Author Topic: Caution: Don't Question Alamy (Read 53249 times)

Daryl Ray · « **on:** October 18, 2018, 09:07 »

I have been contributing to Alamy for 5 years. Sales increasing year after year. A couple rejections early on while getting used to what they want, but ever since I've had dozens of batches of accepted images, without any further rejections. I was "stuck" at 2 out of 3 threes stars with their "QC" rating, but never thought much of it, other than it seems to take absolute lifetime of perfection to get to maximum 3 stars.

I had put Alamy on the backburner and hadn't uploaded for a bit, but I had some extra time and decided to submit a batch. To the 75 or so images in the batch, I added an image I took of a photo of opportunity taken on an iPhone. This image is available on SS, AB, P5, etc. and sells surprisingly well. Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten that Alamy does not accept images from iPhones (even though they've accepted images from far worse cameras, but I digress). So that batch, all 75+ images, all of them from DSLR's (besides the one), was blanket rejected. This I can understand, they have a policy, I violated it (even an understandable mistake) and while rejecting the whole batch over one image seems harsh, it's their company, their policy. But that's not where it ends.

They put a 10 day upload freeze on my account. They dropped my QC ranking dropped from 2 to 1 stars. Dozens of perfect batches of uploads, no rank increase. One failed image, dropped to the bottom of their QC rating and an upload freeze. 3 punishments for one little overlooked image. I don't even understand exactly what that means or how it affects my account specifically, but I realized it can't be good and it seemed like some harsh treatment to a good contributor over a simple honest mistake. So I reached out to their support for clarification.

A robotic and defensive sounding response informing me of their blanket policy of acceptable cameras and that my rank will stay at 1. That it's "not possible" to check every image (tell that to SS, AB, P5, etc.). They offered a "goodwill gesture" of unfreezing my uploads, but I again asked why such a harsh punishment for one image. No further response. I self-imposed an upload "freeze" of my own.

Since then, I've been in the longest sales gap in two years. As has been suggested, likely a coincidence. But as a general caution, watch what you say, fellow contributors.

Asthebelltolls · « **Reply #1 on:** October 18, 2018, 09:27 »

Thanks for the advice. Well written, thorough article. I think its a good example of just how "automated" the business has become. Take heart. Alamy's strict policy is self-punishing. They lose a good, money-generating supplier.

ShadySue · « **Reply #2 on:** October 18, 2018, 09:43 »

I'm not sure how much the QC rank counts for anything, but maybe someone knows better.
A lot of things on Alamy don't actually count for anything, e.g. 'discoverability' (causes more harm than good).
If you only got frozen out for ten days, that's because of your previous good record; it can be a month for a QC failure. (Your account isn't actually frozen, your existing files can still be searched and sell, you just can't upload.)
They don't take iPhone pics but they do sell them via Stockimo. However, don't mention Stockimo on the Alamy forum unless you want to be jumped on from a height, and AFAIK, there isn't a Stockimo forum. And it's only for iPhone, not Android etc.

But indeed, you don't get anywhere by questioning their policies.
I've been years trying to get one particularly egregious policy re-evaluated and am getting nowhere. Like most, they're right even when they're shown to be wrong.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 18, 2018, 09:49 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 18, 2018, 09:43

I'm not sure how much the QC rank counts for anything, but maybe someone knows better.
A lot of things on Alamy don't actually count for anything, e.g. 'discoverability' (causes more harm than good).
If you only got frozen out for ten days, that's because of your previous good record; it can be a month for a QC failure. (Your account isn't actually frozen, your existing files can still be searched and sell, you just can't upload.)
They don't take iPhone pics but they do sell them via Stockimo. However, don't mention Stockimo on the Alamy forum unless you want to be jumped on from a height, and AFAIK, there isn't a Stockimo forum. And it's only for iPhone, not Android etc.

But indeed, you don't get anywhere by questioning their policies.
I've been years trying to get one particularly egregious policy re-evaluated and am getting nowhere. Like most, they're right even when they're shown to be wrong.

As far as I know the QC rating just affects how quickly you get reviewed and what proportion of images get looked at.

MicroVet · « **Reply #4 on:** October 18, 2018, 10:13 »

Alamy does not have a record of being contributor unfriendly. Much by the contrary. In fact, it's the only agency that more than once has changed decisions based on contributors feedback. They're not perfect, but are among the best despite some criticism they occasionally get. So, I find it strange that they targeted you for a polite (as you describe it) conversation.

I sell an average of several hundreds of dollars every month for the past 11 eleven years on alamy. Yet, this year I had a month with no sales, especially when I was expecting a good number of sales. The first time since 2007! And I did nothing. Not even a polite conversation with them before that.

But I sold in the following months until today, after questioning about what happened in that month. By your logic I should have been punished, right?

I doubt the QC rank influences your sales and exposure on the site, but I do have 3 stars. Yet, to get them I have near 20.000 images on hundreds of batches and close to 10 years without rejections.

Install TOR browser which allows you to surf anonymoulsy and compare the results of the searches against the results on your browser. You'll see if your images are being damaged in their exposure when compared with what you see when logged in.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #5 on:** October 18, 2018, 10:40 »

I can't defend Alamy's eccentricities with uploading, inspecting, keyword rules, their odd discoverability ratings, rank, zooms or anything else. Or their strange way of allowing customers to use images ages before reporting their use or (eventually) paying for them.

However, unless you have a really huge portfolio and a really consistent sales track record, it could just be a coincidence that you haven't had sales reported of late.

I've been with Alamy (somewhat half-heartedly, admittedly) for over a decade and sales are enough to be worth it, but erratic (unlike via the top microstock sites). Things lurch forward with some sales and then go quiet for a month; big ticket amounts and super-cheap prices.

I've never had any images rejected, so I think my erratic sales are just erratic sales. Yours might be as well.

ShadySue · « **Reply #7 on:** October 18, 2018, 11:30 »

Quote from: Alamy on October 18, 2018, 11:26

Quote from: ShadySue on October 18, 2018, 09:43
If you only got frozen out for ten days, that's because of your previous good record; it can be a month for a QC failure. (Your account isn't actually frozen, your existing files can still be searched and sell, you just can't upload.)

This is incorrect information - the upload freeze is never longer than 10 days .

That has changed, then (I'm glad to hear). It's been years since it happened to me and it was either a month or 28 days.

ShadySue · « **Reply #9 on:** October 18, 2018, 11:37 »

Quote from: Alamy on October 18, 2018, 11:34

Quote from: ShadySue on October 18, 2018, 11:30
Quote from: Alamy on October 18, 2018, 11:26
Quote from: ShadySue on October 18, 2018, 09:43
If you only got frozen out for ten days, that's because of your previous good record; it can be a month for a QC failure. (Your account isn't actually frozen, your existing files can still be searched and sell, you just can't upload.)

This is incorrect information - the upload freeze is never longer than 10 days .

That has changed, then (I'm glad to hear). It's been years since it happened to me and it was either a month or 28 days.

Upload freezing was bought in around 2 years ago and has always been set at 10 days.

You may be getting mixed up with our previous system which never had an upload freeze but there was a delay in the result notification of up to 28 days. Long gone now though so I just wanted to clarify that.

James

OK, thanks for the clarification. It certainly was over 2 years ago, and I didn't know it had changed.

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #10 on:** October 18, 2018, 11:51 »

Thanks for the reply, James. But you have to agree, punishing a otherwise good contributor 3 or more ways for adding one iPhone image to an otherwise fine batch is overkill, no matter how you explain out the individual reasons. There's clearly a flaw in the process. I asked for clarification, and now my sales are currently in the longest gap in 2 years. I can't possibly know why for sure, but that's some severely coincidental timing.

I do appreciate your response here, however. Had my follow-up questions not been ignored and my sales not suddenly stopped cold, I would have liked to keep this between myself and Alamy. I felt like had little else to do about the situation than post a caution here.

