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Agency Based Discussion => Adobe Stock => Topic started by: News Feed on November 03, 2009, 15:00

Title: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: News Feed on November 03, 2009, 15:00
Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock


New York, NY, November 3, 2009 – The next wave of microstock continues as Fotolia becomes the first major microstock agency to launch localized web service in Turkey.  www.fotolia.com.tr  has affordable high-resolution stock photographs, illustrations, vectors, and HD videos. Fotolia is the leading European resource for corporations, designers, editors, and not-for-profit organizations looking for high-quality images for projects such as website design, brochures, promotional materials and products, as well as print, billboard, and television advertising.
   
“As the number one image provider in Europe, Fotolia is proud to be the first major microstock in Turkey”, says Oleg Tscheltzoff, CEO of Fotolia, LLC. “Our strong worldwide reputation will serve us well in this emerging market. Turkish corporations, designers, and entrepreneurs will benefit by saving on production costs with Fotolia’s images and videos.”

Images on www.fotolia.com.tr start at $1 USD. Fotolia’s royalty-free collection of over 7-million images come with standard royalty-free licensing, which means buyers are protected when they use an image within the terms and conditions of the site.

Akin Külhanbey, General Manager of Fotolia Turkey says, “Fotolia provides a secure platform for artists and consumers to exchange high-quality, royalty-free images. Artists are able to earn high commissions every time their stock images are downloaded from the site, whereas consumers can confidently make affordable purchases.”

When it comes to purchasing royalty-free images from Fotolia, buyers have flexibility with credit or subscription options. Images are sold by a credit value and start at one credit. On the Fotolia Turkey site, one credit holds a value of $1 USD.

Subscription plans are available in monthly and yearly packages, with up to 250 images a day for an unlimited number of users. Subscription plans start at $199 USD, and images can be purchased for as low as $0.14 per image. More information is available through www.fotolia.com.tr

Fotolia has shown steady growth since its inception nearly five years ago. Turkey marks the 12th region to join the Fotolia enterprise.

 
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Over 1.4 million people prefer Fotolia, LLC for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics, and HD videos.  With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2005, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 10 languages and websites in 12 regions. With over 7,000,000 images to choose from: Find it on Fotolia. www.fotolia.com.


Media Contact:
Jennifer Laraway
Director of Communications, North America
Fotolia, LLC
Direct: 1.403.708.9398
[email protected]
www.fotolia.com
mediamindjen on Twitter and Facebook

 
   
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http://blog.fotolia.com/us/news/fotolia/turkey-_first-_microstock-_fot.html
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: Sean Locke Photography on November 03, 2009, 15:23
Isn't the internet already available everywhere?  Or does this just mean it's in a different language?
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: qwerty on November 03, 2009, 15:28
Does it mean they have localised search weighting ?
like search for "business man" puts people who are turkish at the top.
I assume that it is in turkish language aswell. 
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: madelaide on November 03, 2009, 15:32
qwerty,

Does FT do that in other languages?  It would actually make sense, especially about people.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: vonkara on November 03, 2009, 15:33
I would rather like seeing efforts for the Asian market, who is actually totally forgoten by most agencies.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: madelaide on November 03, 2009, 15:39
They already have China and Japan...
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: PeterChigmaroff on November 03, 2009, 15:57
What's the opening copy, "The turkey comes to Turkey"?
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: gostwyck on November 03, 2009, 16:00
Isn't the internet already available everywhere?  Or does this just mean it's in a different language?

I presume they're also opening an office there with a local telephone number answered by someone who speaks the jolly old lingo. That's been the formula so far and it's working well everwhere else. Turkey's got a population of over 70M and a localized marketing plan could generate a lot of business.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: vonkara on November 03, 2009, 16:08
Well, I must admit I don't understand what this news apply for.

They already have China and Japan...
What you exactly mean by they have? The languages options? Web based?

What I should say by efforts to be more specific is, advertising in Asian magasines and such things. Though I don't know a lot about what is the needs of Asian designers.

Isn't the internet already available everywhere?  Or does this just mean it's in a different language?

