MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => DepositPhotos => Topic started by: r2d2 on March 16, 2016, 14:39
-
Email from DP:
Dear Contributor,
Would you like to improve your search engine ranking on Depositphotos? We invite you to take part in our "Free File Program".
A selection of your files will be offered as free downloads in a special section of our site for one month. Every download helps increase your ranking, and encourages customers to view your portfolio and browse through your works!
All you need to do is to send us an email at [email protected] with the subject "Free File Program", and mention how many files you are ready to provide for participation in the program.. The final selection of files will be made by the Depositphotos Content Team.
Join our promo program, increase your search ranking on Depositphotos, and earn more!
Regards,
Depositphotos Team
>:(
-
I was waiting for a (another) reason to leave DP.
This one maybe ?
-
The real question is whether you'd actually get better placement. They can say anything. "Hey Jack, we've placed you higher in our search. Thanks for the 100 free files." Jack responds, "Then why hasn't my portfolio of 4,000 earned me more money?"
Secondly, how do they pull that off if everyone participates?
Thirdly, how long does the placement, assuming it works, last? One month? In the meantime you had 5,000 free downloads of your images.
Just saying.
-
I wont offer free files and if my ranking deteriorates, I will leave.
-
Terrible idea, not suprising from DP. You'd have to be mad to join. All this will do is lose them more contributors who will resent paying them in free images just to index your files and sell them for the lowest rpd in the industry (yes they have overtaken IS again since the royalty changes)
-
the question always is how low are contributors are willing to go. 10% 5% 0%? i am sure there are lots of contributors jumping on this. and then wonder why the agencies keep trying to squeeze more out of them. agencies are laughing themselves to death
-
Clearly act of desperation!
-
Wow. That is truly foul.
A new low.
-
Makes me glad I stopped uploading there.
-
Doesn't he have a choice to offer free files? I better not get an email like that! CanS lets you have a choice in the matter.
123 invited me to give a free file for a month.
I declined ...
-
This is different. They are saying if you don't give them files your work will be buried in the search. You could see it as ransom or paying them to sell your files.
-
The final selection of files will be made by the Depositphotos Content Team.
this is the next effrontery.
If you are crazy and give them free images you can only decide how many images not what images.
DP brings himself in position to chnage her business model from payed downloads to ad-supported downloads.
-
Never ever i witnessed a real case when offering of free goods increases sales later. Expectations of next free offer - yes, for sure.
-
Never ever i witnessed a real case when offering of free goods increases sales later. Expectations of next free offer - yes, for sure.
Yeah, I think DepositPhotos have realised we've worked that out, that's why they will now bury people who don't give them free images by introducing a boost in results for those that do.
Or to put it another way, they are looking you in the eye while they **** you ** the ***
-
I'm not their contributor anymore for a long time and got this email too. Any way to forget about them ever?
-
Here's the link that was in the mail:
http://depositphotos.com/free-files-program.html (http://depositphotos.com/free-files-program.html)
I notice it says it is to "attract new customers" and "increase their loyalty". Why would any contributor want more customers to migrate to the site that pays us the lowest RPD? We should be doing everything we can to help attract customers away from DP to sites that pay us better.
-
Any business is searching for the lowest price of supply. In microstock agencies have a unique opportunity to not pay at all.
-
Any business is searching for the lowest price of supply. In microstock agencies have a unique opportunity to not pay at all.
yes and its up to us them to make as difficult as possible. 8)
-
They can bury me as low as they want. No free photos... ever.
-
I'm thinking of making them a counter-offer. They provide me with a new "free" D810 and I'll give them a few "free" photos. Sounds like a great deal to me! ;)
-
They can bury me as low as they want. No free photos... ever.
Wow, do hard work and give them free and if you don't give they will bury you down in search.
-
I were a buyer I'd want to know that the site is doing its best to bring me the files that met my needs to me as efficiently as possible not rigging the market place....probably rather naive I know :-\. So seems a pretty stupid move even if they are competent enough to manipulate the Search Engine effectively which I doubt
-
I remember I sent them last year a batch of photos that had been accepted by SS but DP rejected every single photo. I won't ever try again.
I guess this offer is rather aimed at newbies who don't value their work (yet), and DP are definately desperate to attract more buyers
-
They can bury me as low as they want. No free photos... ever.
Wow, do hard work and give them free and if you don't give they will bury you down in search.
I had not thought about the extortionate aspect of this but you are definitely right.
DP has been doing OK lately, with more high-value DLs rather than strictly subs (as it was for a while there). If this scheme leads to lower rankings and fewer DLs then they will just lose contributors. Other companies with this kind of scheme have implied that it would increase sales but this is the first one to explicitly say they will increase your ranking. Apparently they think contributors are too stupid to notice that this is bad.
I assume the only people who would opt in to this are those with very low sales and poor images. If those people get higher placement in searches it will frustrate customers and they will just go elsewhere. This scheme has the potential to alienate both contributors and customers - brilliant!
-
They can bury me as low as they want. No free photos... ever.
Wow, do hard work and give them free and if you don't give they will bury you down in search.