For further clarification, Pond5 does offer 50%, and I frequently get much less than 50% from Alamy sales due to the distributors cut being larger than mine.

hstiver · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2018, 12:03 »

I had virtually the same experience as the original poster. I had an acceptance rate of over 99% but had a rejection for a iPhone image

My QC was dropped from 3 stars to one and frozen for 10 days.

I wrote a polite message 6 weeks ago and no reply.

Followed up with a second message and still no reply.

I have always looked favorably at Alamy but I am reticent to start uploading again when I seem to be treated with contempt

qunamax · « **Reply #12 on:** October 18, 2018, 12:07 »

Thanks for the advice. I only ever upload mobile photos to SS and FT if if they are perfect sunny daylight ones.
Was very careful with Alamy and now less with 3 stars and it all goes smooth, you probably shouldn't have risked it with 2 stars.

Dumc · « **Reply #13 on:** October 18, 2018, 12:35 »

Can you just stop ego-triping? I really don't understand why such a drama because of those stars, which means prety much nothing.

Dodie · « **Reply #14 on:** October 18, 2018, 13:12 »

I don't think that the stars have anything to do with sales, however I never understood their many strange rules. I never had a rejection, always with 3 stars during my 2 years as a contributor, still I got few and small sales.

I recently deleted my images mainly because of their "allowing customers to use images ages before reporting their use or (eventually) paying for them".

I also noticed a nervous tone (but not impolite) in the reply I got from support when I insisted on an unreported download.

hstiver · « **Reply #17 on:** October 18, 2018, 14:07 »

Thanks James,

I have sent you a PM with details.

Me · « **Reply #18 on:** October 18, 2018, 14:13 »

Good to see management from an agency coming on site to communicate and provide information

Pauws99 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 19, 2018, 02:18 »

Quote from: Me on October 18, 2018, 14:13

Good to see management from an agency coming on site to communicate and provide information

and people wonder why agencies have stopped giving feedback on this site ..too much unprofessional unsubstantiated whining. James from Alamy has gone above and beyond in his response in my view.

Martin Carlsson · « **Reply #20 on:** October 19, 2018, 04:31 »

Been with Alamy since 2004. I've had a few bans through the years - personally prefer the Alamy way over other places where the shoddy stuff is accepted/refused without any consequence, at least for me it works as a bit of pressure to make sure everything is in order before uploading. I can't say hand on heart that I've ever had an incorrect rejection, an image could have been just on the brink, it could have been accepted elsewhere, but it didn't live up to Alamy's standards. Unfortunately they only spot check, wish it was more comprehensive to stem the flood and also as a measure to increase quality over quantity.

Also, if anything, with Alamy I've always had prompt, swift and timely communication if I had questions or issues. Recently James Allsworth personally saw to that an issue of mine was resolved - that happens like nowhere else, that someone "personally" takes responsibility and ensures that it gets resolved. So in terms of customer/contributor service satisfaction they are bar far the best one I've been dealing with during the last 16-17 years - IMHO of course.

- Re. discoverability score - don't really care about the actual score/color, but helped me catch a few images that had uploaded without captions and keywords - so it does have it's place.

- Re. QC stars - can't say that I care. Got three, inspection and on-line within 24hrs (bar weekends), I guess I've been a good boy.

- Re. sales - find them to be more stable than other outlets and actually the one that shows improvement/growth YOY 2017-2018.

Have a nice weekend!

hstiver · « **Reply #21 on:** October 19, 2018, 06:40 »

An update on my not receiving replies.

James found that replies were made and forwarded copies. I don't know why I didn't receive the originals and they are not in my spam folder. However I am satisfied that they were sent.

My thanks to James and Alamy for quickly examining the problem

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #22 on:** October 19, 2018, 08:17 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on October 19, 2018, 02:18

Quote from: Me on October 18, 2018, 14:13
Good to see management from an agency coming on site to communicate and provide information
and people wonder why agencies have stopped giving feedback on this site ..too much unprofessional unsubstantiated whining. James from Alamy has gone above and beyond in his response in my view.

Quote from: Dumc on October 18, 2018, 12:35

Can you just stop ego-triping? I really don't understand why such a drama because of those stars, which means prety much nothing.

These kind of responses to someone sharing their experience prevents other contributors from sharing theirs. I've certainly noticed a decline here. Some of you just want to be disagreeable and argue. Nothing here anywhere near drama, ego, whining, or being unprofessional, until you guys chimed in. I pointed out an issue that a rep from Alamy agreed shouldn't be like it is, while you guys were busy mischaracterizing my post. It's the difference of attempting to be helpful to our fellow contributors or trying to tear each other down.

Quote from: Alamy on October 18, 2018, 13:28

Quote from: Daryl Ray on October 18, 2018, 11:51
punishing a otherwise good contributor 3 or more ways for adding one iPhone image to an otherwise fine batch is overkill, no matter how you explain out the individual reasons.

Yep - I do agree with that.

Thanks again, James. I know you don't need to respond to anonymous concerns here, but it sure does look good on Alamy that you did anyways. I'm gonna leave this alone for now, but I'm happy to have brought this to your attention and grateful for your acknowledgment. I hope to get back to working with you guys in the future.

SuperPhoto · « **Reply #23 on:** October 19, 2018, 09:34 »

Alamy is not the only one. Envato is really bad for that, and so are a few others.

Unfortunately just sounds like you accidentally stepped in doggy doo doo. You could try apologizing for questioning them. May or may not make a difference.

Quote from: Daryl Ray on October 18, 2018, 09:07

I have been contributing to Alamy for 5 years. Sales increasing year after year. A couple rejections early on while getting used to what they want, but ever since I've had dozens of batches of accepted images, without any further rejections. I was "stuck" at 2 out of 3 threes stars with their "QC" rating, but never thought much of it, other than it seems to take absolute lifetime of perfection to get to maximum 3 stars.

I had put Alamy on the backburner and hadn't uploaded for a bit, but I had some extra time and decided to submit a batch. To the 75 or so images in the batch, I added an image I took of a photo of opportunity taken on an iPhone. This image is available on SS, AB, P5, etc. and sells surprisingly well. Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten that Alamy does not accept images from iPhones (even though they've accepted images from far worse cameras, but I digress). So that batch, all 75+ images, all of them from DSLR's (besides the one), was blanket rejected. This I can understand, they have a policy, I violated it (even an understandable mistake) and while rejecting the whole batch over one image seems harsh, it's their company, their policy. But that's not where it ends.

They put a 10 day upload freeze on my account. They dropped my QC ranking dropped from 2 to 1 stars. Dozens of perfect batches of uploads, no rank increase. One failed image, dropped to the bottom of their QC rating and an upload freeze. 3 punishments for one little overlooked image. I don't even understand exactly what that means or how it affects my account specifically, but I realized it can't be good and it seemed like some harsh treatment to a good contributor over a simple honest mistake. So I reached out to their support for clarification.

Big mistake.

A robotic and defensive sounding response informing me of their blanket policy of acceptable cameras and that my rank will stay at 1. That it's "not possible" to check every image (tell that to SS, AB, P5, etc.). They offered a "goodwill gesture" of unfreezing my uploads, but I again asked why such a harsh punishment for one image. No further response. I self-imposed an upload "freeze" of my own.

So here we are, months later. Zero sales since the inquiry. I was getting regular, predictably reliable and increasing sales month after month. But since I dared to (politely, mind you) question their over-reaction to my rejected upload, I have somehow offended them and triggered someone there into handicapping my portfolio. Years of being a solid contributor, growing sales, hours and hours of time to conform to their uniquely convoluted key-wording / tagging process. All I get is a big ol' F-U.

Alamy staff is proving to be petty, easily offended and vindictive. I recommend that if you have something potentially negative or critical to say to the about their policies or behavior, that you keep it to yourself. They only represented 5-10% of my income, but it still sucks to "lose" that income over something so juvenile. I'm sure others rely on them more, so watch what you say, fellow contributors.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 23, 2018, 03:41 »

Quote from: Daryl Ray on October 19, 2018, 08:17

Quote from: Pauws99 on October 19, 2018, 02:18
Quote from: Me on October 18, 2018, 14:13
Good to see management from an agency coming on site to communicate and provide information
and people wonder why agencies have stopped giving feedback on this site ..too much unprofessional unsubstantiated whining. James from Alamy has gone above and beyond in his response in my view.
Quote from: Dumc on October 18, 2018, 12:35
Can you just stop ego-triping? I really don't understand why such a drama because of those stars, which means prety much nothing.

