't even look at my earnings anymore. I know what it will be at mid-month and at month end. I don't have ups and downs month to month. No matter how much or how little I upload.

So your sales are flat. While this is very unlikely, I'll take it with a grain of salt and understand that your "ups and downs" are not very significant. Neither are mine, btw. The larger your revenue is, the less likely it is to experience large variations from one month to the next. This is because large SoDs, Els don't have the same global impact, as for someone who's only making a couple of hundreds a month. Both growth and decrease are rather slow and things might look flat based only on a short term analysis

This also means that both you and me can still keep up with our competition. Yey! Good for both of us!

Having said that, your statement is very different than what Herg is blaming his imaginary "SS controlled revenue" system for:

... people who are seeing their sales ( and livelihood) shot to pieces when they are down.


It is refreshing to see that, now, people are complaining about stable (flat) revenues, instead of complaining about revenue decrease!
 ;)
« Last Edit: June 27, 2018, 13:38 by Zero Talent »

farbled

« Reply #87 on: June 27, 2018, 14:00 »
+2
"I'll take it with a grain of salt and understand that your "ups and downs" are not very significant."

Meh, you aren't hearing me. my ups and downs don't exist.

I give up. You're right. All in my head.

« Reply #88 on: June 27, 2018, 14:19 »
+1
"I'll take it with a grain of salt and understand that your "ups and downs" are not very significant."

Meh, you aren't hearing me. my ups and downs don't exist.

I give up. You're right. All in my head.

Are you saying that every month, you get exactly the same revenue?
You have absolutely no ups and downs?

Sorry, but this is extremely improbable. lt's even virtually impossible.

Even if so: congratulations for being able to keep your revenue very, very stable, when Herg & Co are complaining about revenue drop.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2018, 14:26 by Zero Talent »

SpaceStockFootage

  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #89 on: June 27, 2018, 14:19 »
+1
"I'll take it with a grain of salt and understand that your "ups and downs" are not very significant."

Meh, you aren't hearing me. my ups and downs don't exist.

I give up. You're right. All in my head.

So do you earn exactly the same every month, to the penny? Or do you have small variations in your earnings... but they're not very significant?

jonbull

    This user is banned.
« Reply #90 on: June 27, 2018, 15:28 »
0
Stock media has been dying from the day that stock media came into existence. Well, it has and it hasn't. The need for stock has been increasing gradually over the years. More channels, more shows, bigger audiences, more Youtube videos etc etc. So stock media is very much alive and well.

It's just the same old story of more and more competition when it comes to the people that sell stock media. There's no way to keep up with the increase in competition, so everyone gets a slightly smaller slice of the pie year over year. It's the same for everyone.... tv channels, slightly more viewers over the years, but more channels and more shows. Youtube channels... slightly more Youtube viewers over the years, but loads more channels and videos. There's not much that can be done about that.

Make more content than you did last year, make better content than you did last year, make sure you're on the sites you should be and not on the sites you shouldn't, revisit your descriptions, keywords, titles, think about branding, streamlining your working practices to make everything more efficient, consider cost-effective marketing, look for ways to maximise profits and minimise costs, add value, see what your competition are doing, review prices on sites where you can set your own, both from a time standpoint and a financial one, look for additional ways your work could be bringing in money, etc etc etc.

And if you've done all that and you still eventually get to the point where it's no longer worth while... then at least you'll know you did everything you could. You can then tip your hat to the world of stock media, say "Well, it was fun while it lasted kid. So long", and then turn your back before walking off into the mist. Or do what I'll do... say "See ya around suckers!" and fly off in my spaceship clutching a cheap bottle of wine in each paw.   

Entirely agree.

But the problem is that supply is accelerating and it's impossible to keep up.  I believe at the last market report Shutterstock said that the library had increased by about 40% but sales only by 2%.  This means that in order to just stand still one has to increase one's portfolio by 40% or so.