I presume they're also opening an office there with a local telephone number answered by someone who speaks the jolly old lingo. That's been the formula so far and it's working well everwhere else. Turkey's got a population of over 70M and a localized marketing plan could generate a lot of business.
Actually all what I see is one sentence whos relevent. The next wave of microstock continues as Fotolia becomes the first major microstock agency to launch localized web service in Turkey

The rest is kind of only Fotolia advertising their product. This sentence is actually blurry. What is a localised web service. That's not phone support?
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: KB on November 03, 2009, 16:31
Actually all what I see is one sentence whos relevent. The next wave of microstock continues as Fotolia becomes the first major microstock agency to launch localized web service in Turkey
This sentence is actually blurry. What is a localised web service. That's not phone support?

I agree.

I think it should be rejected for "Quality of press release".  ;D

Then again, "Type of press release" also qualifies.

Oh, heck, let's just go with "Overabundance".
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: cidepix on November 04, 2009, 09:27
Well I don't understand people who doesn't understand what this means!

1- The website is in Turkish! Because most Turkish designers do not speak English. When you use Turkish words for the search it works as if you entered that word in English.

2- 80 Million population considering the city of Istanbul is a big metropol with probably more design firms than many European countries put together.

Overall, this is a big step by fotolia. Huge expansion. I never could have believed how the agencies were missing the Turkish market.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: vonkara on November 04, 2009, 09:41
Well I don't understand people who doesn't understand what this means!

1- The website is in Turkish! Because most Turkish designers do not speak English. When you use Turkish words for the search it works as if you entered that word in English.

2- 80 Million population considering the city of Istanbul is a big metropol with probably more design firms than many European countries put together.

Overall, this is a big step by fotolia. Huge expansion. I never could have believed how the agencies were missing the Turkish market.
You say that a localised web service in turkey mean they added the turkish language to Fotolia? I don't say I'm not understanding why they choose Turkey, but the term they choose is totally blurry to me
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: leaf on November 04, 2009, 09:55
they could also change the search results so things that are expected are shown.

If you search for a biscuit in the UK you will be looking for something totally different than if you searched for a biscuit in Canada
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: Sean Locke Photography on November 04, 2009, 10:00
I doubt they can do any fancy keyword switching without a controlled vocabulary.  Do they have a CV for their keywording system?

The future of IS best match holds a localized flavor - ie., "businessman" will give different results depending on where you are - more Asians in Japan, more Caucasians in America, for example.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: stokfoto on November 04, 2009, 10:06
it sounds  like a good attempt to reach more buyers but it doesn't seem to be fully functioning yet. I tried  search the  in Turkish  but  many  simple keywords returned  with no results except for really popular subjects like business etc. I don't know may be it's too early to judge nut they surely have more work to do .

Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: traveler1116 on November 04, 2009, 11:05
How about letting existing contributors participate in 'operation level ground' or whatever it's called? 
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: PeterChigmaroff on November 04, 2009, 11:17
How about letting existing contributors participate in 'operation level ground' or whatever it's called? 

I don't like fotolia very much at all because they have nearly zero respect for their contributors. You can ask for this kind of thing but are unlikely to get it unless enough people pulled their images and left. This of course will never happen because most of those that stay live by the mantra-- something is better than nothing. And the cycle continues.
What surprises me though is there must be enough big contributors out there who do not contribute to FT that an offer like this is made. Maybe there is hope.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: Microbius on November 04, 2009, 14:49
Hopefully this will also help educate designers over there about copyright issues. Though with the lack of stigma attached to using nicked images in Turkey and the Middle East I doubt it. Can't see a lot of sales coming from this.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: PeterChigmaroff on November 04, 2009, 14:59
Hopefully this will also help educate designers over there about copyright issues. Though with the lack of stigma attached to using nicked images in Turkey and the Middle East I doubt it. Can't see a lot of sales coming from this.