These kind of responses to someone sharing their experience prevents other contributors from sharing theirs. I've certainly noticed a decline here. Some of you just want to be disagreeable and argue. Nothing here anywhere near drama, ego, whining, or being unprofessional, until you guys chimed in. I pointed out an issue that a rep from Alamy agreed shouldn't be like it is, while you guys were busy mischaracterizing my post. It's the difference of attempting to be helpful to our fellow contributors or trying to tear each other down.

Quote from: Alamy on October 18, 2018, 13:28
Quote from: Daryl Ray on October 18, 2018, 11:51
punishing a otherwise good contributor 3 or more ways for adding one iPhone image to an otherwise fine batch is overkill, no matter how you explain out the individual reasons.

Yep - I do agree with that.

Thanks again, James. I know you don't need to respond to anonymous concerns here, but it sure does look good on Alamy that you did anyways. I'm gonna leave this alone for now, but I'm happy to have brought this to your attention and grateful for your acknowledgment. I hope to get back to working with you guys in the future.

"Alamy staff is proving to be petty, easily offended and vindictive." is not a phrase I'd use on an open forum in my first post about a subject without more than circumstantial evidence that somehow my sales had been hobbled and absolutely discourages agencies from coming on here to explain their actions.

Stefan Dahl · « **Reply #25 on:** October 23, 2018, 03:54 »

Been with Alamy for several years now!

Never meet anything but really professionel and kind people there. Always helped out with problems within a super short time frame, and no questions asked bout anything. Just help!

Can't recognise the topic no matter how hard I try!

Keep it up Alamy - You are one of the good guys/girls!

Stefan Dahl

Brasilnut · « **Reply #26 on:** October 23, 2018, 06:27 »

Quote

Been with Alamy for several years now!

Never meet anything but really professionel and kind people there. Always helped out with problems within a super short time frame, and no questions asked bout anything. Just help!

Can't recognise the topic no matter how hard I try!

Keep it up Alamy - You are one of the good guys/girls!

Stefan Dahl

+1, I agree.

I deal regularly with their customer relations team, including: Amy, Corin, James, Shelley and others who have always been prompt to reply and accurate with their responses.

Alamy is, in my opinion, the benchmark of customer service in this industry that is increasingly outsourced and crowd-sourced to the detriment of contributors.

MircoV · « **Reply #27 on:** October 23, 2018, 06:35 »

When it comes to service and listening Alamy is by far the number 1. I really dont know any other company in any sector with such great approach and attitude.

Thanks Alamy of being always open and available for us.

Mirco

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #28 on:** October 23, 2018, 09:35 »

Look, I may have just caught the wrong rep at the wrong time. Has it been James or whoever you guys get, I would have agreed with all the positive rebukes and never made this post in the first place. But, I stand by "petty" and "easily offended" when that is how my direct private experience with them has been. I'm glad to hear many others experience much better than I have. I concede that "vindictive" may not accurate, an astounding coincidence with the timing and scale, but sure, coincidences happen. I retract that, for what it's worth.

"whining", "ego-tripping", "drama". Throwing childish, unprovoked insults at one another probably discourages more agencies as well as contributors from posting on here than agency reps choosing whether or not to defend honest criticism.

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #29 on:** October 23, 2018, 09:44 »

ShadySue · « **Reply #30 on:** October 23, 2018, 10:02 »

Many years back, I accidentally uploaded a pic from an unapproved camera in a batch and it literally dropped out during upload and was marked as 'unapproved camera' (but the rest of the batch went through OK).
Presumably there was some sort of filter back in the day that could do that, but also presumably there are many more unapproved cameras now which might make that programming cumbersome.

alexandersr · « **Reply #31 on:** October 23, 2018, 11:14 »

I have image on Sthutterstock, Fotolia,Istock,Dreamstime,123Rf and Alamy. In all of them i have sells, but not in Alamy, why?

ShadySue · « **Reply #32 on:** October 23, 2018, 11:26 »

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 11:14

I have image on Sthutterstock, Fotolia,Istock,Dreamstime,123Rf and Alamy. In all of them i have sells, but not in Alamy, why?

The most obvious answer is that Alamy buyers don't need your images.

Could be because they can get them cheaper on the cheap sites, but that isn't the whole answer, as some people say they sell the same images on micro and on Alamy.

Sales do tend to be lower on Alamy for most people, that's just a fact; and certain historic buyers have moved to e.g. SS (seen in credits in publications). However, at least one reasonably-big buyer has recently moved TO Alamy (from Thinkstock, so apparently choosing not to go the Getty PA route), so they must be being proactive in attracting new buyers to some extent.

dpimborough · « **Reply #33 on:** October 23, 2018, 11:55 »

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 11:14

I have image on Sthutterstock, Fotolia,Istock,Dreamstime,123Rf and Alamy. In all of them i have sells, but not in Alamy, why?

I would probably guess its down to insufficient keywords or inaccurate keywords

HalfFull · « **Reply #34 on:** October 23, 2018, 12:37 »

Alamy contributor support is second to non. Yes, they do make mistakes at times .... especially when releasing design changes

but they do listen and correct errors when they're found. I would go as far as to say they are the least likely of all the agencies to ever get petty, alter or manipulate search positioning of images/portfolios. I'd always contact them with a problem first but, I've rarely ever had to. Can't remember the last time, we're talking years ago.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #35 on:** October 23, 2018, 14:19 »

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 23, 2018, 11:55

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 11:14
I have image on Sthutterstock, Fotolia,Istock,Dreamstime,123Rf and Alamy. In all of them i have sells, but not in Alamy, why?

I would probably guess its down to insufficient keywords or inaccurate keywords

That and they are not the type of images Alamy buyers are looking for....my (sporadic) sales on there tend not to be "typical" stock images

alexandersr · « **Reply #36 on:** October 23, 2018, 16:39 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on October 23, 2018, 14:19

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 23, 2018, 11:55
Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 11:14
I have image on Sthutterstock, Fotolia,Istock,Dreamstime,123Rf and Alamy. In all of them i have sells, but not in Alamy, why?

I would probably guess its down to insufficient keywords or inaccurate keywords
That and they are not the type of images Alamy buyers are looking for....my (sporadic) sales on there tend not to be "typical" stock images

What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

ShadySue · « **Reply #37 on:** October 23, 2018, 16:54 »

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 16:39

What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

Why not check out the Alamy forum?

MicroVet · « **Reply #38 on:** October 24, 2018, 02:02 »

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 16:39

What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

Really?! Why don't you find out for yourself? In this day and age where everybody complains about falling sales, "slices of pie" shrinking to everyone due to competition, etc, do you really think people will tell you their secrets so they get even less sales?

Honestly, why don't you put your bank account number here so we can all start sending you money. Would save a lot of time for everybody.

derek · « **Reply #39 on:** October 24, 2018, 02:17 »

The Alamy QC is as crazy as the SS accepting everything and anything!

MicroVet · « **Reply #40 on:** October 24, 2018, 02:32 »

Quote from: derek on October 24, 2018, 02:17

The Alamy QC is as crazy as the SS accepting everything and anything!

It has always been like that from the beginning. The only criteria is technical quality. On the plus side, there are sales on images that would never have been accepted on micro or any curated agency on the first place. From exposures that would be considered wrong, to strange subjects.

Chichikov · « **Reply #41 on:** October 24, 2018, 02:59 »

Quote from: MicroVet on October 24, 2018, 02:32

Quote from: derek on October 24, 2018, 02:17
The Alamy QC is as crazy as the SS accepting everything and anything!

