To sum up,  Dreamstime is definitely fitting to topple SS. I am looking for that day to celebrate, with a round of the best ale in the house 

Yo, I can go for that , Tuilay. Ale's the magic word in my dictionary... bottoms up !
Yay! go DT  go   

As a very part time microstocker myself, i appreciate the sites that payout the most money to me on a monthly basis.  Since last May FT has consistently outperformed DT and IS (by a multiplier of greater than 4X most months) as far as my earnings go.  Only SS has been better or at the same level.  I have a similar portfolio on all but IS - which is a little smaller due to their upload restrictions/process.  I have been with FT almost three years, and they have definitely made some quick gains these last 6 months.  I hope they continue.

I understand the concerns about FT's contributor relations problems, but they have been sending lots of money my way (comparably anyway  when some of the sites that pay higher percentages have been awfully slow and have earned me far less.

I appreciate all of your thoughts.  These threads are interesting.

Frankly, I am happy with istock right where it is. 

If they drop from their position at the top then they will likely lose a lot of their exclusives, and that means a flood of really excellent imagery flowing onto the other sites and engulfing a lot of us in it's path.

But if istock were to lose the top spot, I would much prefer DT over Fotolia for the reasons so well laid out by Pixart. 

yeah I have to agree with Pixart and Lisa on those comments. Except to say that FT not only doesn't give advance notice, they also don't give any notice after a change (eg. DL's required to change rank and increase royalties). FT used to be my favourite site and the one I had highest expectations for, so I certainly hope for a change from them, but its not the sort of hope that comes with any real expectation.

Dreamstime on the other hand is growing pretty consistently for me, both in total revenue and $/download. On top of that I find the site offers a better community that fotolia, have far more consistent reviews and is much more easy to navigate.

hali, you stick to FT if IS is not crazy about your work.
based on the polls here, FT is not doing too badly, in spite of the negative remarks from some commentors.
i get the feeling that there are more pros than cons in the FT group; as opposed to the IS group.
go with your gut feeling.
..and  the ale is on the house, when you do succeed at FT 

Pixart, Tuilay, cheers !
You know, Fotolia is not perfect (like um, Istock,  .. just joking)
and somehow I like to think they are listening and want to make things better in 2009.
I just got 2 rejections , my first after a 100% acceptance , from Fotolia,
but hey, they still seem fair to me. No strange rejection reasons.
And with my first 2 rejections ,I just found out I am not perfect with Fotolia, too. phew ! ha!ha!...