Most of the big markets in micro mirror those of the macro market and I don't recall seeing Turkey too many times as a sales location.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: Microbius on November 04, 2009, 15:23
i was talking to a designer friend of mine recently who has worked in the region for years. when i showed him my work on istock he said he would just right click on the images save them then clone out the watermark in photoshop. when i said that that's theft he said okay then, he'd just download them from hero turko or somewhere similar for free. when i said no, they are also nicked he said, that's the good thing about working in the middle east, no one gives a cr*p about this stuff.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: cidepix on November 04, 2009, 15:55
i was talking to a designer friend of mine recently who has worked in the region for years. when i showed him my work on istock he said he would just right click on the images save them then clone out the watermark in photoshop. when i said that that's theft he said okay then, he'd just download them from hero turko or somewhere similar for free. when i said no, they are also nicked he said, that's the good thing about working in the middle east, no one gives a cr*p about this stuff.


EDIT: Just checked on who.is

heroturko.com seems to be registered in Hongkong but their new address heroturko.us is registered to this name:
     Name: Ahmet Carkacy
    Organization: Dut Sokaey
    Address 1: Ankara
    Address 2: Ankara
    City: Ankara
    State: Ankara
    Zip: 06000
    Country: TR
    Phone: +00.0123456789
    Email: [email protected]

I think we should be able to sue them using this info as evidence? Though the phone number is obviously fake.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: Microbius on November 04, 2009, 16:52
The whois info seems to have been given as being in HongKong, but I think that the people behind the site are in Turkey:
Here's a web sevice that has had a link to it from the site since the outset:
http://www.globalturko.com/contact/ (http://www.globalturko.com/contact/)

Here's a facebook page which may or may not belong to the owner of the site (I'm guessing it does, why would anyone else want to be associated with that sort of activity?)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Hero-Turko/584364483 (http://www.facebook.com/people/Hero-Turko/584364483)

Plus check out the audience map here:
http://www.markosweb.com/www/heroturko.com/ (http://www.markosweb.com/www/heroturko.com/)

and this page reports the server location as Smyrna in Turkey, though the "sponsoring registrar" whatever that means, is in hong kong same as the whois info (?)
http://www.ip-adress.com/whois/heroturko.com (http://www.ip-adress.com/whois/heroturko.com)

This site also reports the ip address as being located in Turkey, though it seems that in this case they are routing through Germany (?)
http://www.robtex.com/ip/95.168.171.187.html (http://www.robtex.com/ip/95.168.171.187.html)
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: travelstock on November 04, 2009, 17:21
I would rather like seeing efforts for the Asian market, who is actually totally forgoten by most agencies.

Asia is a pretty big market, and Turkey just happens to be part of it.

I'm not overly fond of FT at the moment, but I'd have to concede that when it comes to getting their product out to different markets, they are ahead of most of the other sites, with the possible exception of Shutterstock.

Turkey isn't a bad market to aim for - they're big population wise - ie. 75million, have rising affluence, aspirations to join the EU, and form a bridge between Asia and Europe.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: qwerty on November 05, 2009, 02:53
qwerty,

Does FT do that in other languages?  It would actually make sense, especially about people.

Yes I think its a good idea.

I don't know if fotolia already have anything like that.
I was just posing a question on what a localised search was.
I remember reading something about a localised search order (Sjlocke has mentioned about best match at Istock so it must have been Istock I read about)
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: FD on November 05, 2009, 03:29
Overall, this is a big step by fotolia. Huge expansion. I never could have believed how the agencies were missing the Turkish market.

Didn't they have HeroTurko (http://www.heroturko.us/photostock/) already?
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: FD on November 05, 2009, 03:55
i was talking to a designer friend of mine recently who has worked in the region for years. when i showed him my work on istock he said he would just right click on the images save them then clone out the watermark in photoshop. when i said that that's theft he said okay then, he'd just download them from hero turko or somewhere similar for free. when i said no, they are also nicked he said, that's the good thing about working in the middle east, no one gives a cr*p about this stuff.