It has always been like that from the beginning. The only criteria is technical quality. On the plus side, there are sales on images that would never have been accepted on micro or any curated agency on the first place. From exposures that would be considered wrong, to strange subjects.

The only criteria is the technical quality of the first and unique image they review in a full batch…

dpimborough · « **Reply #42 on:** October 24, 2018, 03:03 »

Touch wood I haven't had a QC failure in years from Alamy.

I'd rather the agencies all adopted the same QC practice as Alamy one fail they all fail
it would teach a lot of "so called photographers" to do some basic quality checking and weed out the "snapshot" brigade and go some way to prevent some of the appalling junk that's being accepted.

This comment is in general and does not refer to the OP specifically

MircoV · « **Reply #43 on:** October 24, 2018, 07:33 »

Quote from: MicroVet on October 24, 2018, 02:02

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 16:39
What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

Really?! Why don't you find out for yourself? In this day and age where everybody complains about falling sales, "slices of pie" shrinking to everyone due to competition, etc, do you really think people will tell you their secrets so they get even less sales?

Honestly, why don't you put your bank account number here so we can all start sending you money. Would save a lot of time for everybody.

Slow down. He didnt asked which images are selling in your port of anyones. He just asks what kind. Answer would be for example travel photos... editorial photos. Dont look always for a reason to blast around. This forum is becoming worse and worse.

Brasilnut · « **Reply #44 on:** October 24, 2018, 08:23 »

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 16:39

Quote from: Pauws99 on October 23, 2018, 14:19
Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 23, 2018, 11:55
Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 11:14
I have image on Sthutterstock, Fotolia,Istock,Dreamstime,123Rf and Alamy. In all of them i have sells, but not in Alamy, why?

I would probably guess its down to insufficient keywords or inaccurate keywords
That and they are not the type of images Alamy buyers are looking for....my (sporadic) sales on there tend not to be "typical" stock images
What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

https://discussion.alamy.com/topic/10427-have-you-found-any-alamy-photographs-october/?page=15

MicroVet · « **Reply #45 on:** October 24, 2018, 08:34 »

Quote from: MircoV on October 24, 2018, 07:33

Quote from: MicroVet on October 24, 2018, 02:02
Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 16:39
What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

Really?! Why don't you find out for yourself? In this day and age where everybody complains about falling sales, "slices of pie" shrinking to everyone due to competition, etc, do you really think people will tell you their secrets so they get even less sales?

Honestly, why don't you put your bank account number here so we can all start sending you money. Would save a lot of time for everybody.

Slow down. He didnt asked which images are selling in your port of anyones. He just asks what kind. Answer would be for example travel photos... editorial photos. Dont look always for a reason to blast around. This forum is becoming worse and worse.

What's the difference between asking what photos we sell and the types of photos that sell?

Lets say I answer "Space Travel" after years of testing different types of images and understanding what sells or not. Next thing you know, thousands of photographers that just arrived and barely invested time, effort and money start buying tickets to visit Mars and Jupiter and even worse, Earth, submitting those images to alamy and diluting my work.

It's not blasting around. This is a business and like all businesses there are trade secrets. And in stock photography the most important one is, what type of images sell.

Try to make similar questions to Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Apple or the successful restaurant in your area for the recipe of the specialty that make people travel miles to eat it and you'll get a real feel of what is to be blast around.

wordplanet · « **Reply #46 on:** October 24, 2018, 19:14 »

The Alamy team has always been gracious and accommodating when I've contacted them - even when it's been my fault in terms of messing things up. I sent them an email the other day (via Stockimo) that I'd made a mistake in captioning a pending image and they fixed it. I can't imagine doing that with the others - and there really isn't a way to have that same personal back and forth, which is why I like working with them. I've dealt with them since 2008 and they always go out of their way to help.

To be honest, I've had good customer service from shutterstock too - even last year when I got a frustrating and unhelpful email from someone there (re: a request to download one of my own images that was lost from my backup hard drive and a failed computer). When I complained about the initial response I'd received, I got a gracious new response explaining that the person on their end was new and sending me the photo I'd requested.

And of course Mat over at Adobe is great. I even got a nice email response years back from the owner of dreamstime.

It's easy to criticize all these places (and yes, there are things to be critical of), but at the end of the day, they are service businesses and whether they are dealing with clients or contributors, those who stay in business and have good reputations listen.

I get that sometimes we feel the need to call a place out in public if they don't seem to be listening or we want to help others with a warning when we have a bad experience, so I'm not criticizing the OP - glad he's satisfied with the response now too. I think it speaks volumes that both Alamy and Adobe monitor these forums and pop in. I'm surprised the others don't do it.

alexandersr · « **Reply #47 on:** October 24, 2018, 22:12 »

Quote from: Brasilnut on October 24, 2018, 08:23

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 16:39
Quote from: Pauws99 on October 23, 2018, 14:19
Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 23, 2018, 11:55
Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 11:14
I have image on Sthutterstock, Fotolia,Istock,Dreamstime,123Rf and Alamy. In all of them i have sells, but not in Alamy, why?

I would probably guess its down to insufficient keywords or inaccurate keywords
That and they are not the type of images Alamy buyers are looking for....my (sporadic) sales on there tend not to be "typical" stock images
What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

https://discussion.alamy.com/topic/10427-have-you-found-any-alamy-photographs-october/?page=15

Thanks

alexandersr · « **Reply #48 on:** October 24, 2018, 22:13 »

Quote from: MircoV on October 24, 2018, 07:33

Quote from: MicroVet on October 24, 2018, 02:02
Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 16:39
What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

Really?! Why don't you find out for yourself? In this day and age where everybody complains about falling sales, "slices of pie" shrinking to everyone due to competition, etc, do you really think people will tell you their secrets so they get even less sales?

Honestly, why don't you put your bank account number here so we can all start sending you money. Would save a lot of time for everybody.

Slow down. He didnt asked which images are selling in your port of anyones. He just asks what kind. Answer would be for example travel photos... editorial photos. Dont look always for a reason to blast around. This forum is becoming worse and worse.

Thanks

dpimborough · « **Reply #49 on:** October 25, 2018, 02:11 »

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 16:39

Quote from: Pauws99 on October 23, 2018, 14:19
Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 23, 2018, 11:55
Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 11:14
I have image on Sthutterstock, Fotolia,Istock,Dreamstime,123Rf and Alamy. In all of them i have sells, but not in Alamy, why?

I would probably guess its down to insufficient keywords or inaccurate keywords
That and they are not the type of images Alamy buyers are looking for....my (sporadic) sales on there tend not to be "typical" stock images
What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

You can see exactly what images sell on Alamy by going to the "Alamy Measures" link on your dashboard and selecting the "All of Alamy" link which shows what has been zoomed and sold.

Its the only agency that does this that I know of

Pauws99 · « **Reply #50 on:** October 25, 2018, 02:40 »

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 02:11

Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 16:39
Quote from: Pauws99 on October 23, 2018, 14:19
Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 23, 2018, 11:55
Quote from: alexandersr on October 23, 2018, 11:14
I have image on Sthutterstock, Fotolia,Istock,Dreamstime,123Rf and Alamy. In all of them i have sells, but not in Alamy, why?

I would probably guess its down to insufficient keywords or inaccurate keywords
That and they are not the type of images Alamy buyers are looking for....my (sporadic) sales on there tend not to be "typical" stock images
What kinds of images could be sell on Alamy?

You can see exactly what images sell on Alamy by going to the "Alamy Measures" link on your dashboard and selecting the "All of Alamy" link which shows what has been zoomed and sold.

Its the only agency that does this that I know of

Indeed and what an eclectic bunch of sales they are!

ShadySue · « **Reply #51 on:** October 25, 2018, 03:06 »

And what eclectic searches. I had one recently in the form of "Joe Bloggs" (WOP) meaning 'without people'. My pic was of a church of "St Joe" designed by "Jim Bloggs", but it was WOP.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #52 on:** October 25, 2018, 03:09 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:06

And what eclectic searches. I had one recently in the form of "Joe Bloggs" (WOP) meaning 'without people'. My pic was of a church of "St Joe" designed by "Jim Bloggs", but it was WOP.