I had not thought about the extortionate aspect of this but you are definitely right.
DP has been doing OK lately, with more high-value DLs rather than strictly subs (as it was for a while there). If this scheme leads to lower rankings and fewer DLs then they will just lose contributors. Other companies with this kind of scheme have implied that it would increase sales but this is the first one to explicitly say they will increase your ranking. Apparently they think contributors are too stupid to notice that this is bad.
I assume the only people who would opt in to this are those with very low sales and poor images. If those people get higher placement in searches it will frustrate customers and they will just go elsewhere. This scheme has the potential to alienate both contributors and customers - brilliant!
Have you done a detailed statistical analysis on large enough data set? because I have found the opposite, average RPD including subs and other downloads dived massively after they changed the royalties.
-
I did get the email too.
I totally agree with sgoodwin4813. Only people with low sales and poor images will opt into this - so all the crap images will come up first. Buyers will definitely be aggravated! If you ever look at the Free files sections, they are not very good which is why they are free...
-
I have to say, over at 123rf when I started adding to the donate section, my sales have increased quite a bit on both the ones that are "free" and ones that are not. I have been with 123rf for years and it wasnt until I started donating that the sales started going through the roof
. they are now one of my favorite sites due to this and you can pick and choose which photos and for how long they are available. The DP version dosnt sound as good as the 123rf version.
As for rejections, I have found small batches to DP get more acceptance than large batches. I cap my submissions to 10 at a time and wait til those are gone through and then add another 10 that are waiting in the unfinished section
..
-
They can bury me as low as they want. No free photos... ever.
Wow, do hard work and give them free and if you don't give they will bury you down in search.
I had not thought about the extortionate aspect of this but you are definitely right.
DP has been doing OK lately, with more high-value DLs rather than strictly subs (as it was for a while there). If this scheme leads to lower rankings and fewer DLs then they will just lose contributors. Other companies with this kind of scheme have implied that it would increase sales but this is the first one to explicitly say they will increase your ranking. Apparently they think contributors are too stupid to notice that this is bad.
I assume the only people who would opt in to this are those with very low sales and poor images. If those people get higher placement in searches it will frustrate customers and they will just go elsewhere. This scheme has the potential to alienate both contributors and customers - brilliant!
Have you done a detailed statistical analysis on large enough data set? because I have found the opposite, average RPD including subs and other downloads dived massively after they changed the royalties.
I can only analyze my own data. For me, average RPDL per year on DP ranged from 0.35-0.55 from 2010-2014 but was 0.74 during 2015, so it seemed to go up after the change. So far this month have had more larger sales but it is too early to say what it will be for the year - certainly within the range of previous years, no real drop after the change, fortunately.
That is RPDL. For total earnings, those have increased every year on DP despite not uploading anything in over a year. I don't think that will continue this year unless I start uploading again.
-
Strange, I saw a serious drop in about October last year. I make about $4-$500/ month there. I haven't uploaded in a while thanks to their shenanigans so maybe that's why.
-
I have to say, over at 123rf when I started adding to the donate section, my sales have increased quite a bit on both the ones that are "free" and ones that are not. I have been with 123rf for years and it wasnt until I started donating that the sales started going through the roof
. they are now one of my favorite sites due to this and you can pick and choose which photos and for how long they are available. The DP version dosnt sound as good as the 123rf version.
As for rejections, I have found small batches to DP get more acceptance than large batches. I cap my submissions to 10 at a time and wait til those are gone through and then add another 10 that are waiting in the unfinished section
..
I think this is the key, though. The DP offer doesn't allow such control. They get to pick and choose, and I imagine they will pick your best images (best sellers). If you decide to offer some for free, that is one thing. Allowing them the control is quite a different matter.
-
They can bury me as low as they want. No free photos... ever.
Wow, do hard work and give them free and if you don't give they will bury you down in search.
I had not thought about the extortionate aspect of this but you are definitely right.
DP has been doing OK lately, with more high-value DLs rather than strictly subs (as it was for a while there). If this scheme leads to lower rankings and fewer DLs then they will just lose contributors. Other companies with this kind of scheme have implied that it would increase sales but this is the first one to explicitly say they will increase your ranking. Apparently they think contributors are too stupid to notice that this is bad.
I assume the only people who would opt in to this are those with very low sales and poor images. If those people get higher placement in searches it will frustrate customers and they will just go elsewhere. This scheme has the potential to alienate both contributors and customers - brilliant!
Have you done a detailed statistical analysis on large enough data set? because I have found the opposite, average RPD including subs and other downloads dived massively after they changed the royalties.
That's true. I sell more files then a year ago, but earn equal or less. I used to have some credit sales now and then, now only subs.
-
[/quote]
I think this is the key, though. The DP offer doesn't allow such control. They get to pick and choose, and I imagine they will pick your best images (best sellers). If you decide to offer some for free, that is one thing. Allowing them the control is quite a different matter.
[/quote]
yes! and I offer mostly old forgotten images, some times I will add a brand new one for kicks. I also do not redonate after the image reaches a count of 10 downloads. And it is pretty fun to watch those old ones regain sales afterwards.