I had exactly the same conversation with a Filipino junior designer in Manila 2 years ago. But he used Getty as "image source" since the previews there seem to be larger. His job was to clone out the watermarks, and his boss published a set of local lifestyle mags, so he could well afford it. Artful cloning might take two hours, but what the heck in a country where the hourly wage is on average 0.7$. Copyright infringement? Hahahaha. Copyright doesn't exist east of Berlin and west of Anchorage (except Japan and maybe South Korea). When you buy any desktop PC in the Philippines, Windows and Photoshop CS4 are preloaded by default.

Turkey has a population of 80M, sure, but most are located in poor Anatolia. The upcoming industry is all about low grade outsourcing. They will enter the EU? They wish. Obama and the EU politicians want it but not the Europeans themselves. Whenever the citizen gets the chance (the France and Netherlands referendum) it was turned down. I wouldn't hold my breath.

If you look at visitors at stock sites and design or open source forms, the only non-Western country that contributes is India. I'm connected with outsourcing in India (Chennai) and the designers there are top-notch. Since they work for Western companies, they won't even dream scavenging thumbs: they buy. I'm unaware of FT addressing India, but they should give it priority over Turkey. On the other hand, Indians are very knowledgeable in English, since it's in their grade and high school curriculum, so a localized version is overkill.

Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: travelstock on November 05, 2009, 06:23
Overall, this is a big step by fotolia. Huge expansion. I never could have believed how the agencies were missing the Turkish market.

Didn't they have HeroTurko ([url]http://www.heroturko.us/photostock/[/url]) already?


haha classic!

Reminds me of McDonalds efforts at cultural sensitivity and customising for the local market - they sell a McTurco there!
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: cidepix on November 05, 2009, 10:51
You just answered yourself there.
I'm unaware of FT addressing India, but they should give it priority over Turkey. On the other hand, Indians are very knowledgeable in English, since it's in their grade and high school curriculum, so a localized version is overkill.
India is well colonized by the British. I know that very well as I live in the UK. English is like their native language.


Oh now you are going to say heroturko has no traffic from the US  :D
Didn't they have HeroTurko already?

My parents are  from former yugoslavia (montenegro), I was born in Istanbul and I know everything there very well. That city is big, modern, a lot of big design companies "who pay for images" are in operation.

Istanbul is over 15 million and that population, on it's own is more than the whole population of Greece, Czech Republic etc.

It is the 5th biggest city in the world according to wikipedia and other sources. If you include other big cities like Ankara, Izmir, you get more than 20 million people with quite a good standard of living. Well yeah Anatolia is big and useless when it comes to buying images but still, there are enough companies who would buy images from fotolia and other agencies and that number as I said before is more than some european countries put together.

How do I know? My cousin works for one of them and they pay for images. How else can I know? I had my vectors on bilboards all around the city and I was paid well.
Title: Re: NEWS - Turkey marks new Territory for Fotolia microstock
Post by: ayzek on November 06, 2009, 04:48
you are missing something here. heroturko is not a company works legaly in Turkey. its owners living in turkey.
i think fotolia just trying to show Turkey's market how important turkey for them. People saying 75 million in Turkey or 15 milion in istanbul. I think its much more than it. As a worker of graphic market in Istanbul past 10 years. in that 10 years i work frequently so many middle east, east european and west asian companies directors of movies and comercials.  I asked them why they prefer us (istanbul)? Answers were similar and if we order them in importance order:  No visa, Easy Cominication, Similar culture, Easy transportation, so many companies and Better quality. If you consider those you can understant how big is the bazaar ;)
i just want to give you as an example my old company equipment pool. They have got 4 Inferno, 1 Flame suites for vfx (they are autodesk product which costed each of them more than 400.000$  and you can not find their crack in heroturko) and they have got also film labs, animation studios and malio (motion controled camera system which is cost more than 1.000.000$. you can not find its software in heroturko also). Autodesk Turkey workers told me that this company is second biggest licanced autodesk product (maya, 3ds max and other softwares also they have got) user  postproduction company in europe.  The biggest company in europe (who has got more inferno :) ) is also in  turkey.
Also in istanbul who works in graphic industy %90 knows enough English to search in keywords. But like i said before they just want show importance of this big bazaar for them.