Which is why I treat people who claim to be expert in SEO and clever keywording strategies with scepticism!

ShadySue · « **Reply #53 on:** October 25, 2018, 03:15 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on October 25, 2018, 03:09

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:06
And what eclectic searches. I had one recently in the form of "Joe Bloggs" (WOP) meaning 'without people'. My pic was of a church of "St Joe" designed by "Jim Bloggs", but it was WOP.
Which is why I treat people who claim to be expert in SEO and clever keywording strategies with scepticism!

:-) Do you ever wonder what a searcher wanted? I've just seen I had a search yesterday for 'riding horse painting'. Probably they wanted a pic of a painting of someone riding a horse, or someone painting someone else riding a horse; but just maybe they wanted a pic of someone painting while riding a horse.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #54 on:** October 25, 2018, 03:35 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:15

Quote from: Pauws99 on October 25, 2018, 03:09
Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:06
And what eclectic searches. I had one recently in the form of "Joe Bloggs" (WOP) meaning 'without people'. My pic was of a church of "St Joe" designed by "Jim Bloggs", but it was WOP.
Which is why I treat people who claim to be expert in SEO and clever keywording strategies with scepticism!
:-) Do you ever wonder what a searcher wanted? I've just seen I had a search yesterday for 'riding horse painting'. Probably they wanted a pic of a painting of someone riding a horse, or someone painting someone else riding a horse; but just maybe they wanted a pic of someone painting while riding a horse.

Or maybe a horse painting while being ridden! Painting while riding a horse....now that's a niche! On Dreamtimes sometimes they show what the buyer searched for. I reckon about 5% of the time the search bears no relation whatsoever to the image and has none of the keywords. I guess sometimes the buyer clicks more by the artist and finds something they like! I wish sites would publish more about whats searched for.

dpimborough · « **Reply #55 on:** October 25, 2018, 04:00 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:15

Quote from: Pauws99 on October 25, 2018, 03:09
Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:06
And what eclectic searches. I had one recently in the form of "Joe Bloggs" (WOP) meaning 'without people'. My pic was of a church of "St Joe" designed by "Jim Bloggs", but it was WOP.
Which is why I treat people who claim to be expert in SEO and clever keywording strategies with scepticism!
:-) Do you ever wonder what a searcher wanted? I've just seen I had a search yesterday for 'riding horse painting'. Probably they wanted a pic of a painting of someone riding a horse, or someone painting someone else riding a horse; but just maybe they wanted a pic of someone painting while riding a horse.

Most likely they were looking for photos of "Joe Bloggs" jeans or clothing

it was a UK brand way back in the 90's

ShadySue · « **Reply #56 on:** October 25, 2018, 04:26 »

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 04:00

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:15
Quote from: Pauws99 on October 25, 2018, 03:09
Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:06
And what eclectic searches. I had one recently in the form of "Joe Bloggs" (WOP) meaning 'without people'. My pic was of a church of "St Joe" designed by "Jim Bloggs", but it was WOP.
Which is why I treat people who claim to be expert in SEO and clever keywording strategies with scepticism!
:-) Do you ever wonder what a searcher wanted? I've just seen I had a search yesterday for 'riding horse painting'. Probably they wanted a pic of a painting of someone riding a horse, or someone painting someone else riding a horse; but just maybe they wanted a pic of someone painting while riding a horse.

Most likely they were looking for photos of "Joe Bloggs" jeans or clothing

it was a UK brand way back in the 90's

It wasn't really Joe Bloggs. It was "in the form of..." The actual name threw up several apparently well-known options when googled.
Of course, if someone wanted to see the works by a designer/artist/architect/maker, adding WOP would be a good way to do it.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #57 on:** October 25, 2018, 10:56 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 04:26

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 04:00
Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:15
Quote from: Pauws99 on October 25, 2018, 03:09
Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 03:06
And what eclectic searches. I had one recently in the form of "Joe Bloggs" (WOP) meaning 'without people'. My pic was of a church of "St Joe" designed by "Jim Bloggs", but it was WOP.
Which is why I treat people who claim to be expert in SEO and clever keywording strategies with scepticism!
:-) Do you ever wonder what a searcher wanted? I've just seen I had a search yesterday for 'riding horse painting'. Probably they wanted a pic of a painting of someone riding a horse, or someone painting someone else riding a horse; but just maybe they wanted a pic of someone painting while riding a horse.

Most likely they were looking for photos of "Joe Bloggs" jeans or clothing

it was a UK brand way back in the 90's

It wasn't really Joe Blogger. It was "in the form of..." The actual name threw up several apparently well-known options when googled.
Of course, if someone wanted to see the works by a designer/artist/architect/maker, adding WOP would be a good way to do it.

Never knew that WOP was without People, where do buyers get the secret code list?

Italian American term and other Italian sources: Southern Italian immigrant males would often refer to one another as "guappo" in a jocular or playful manner; as these Southern Italian immigrants often worked as manual laborers in the United States, their native-born American employers and fellow laborers took notice of the Italians' playful term of address and eventually began deploying it as a derogatory term for all Italians. "WOP"

Just mentioning that WOP has some other meaning.

dpimborough · « **Reply #58 on:** October 25, 2018, 11:20 »

Lets not let this thread deteriorate in to ethnicity please, its been a long day down the hospital and the other thread has just gone up the spout and round the bend

But here's the list of terms used by Alamy

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

Pauws99 · « **Reply #59 on:** October 25, 2018, 11:24 »

and I was just going to open another bag of popcorn

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #60 on:** October 25, 2018, 11:24 »

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 11:20

Lets not let this thread deteriorate in to ethnicity please, its been a long day down the hospital and the other thread has just gone up the spout and round the bend

But here's the list of terms used by Alamy

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

I'm half Italian, Southern part as well.

Wasn't going down any other road, except terms can have more than one meaning.

Thanks for the list. Do buyers actually use them on Alamy and do they get used other places?

Pauws99 · « **Reply #61 on:** October 25, 2018, 11:31 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:24

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 11:20
Lets not let this thread deteriorate in to ethnicity please, its been a long day down the hospital and the other thread has just gone up the spout and round the bend

But here's the list of terms used by Alamy

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

I'm half Italian, Southern part as well. Wasn't going down any other road, except terms can have more than one meaning.

Thanks for the list. Do buyers actually use them on Alamy and do they get used other places?

Yes they do particularly the WP/WOP. Im not sure about what other sites use or even have these classisifications (with Alamy you specify the number of people in a photo for example)

ShadySue · « **Reply #62 on:** October 25, 2018, 11:33 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:24

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 11:20
Lets not let this thread deteriorate in to ethnicity please, its been a long day down the hospital and the other thread has just gone up the spout and round the bend

But here's the list of terms used by Alamy

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

I'm half Italian, Southern part as well. Wasn't going down any other road, except terms can have more than one meaning.

Thanks for the list. Do buyers actually use them on Alamy and do they get used other places?

Buyers definitely use them. (Do you never look at Alamy measures?)

However, very few buyers seem to know (or even think to try) that putting ""..."" round a name or phrase leads to a much cleaner search (cutting out the St Joe/John Bloggs scenario).

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #63 on:** October 25, 2018, 11:42 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 11:33

Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:24
Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 11:20
Lets not let this thread deteriorate in to ethnicity please, its been a long day down the hospital and the other thread has just gone up the spout and round the bend

But here's the list of terms used by Alamy

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

I'm half Italian, Southern part as well. Wasn't going down any other road, except terms can have more than one meaning.

Thanks for the list. Do buyers actually use them on Alamy and do they get used other places?

Buyers definitely use them. (Do you never look at Alamy measures?)

However, very few buyers seem to know (or even think to try) that putting ""..."" round a name or phrase leads to a much cleaner search (cutting out the St Joe/John Bloggs scenario).

Will do, I do look at Alamy measures, just that after the fact, they don't tell me much about trends. Sometimes useful when I look at my own. The other part, do they use those on other sites? Should I be adding these abbreviations to SS for example?