I accept that higher quality, more attractive concepts etc should eventually produce results better than the run-of-the-mill stuff being uploaded by many, but the problem of visibility arises - even the best work won't sell if it's drowned by millions of other images.

However, yours is a generally positive analysis and I agree - all we can do is try to produce good quality work and hope for the best.  Unfortunately even that approach is likely to end in disappointment in the long term.

what do you expect from a company who advertise in the last article the work oaf a professional spammer, against from russia?
https://www.shutterstock.com/ru/g/irina%20bg
f they accept portfolio like this, made of 1000 original photo and 58900 spam photos, how is it so strange they could possibly control sales? in this period with decreasing earning, moving sales bulk towards 0,26 cent contributor can be vital for a company.

steheap

  • Author of best selling "Get Started in Stock"

« Reply #91 on: June 27, 2018, 17:36 »
+5
I've kept quiet for a long time on this debate, but I agree with Zero Talent. No-one is saying that SS don't control sales - of course they want to maximize their revenue and their net income and so they endlessly play with their algorithms to present a set of images to a buyer in response to their search terms that first, try to make sure they buy an image, second, to try to maximize SS's net income and third, present them with a fresh looking collection of images. So they try to manage this all the time.

What is disputed, is that on top of doing this to maximize their profitability and the happiness of the buyer, they also care about the contributor to the extent that they will move that contributor up and down the search results to try to smooth out the income of the contributor over the week or month. I just can't see why this would be important to them, and besides being pretty complex, it doesn't seem to meet a real business goal for SS. It isn't like it is short of contributors or new images that they need to try to keep all contributors happy in some way.

Steve


farbled

« Reply #92 on: June 27, 2018, 18:29 »
+1
I am certainly not accusing SS of willfully playing with my specific earnings. I am simply saying that my stats do not seem to follow a natural pattern within the last year. Whether there is a glitch, code, something in my photo metadata, or any one of a thousand reasons for it, they are static within a very narrow range for my port size and earnings. I would write it off as happenstance, but others have reported the exact same thing.


SpaceStockFootage

  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #93 on: June 27, 2018, 20:15 »
0
What does this natural pattern, that you're not getting, look like?

farbled

« Reply #94 on: June 27, 2018, 20:22 »
+1
What does this natural pattern, that you're not getting, look like?
Um, not like a straight line?

edit. I said it before. I give up. You're all correct. It is all in my head (and bank account). Enjoy.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2018, 20:29 by farbled »

« Reply #95 on: June 28, 2018, 00:26 »
0
What does this natural pattern, that you're not getting, look like?
Um, not like a straight line?

edit. I said it before. I give up. You're all correct. It is all in my head (and bank account). Enjoy.

It is not just in your head. Some people with too little experience in programming can't accept the fact, that the earth is round and want scientific proof of that, but are unable to give proof that the earth is supposedly flat. #justsayin
I got tired of even trying explaining what is going on a port of 13k video files (much more relevant than most of the small fishes), so I avoid any provocative debates.

« Reply #96 on: June 28, 2018, 01:42 »
0
Meanwhile, the app is all messed up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

namussi

« Reply #97 on: June 28, 2018, 04:23 »
+2

I got tired of even trying explaining what is going on a port of 13k video files (much more relevant than most of the small fishes), so I avoid any provocative debates.

You didn't try very hard. ;D

« Reply #98 on: June 28, 2018, 06:48 »
+3
Just as I thought. Im alright Jack and will knock people who are seeing their sales ( and livelihood) shot to pieces when they are down.

Or knock people who say "I'm alright Jack" calling them names and attacking them for not seeing imaginary conspiracy like income caps or controlled revenue. This isn't my livelihood, I have more sense then depend on microstock or these low commission vultures that under pay us for work.

niktol

« Reply #99 on: June 28, 2018, 08:28 »
+1
It is not just in your head. Some people with too little experience in programming can't accept the fact, that the earth is round and want scientific proof of that, but are unable to give proof that the earth is supposedly flat.

I have enough experience with programming to know that people choose to believe what they are programmed to believe.


 

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