Seems odd that DT or FS have anything to do with a search term. CO = correctional officer. ED is that Editorial, oh nevermind, I'm not going there.

I'm just surprised that buyers would use letter abbreviations in a search instead of the words.

Or maybe they don't and that's just an indicator from Alamy of what they clicked, as it's reported to use with Alamy measures. In other words, the buyers are not using abbreviations?

dpimborough · « **Reply #64 on:** October 25, 2018, 12:36 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:24

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 11:20
Lets not let this thread deteriorate in to ethnicity please, its been a long day down the hospital and the other thread has just gone up the spout and round the bend

But here's the list of terms used by Alamy

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

I'm half Italian, Southern part as well. Wasn't going down any other road, except terms can have more than one meaning.

Thanks for the list. Do buyers actually use them on Alamy and do they get used other places?

Sorry Uncle Pete I was just expecting all and sundry to drop like a ton of sheet on your WOP comment

As I said its been a long day

dpimborough · « **Reply #65 on:** October 25, 2018, 12:36 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on October 25, 2018, 11:24

and I was just going to open another bag of popcorn

I love popcorn

ShadySue · « **Reply #66 on:** October 25, 2018, 13:25 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:42

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 11:33
Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:24
Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 11:20
Lets not let this thread deteriorate in to ethnicity please, its been a long day down the hospital and the other thread has just gone up the spout and round the bend

But here's the list of terms used by Alamy

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

I'm half Italian, Southern part as well. Wasn't going down any other road, except terms can have more than one meaning.

Thanks for the list. Do buyers actually use them on Alamy and do they get used other places?

Buyers definitely use them. (Do you never look at Alamy measures?)

However, very few buyers seem to know (or even think to try) that putting ""..."" round a name or phrase leads to a much cleaner search (cutting out the St Joe/John Bloggs scenario).

Will do, I do look at Alamy measures, just that after the fact, they don't tell me much about trends. Sometimes useful when I look at my own. The other part, do they use those on other sites? Should I be adding these abbreviations to SS for example?

I haven't a clue about SS, obviously.
But you don't add these abbreviations to your keywords on Alamy. Their system throws up files which match the criteria.
BTW, I have no idea how buyers know about them - I see the list of abbreviations on the side of a pseudonym's stats in Measures, but didn't see them on the Buy Images hints page.
BTW, another unusual search I've seen several times is [FS] only (no keywords), i.e. they want to see any files over a certain size.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #67 on:** October 26, 2018, 15:19 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 13:25

Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:42
Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 11:33
Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:24
Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 11:20
Lets not let this thread deteriorate in to ethnicity please, its been a long day down the hospital and the other thread has just gone up the spout and round the bend

But here's the list of terms used by Alamy

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

I'm half Italian, Southern part as well. Wasn't going down any other road, except terms can have more than one meaning.

Thanks for the list. Do buyers actually use them on Alamy and do they get used other places?

Buyers definitely use them. (Do you never look at Alamy measures?)

However, very few buyers seem to know (or even think to try) that putting ""..."" round a name or phrase leads to a much cleaner search (cutting out the St Joe/John Bloggs scenario).

Will do, I do look at Alamy measures, just that after the fact, they don't tell me much about trends. Sometimes useful when I look at my own. The other part, do they use those on other sites? Should I be adding these abbreviations to SS for example?
I haven't a clue about SS, obviously.
But you don't add these abbreviations to your keywords on Alamy. Their system throws up files which match the criteria.
BTW, I have no idea how buyers know about them - I see the list of abbreviations on the side of a pseudonym's stats in Measures, but didn't see them on the Buy Images hints page.
BTW, another unusual search I've seen several times is [FS] only (no keywords), i.e. they want to see any files over a certain size.

Yes and thanks for pointing out the [letters] are added by Alamy measures not something I should be worried about adding for better search. I thought that some people here were saying that buyers use Pan or Land for example in their searches, now I see it's just measures assigning those for our information.

Back to what you wrote about, what are they looking for, I have some of mine that are quite mysterious also. Like this... "potato steaming not steam not chease [RF]"

and what they viewed was Chinese curried lamb with potatoes. LOL

About the WOP or Guappo (remember El Guapo from Three Amigos?) Porro from Marano Marchasata, Cozensa. (Southern dark Italians) Klinger isn't much more esteemed, Transylvanian Saxons, the lowest and smallest minority in that country. Doing just fine over here since all my Grandparents came to the new country, on a boat, and left behind pretty much everything and everyone.

As for SS, no I don't believe so? Example: (downloads per keyword)

milwaukee
55.8%
skyline
25.7%
wisconsin
13.3%
lake
1.8%
city
0.9%
landscape
0.9%
park
0.9%
michigan
0.9%

OR

race
44.2%
car
27.9%
motor
7%
patrick
4.7%
motorsport
4.7%
danica
4.7%
auto
2.3%
automobile
2.3%
competition
2.3%

ShadySue · « **Reply #68 on:** October 26, 2018, 15:49 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 26, 2018, 15:19

Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 13:25
Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:42
Quote from: ShadySue on October 25, 2018, 11:33
Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 25, 2018, 11:24
Quote from: Sammy the Cat on October 25, 2018, 11:20
Lets not let this thread deteriorate in to ethnicity please, its been a long day down the hospital and the other thread has just gone up the spout and round the bend

But here's the list of terms used by Alamy

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

I'm half Italian, Southern part as well. Wasn't going down any other road, except terms can have more than one meaning.

Thanks for the list. Do buyers actually use them on Alamy and do they get used other places?

Buyers definitely use them. (Do you never look at Alamy measures?)

However, very few buyers seem to know (or even think to try) that putting ""..."" round a name or phrase leads to a much cleaner search (cutting out the St Joe/John Bloggs scenario).

Will do, I do look at Alamy measures, just that after the fact, they don't tell me much about trends. Sometimes useful when I look at my own. The other part, do they use those on other sites? Should I be adding these abbreviations to SS for example?
I haven't a clue about SS, obviously.
But you don't add these abbreviations to your keywords on Alamy. Their system throws up files which match the criteria.
BTW, I have no idea how buyers know about them - I see the list of abbreviations on the side of a pseudonym's stats in Measures, but didn't see them on the Buy Images hints page.
BTW, another unusual search I've seen several times is [FS] only (no keywords), i.e. they want to see any files over a certain size.

Yes and thanks for pointing out the [letters] are added by Alamy measures not something I should be worried about adding for better search. I thought that some people here were saying that buyers use Pan or Land for example in their searches, now I see it's just measures assigning those for our information.

I didn't say these words were added by Alamy measures. That would make no possible sense.
I said that I didn't know how customers know how to add these abbreviations
Actually, having connected my eyes to my brain, it's very, very obvious how buyers use these filters:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uwbtt1es2moicwz/Alamy%20search%20filters.jpg?dl=0
The filters ticked will map in measures to these abbreviations in Measures.

SuperPhoto · « **Reply #69 on:** October 27, 2018, 08:57 »

I think everyone makes this mistake sometime in their career. I have (several times, unfortunately, and a couple times hurt quite a bit).

You have to remember you are dealing with people - not computers - and you can't start getting angry/annoyed/etc at some random person. Because then stuff like this can happen.

People do make mistakes (in other companies, i.e., alamy), so being polite/considerate - even though you might be steaming - is usually the best way to deal with it.

Quote from: Daryl Ray on October 23, 2018, 09:35

Look, I may have just caught the wrong rep at the wrong time. Has it been James or whoever you guys get, I would have agreed with all the positive rebukes and never made this post in the first place. But, I stand by "petty" and "easily offended" when that is how my direct private experience with them has been. I'm glad to hear many others experience much better than I have. I concede that "vindictive" may not accurate, an astounding coincidence with the timing and scale, but sure, coincidences happen. I retract that, for what it's worth.

"whining", "ego-tripping", "drama". Throwing childish, unprovoked insults at one another probably discourages more agencies as well as contributors from posting on here than agency reps choosing whether or not to defend honest criticism.

ole999 · « **Reply #70 on:** October 27, 2018, 12:24 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 18, 2018, 09:43

I'm not sure how much the QC rank counts for anything, but maybe someone knows better.
A lot of things on Alamy don't actually count for anything, e.g. 'discoverability' (causes more harm than good).

What do you mean by that ..?

ShadySue · « **Reply #71 on:** October 27, 2018, 13:41 »

Quote from: ole999 on October 27, 2018, 12:24

Quote from: ShadySue on October 18, 2018, 09:43
I'm not sure how much the QC rank counts for anything, but maybe someone knows better.
A lot of things on Alamy don't actually count for anything, e.g. 'discoverability' (causes more harm than good).
What do you mean by that ..?

Artificially inflating keywords leads to spamming and irrelevant searches.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #72 on:** October 27, 2018, 15:47 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 26, 2018, 15:49

Quote from: Uncle Pete on October 26, 2018, 15:19

Yes and thanks for pointing out the [letters] are added by Alamy measures not something I should be worried about adding for better search. I thought that some people here were saying that buyers use Pan or Land for example in their searches, now I see it's just measures assigning those for our information.

I didn't say these words were added by Alamy measures. That would make no possible sense.
I said that I didn't know how customers know how to add these abbreviations
Actually, having connected my eyes to my brain, it's very, very obvious how buyers use these filters:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uwbtt1es2moicwz/Alamy%20search%20filters.jpg?dl=0
The filters ticked will map in measures to these abbreviations in Measures.

Let me restate that, Alamy Measures reports using the [letters] based on the searches, but if it's nothing we control, and it's Alamy Measures that marks these:

RM - Rights Managed
RF - Royalty-Free
PR - Property Released
MR - Model Released
Land - Landscape
Pt - Portrait
Pan - Panoramic
Sq - Square
C - Creative
WP - With People
WOP - Without People
DT - Date Taken
AE - Archive Excluded
FS - File Size
PH - Photograph
IL - Illustration
CO - Cut Outs

For us to see what was searched. I'm sure it's for them internally but they are nice enough to share with us. Yes, indirectly buyers do use those in their search, depending on what boxes they check, but the abbreviations are simply Alamy reporting language.

Some Choices are:

Age
Any
Baby
Child
Teenager
Adult
Senior
See all ...

[WP]
Number of People
Any
None [WOP]
1 Person
2 People
3 People
4 People
Groups or Crowds

Ethnicity
Any
African
African American
Caucasian
Chinese
Indian
Japanese
See all ...

Viewpoint
Any
Front
Side
Rear
Profile

Location
Any
USA
UK
Europe

[Land]
[Pt]
[Pan]
[Sq]

Orientation
Any
Landscape
Portrait
Panoramic
Square

[PH] [IL]
Image Type
Any
Photographs
Illustrations

[DT]
Date Taken
Any
Last 7 days
Last month
Last 3 months
Last 6 months
Last 12 months
Custom ...

[FS]
Minimum File Size

And yes to the "..." search for specifics which should be in red above the search bar.

Quote from: ShadySue on October 18, 2018, 09:43

I'm not sure how much the QC rank counts for anything, but maybe someone knows better.
A lot of things on Alamy don't actually count for anything, e.g. 'discoverability' (causes more harm than good).

QC rank changes nothing, except the reviewers will look closer and not pass the whole batch, without checking more images. That is an answer I got from Alamy, not something I made up based on personal observation.

I agree that discoverability seems to encourage adding more words, just for the sake of more words, not for anything that improves the search, like minimum accurate and matching words.

ole999 · « **Reply #73 on:** October 28, 2018, 13:43 »

Artificially inflating keywords leads to spamming and irrelevant searches.
[/quote]

Isn't it so on all sites ..?

ShadySue · « **Reply #74 on:** October 28, 2018, 19:18 »

Quote from: ole999 on October 28, 2018, 13:43

Artificially inflating keywords leads to spamming and irrelevant searches.

Isn't it so on all sites ..?
[/quote]

Of course, but no other site actually encourages it with a silly 'turn the bar green' system.
Anyway, just because other sites do it doesn't mean you'd want your site to do it, does it?
I'm sure the site which sorts out search properly will prevail. Sadly, the desire of a proportion of contributors to want to spam will make that difficult to achieve.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #75 on:** October 29, 2018, 03:40 »

Who ever first used the "word" discoverability needs to be sent to a language correctional institution for at least five years

.

YadaYadaYada · « **Reply #76 on:** October 29, 2018, 09:52 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 28, 2018, 19:18

Quote from: ole999 on October 28, 2018, 13:43
Quote from: ShadySue on October 27, 2018, 13:41
Quote from: ole999 on October 27, 2018, 12:24
Quote from: ShadySue on October 18, 2018, 09:43
I'm not sure how much the QC rank counts for anything, but maybe someone knows better.
A lot of things on Alamy don't actually count for anything, e.g. 'discoverability' (causes more harm than good).
What do you mean by that ..?
Artificially inflating keywords leads to spamming and irrelevant searches.
Isn't it so on all sites ..?

Of course, but no other site actually encourages it with a silly 'turn the bar green' system.
Anyway, just because other sites do it doesn't mean you'd want your site to do it, does it?
I'm sure the site which sorts out search properly will prevail. Sadly, the desire of a proportion of contributors to want to spam will make that difficult to achieve.

I'm not sure that discoverability helps and might probably hurt. I'm positive that spammed keywords don't help like they did before, on all the other sites. Some site will have a Google type search or eBay, where you can mark not or -words. iStock does but their search is trash because of CV you can't use relevant words outside the limit.

Let me guess that Adobe will be improving the search before anyplace else. Seems to be the only site that cares and develops for the future of artists and users.

VUS · « **Reply #77 on:** November 01, 2018, 14:28 »

Had only one experience with Alamy quite a few years back but it was so bad I decided not to bother. Every when and then a report like this confirms and while they still send me their contributor mails, I was initially approved, such reports confirm to me to stay away. Personally I feel they have the worst attitude towards contributors I've experienced dealing with quite some of the major and lately also some newer companies.

ShadySue · « **Reply #78 on:** November 01, 2018, 14:38 »

Quote from: VUS on November 01, 2018, 14:28

Had only one experience with Alamy quite a few years back but it was so bad I decided not to bother. Every when and then a report like this confirms and while they still send me their contributor mails, I was initially approved, such reports confirm to me to stay away. Personally I feel they have the worst attitude towards contributors I've experienced dealing with quite some of the major and lately also some newer companies.

You've clearly never dealt with iS/Getty, and SS seems to be losing it nowadays.
Alamy may not always say what you want, but they are generally fast and polite.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #79 on:** November 01, 2018, 14:48 »

Quote from: VUS on November 01, 2018, 14:28

Had only one experience with Alamy quite a few years back but it was so bad I decided not to bother. Every when and then a report like this confirms and while they still send me their contributor mails, I was initially approved, such reports confirm to me to stay away. Personally I feel they have the worst attitude towards contributors I've experienced dealing with quite some of the major and lately also some newer companies.

One experience a few years back is not much to base an opinion on really. Even the best organisations get it wrong sometimes.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #80 on:** November 02, 2018, 09:46 »

Quote from: ShadySue on November 01, 2018, 14:38

Quote from: VUS on November 01, 2018, 14:28
Had only one experience with Alamy quite a few years back but it was so bad I decided not to bother. Every when and then a report like this confirms and while they still send me their contributor mails, I was initially approved, such reports confirm to me to stay away. Personally I feel they have the worst attitude towards contributors I've experienced dealing with quite some of the major and lately also some newer companies.

You've clearly never dealt with iS/Getty, and SS seems to be losing it nowadays.
Alamy may not always say what you want, but they are generally fast and polite.

Same for me and make a note, they actually answer unlike many others where a question never gets a reply or you get some boilerplate reply that doesn't answer the specific question. Actually aside from Mat coming here, Alamy is the best for clear and detailed responses.

08stock08 · « **Reply #81 on:** December 15, 2018, 03:10 »

I joined Alamy in 2013 and did not even bother about passing QC test. Recently sent them some images, QC test was passed. And then I sent them my loads of images from my other portfolios on SS, Adobe, esp and others. All of them rejected. I will not bother with Alamy. It is waste of time. The agency seems to be having troubles with operations. Recently reduced commission ratios. Not going back to Alamy for sure. I am available on other 10 agencies. Will check back again in future if the working conditions with Alamy improve.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #82 on:** December 15, 2018, 03:43 »

Quote from: 08stock08 on December 15, 2018, 03:10

I joined Alamy in 2013 and did not even bother about passing QC test. Recently sent them some images, QC test was passed. And then I sent them my loads of images from my other portfolios on SS, Adobe, esp and others. All of them rejected. I will not bother with Alamy. It is waste of time. The agency seems to be having troubles with operations. Recently reduced commission ratios. Not going back to Alamy for sure. I am available on other 10 agencies. Will check back again in future if the working conditions with Alamy improve.

If you read their review policy you would know why that happened. They are by no means perfect but their operations seem fine compared with SS for example who are suffering constant issues.

ernest · « **Reply #83 on:** May 07, 2020, 02:27 »

Upload freeze for one month now. I emailed them several times, they answered in a nonsensical way.

Mimi the Cat · « **Reply #84 on:** May 07, 2020, 04:16 »

Quote from: ernest on May 07, 2020, 02:27

Upload freeze for one month now. I emailed them several times, they answered in a nonsensical way.

You do realize that there is a Lockdown in the UK? Its going to limit responses

and what was the "nonsenical" response?

ShadySue · « **Reply #85 on:** May 07, 2020, 06:11 »

Quote from: Bad Robot on May 07, 2020, 04:16

Quote from: ernest on May 07, 2020, 02:27
Upload freeze for one month now. I emailed them several times, they answered in a nonsensical way.

You do realize that there is a Lockdown in the UK? Its going to limit responses

and what was the "nonsenical" response?

From their official forum post, 3rd April:
" During these uncertain and challenging times that we're all facing in our personal and professional lives, you may notice some changes over the coming months that have an impact on how you normally work with Alamy as contributors.
I thought it would be best to broadly outline some of the key areas below whilst a number of staff are on extended leave:
You may well notice considerably longer QC approval wait times
We're unable to provide our usual level of support via the Contributor Relations team. Responses will either be severely delayed or you may be pointed back to the support forum here until further notice
Updates to the "What Should I Shoot" tool will be paused
Social media updates and trends tips will be reduced / paused
Contributor marketing / guides / tips communications via email will be paused
Response to new unauthorised use claims will be delayed
For any urgent legal or copyright inquiries you have, you can email the team via [email protected] "
(which sounded to me as if they had furloughed staff, because Support in particular could presumably relatively easily be carried out from home: but that's only my speculation).

ernest · « **Reply #86 on:** May 07, 2020, 07:26 »

The upload problem has started beginnning of march. No lockdown due to covid 19 at this time. So I complained on the Alamy forum and soon uploading was possible and the QC time was fast, very fast. But after something like 2 weeks the upload problem was there again. It was during the last 10 days of march. I have written to the alamy contributors team several times but their answers were irrelevant. Then they stopped answering beginning of april. And the upload problem remains.

ShadySue · « **Reply #87 on:** May 07, 2020, 08:06 »

Quote from: ernest on May 07, 2020, 07:26

The upload problem has started beginnning of march. No lockdown due to covid 19 at this time. So I complained on the Alamy forum and soon uploading was possible and the QC time was fast, very fast. But after something like 2 weeks the upload problem was there again. It was during the last 10 days of march. I have written to the alamy contributors team several times but their answers were irrelevant. Then they stopped answering beginning of april. And the upload problem remains.

It's the same for everyone (see forum) , not just you.

"Posted April 30
Due to currently working with a reduced team, QC times will be longer than usual for some users."

Zalee · « **Reply #88 on:** June 19, 2020, 17:29 »

I've been having trouble uploading to Alamy via their webloader, just wondering if anyone else is having a problem. I have asked on their forum but I think they only have a few people active there and the couple that answered me aren't having any trouble.
As stated above support aren't answering at the moment other than to say they won't be able to answer at the moment.

ShadySue · « **Reply #89 on:** June 19, 2020, 17:36 »

Quote from: Zalee on June 19, 2020, 17:29

I've been having trouble uploading to Alamy via their webloader, just wondering if anyone else is having a problem. I have asked on their forum but I think they only have a few people active there and the couple that answered me aren't having any trouble.
As stated above support aren't answering at the moment other than to say they won't be able to answer at the moment.

What sort of trouble?
I uploaded one (!) image this afternoon, and it has apparently gone up and is still awaiting QC (Monday at earliest now, I suppose). The thumnail isn't showing, but in its place is a message telling me it has been accepted ... Turns out I haven't uploaded since December, so that might have changed meantime: I'm pretty sure I used to see a thum even while it was waiting.

Zalee · « **Reply #90 on:** June 19, 2020, 22:51 »

Quote from: ShadySue on June 19, 2020, 17:36

Quote from: Zalee on June 19, 2020, 17:29
I've been having trouble uploading to Alamy via their webloader, just wondering if anyone else is having a problem. I have asked on their forum but I think they only have a few people active there and the couple that answered me aren't having any trouble.
As stated above support aren't answering at the moment other than to say they won't be able to answer at the moment.
What sort of trouble?
I uploaded one (!) image this afternoon, and it has apparently gone up and is still awaiting QC (Monday at earliest now, I suppose). The thumnail isn't showing, but in its place is a message telling me it has been accepted ... Turns out I haven't uploaded since December, so that might have changed meantime: I'm pretty sure I used to see a thum even while it was waiting.

Thanks ShadySue...
With the webloader it doesn't go through to Image Manager, it gets an upload error. If I upload via Xpiks with FTP they go through but as one submission per file so it's really painful to process once in the Image Manager after acceptance. I've had no problem, they have been passed by QC but I do worry about getting one file rejected (don't want to ruin my perfect upload score, lol). They do seem to treat them as one upload though as I only get the one email to say they have passed QC.
I've also tried Filezilla but I haven't configured it properly when installing it (not sure what the correct settings are even though I have read the instructions a dozen times) so they don't upload properly either but they do all make it to Image Manager but with a processing failed error. Tearing my hair out now, haha!
Once in IM and waiting for QC, unlike yours, they do have a thumbnail.

ETA: I've just tried two files with the webuploader, one of two uploaded with no error!! This is so strange, I really have no idea what's going on.

ETA even further: Looks like I've figured it out... It's only my smaller files that are loading. Which is strange because I have previously uploaded really large files via the webuploader. Maybe it's a problem with my internet speed, even though the problem is only with Alamy, no other sites I have uploaded to. At least I know what's happening now and I will keep my files around 5mb.

ernest · « **Reply #91 on:** June 20, 2020, 05:48 »

5 mb, it's not that big. Uploading "small" files is not a good solution. In stock photography, we have to upload large files ( particularly for commercial use).
I still have the same uploading problem with alamy and the problem is only with them. No problem with other stock libraries despite of the covid 19 crisis ( these libraries are located in countries that have been severely affected by the epidemic).

unnonimus · « **Reply #92 on:** June 23, 2020, 05:52 »

I uploaded some photos when my router had crc errors. the photos arrived damaged, with 90% color banding across all the images. they were obvious garbage.

you could not see any detail in the photo or tell what they were

they were all approved by alamy.

they do not do a visual inspection

Mimi the Cat · « **Reply #93 on:** June 23, 2020, 06:01 »

Quote from: unnonimus on June 23, 2020, 05:52

I uploaded some photos when my router had crc errors. the photos arrived damaged, with 90% color banding across all the images. they were obvious garbage.

you could not see any detail in the photo or tell what they were

they were all approved by alamy.

they do not do a visual inspection

They do a sample inspection of all the batches not every image

And if they are that bad you should delete and re-upload

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