Author Topic: What's going on with Adobe Stock? (Read 18316 times)

Minsc · « **on:** August 05, 2019, 20:19 »

Sales were steady until a few months ago. It has dropped over 25% in the last few months.

I know they're transitioning all FT buyers over, but there are no more credit sales and subscription prices seem to be higher other major sites. Are they losing customers to SS?

AS has been my most consistent earner, but this decline is worrying. They were doing a lot of things right until recently.

davidbautista · « **Reply #1 on:** August 05, 2019, 20:33 »

I'm experiencing the opposite situation. Even tho my portfolio is half editorials.

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Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #2 on:** August 05, 2019, 21:36 »

Yep, last month was about half of my peak, which was last November.

Minsc · « **Reply #3 on:** August 05, 2019, 22:01 »

Quote from: davidbautista on August 05, 2019, 20:33

I'm experiencing the opposite situation. Even tho my portfolio is half editorials.

As I remembered, FT didn't accept editorials. Your sales are coming directly from the AS side, where they started accepting editorials after they bought FT.

For us older contributors, we're losing the credit sales from FT's side. Maybe AS has been actively trying to convert all those credit buyers into subscribers, but credit buyers probably loved the flexibility of the system instead of being charged every month for something they may not use.

mindstorm · « **Reply #4 on:** August 05, 2019, 22:08 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 05, 2019, 21:36

Yep, last month was about half of my peak, which was last November.

Yep. We call that "summer."

Happens every year. People take vacations. Companies decide what to for the coming Winter season. Nothing unusual.

This is not a paycheck that remains the same whether you work or not, or whether the stuff you sell is wanted or not. It has seasonal variations, and the pipeline must be constantly fed to keep the material fresh.

Learn to live with it... or leave the hobby/business (getting harder and harder to really call it a business...)

davidbautista · « **Reply #5 on:** August 05, 2019, 22:32 »

Quote from: Minsc on August 05, 2019, 22:01

Quote from: davidbautista on August 05, 2019, 20:33
I'm experiencing the opposite situation. Even tho my portfolio is half editorials.

As I remembered, FT didn't accept editorials. Your sales are coming directly from the AS side, where they started accepting editorials after they bought FT.

For us older contributors, we're losing the credit sales from FT's side. Maybe AS has been actively trying to convert all those credit buyers into subscribers, but credit buyers probably loved the flexibility of the system instead of being charged every month for something they may not use.

I mean, I don't have editorials there.

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HalfFull · « **Reply #6 on:** August 06, 2019, 01:02 »

Experiencing the same harsh fall in earnings at AS. More than the usual summer slowdown.

A similar thing happened when they closed DPC... while it had its bad points it did generate a lot of income (for me anyway). As soon as they closed it they tried to convert the buyers to AS subs/credit packs and a lot of them left. I remember there were a lot of complaints at the time from clients. I wouldn't be surprised if they've just tried to migrate clients or shut off another revenue stream with the same results as DPC.

If they've closed off access to FT or other credit sales, then this will probably amplify the effects of the summer slowdown as all that will be left is AS subs. The larger value corporate sales (I'd imagine) will also slowdown a lot over the summer. I used to wake up in the morning with a healthy amount of sales... now, I'm lucky if I have half a dozen. Europe is dead, very little sales action each day between 8am-2pm (UK).

I've heard the, "You'll lose higher value sales but you'll get higher volume" mantra but I don't believe it. Certainly seen no evidence of it. When I look at downloads over time, I see the normal pattern from January through to Aug... a gentle reduction from mid June... earnings however are cliff edge. Just collapsed after mid/end of June. Higher value sales have gone.

I get the feeling they want to close off every revenue other than AS and it's connection to Adobe Creative Cloud. Effectively turning it into a large clipart/photo library for their software.

In either event, they must have realised that cutting options to clients on how they can buy images will likely lead to them looking elsewhere... I guess losing clients that buy through the website don't matter as much as those that do buy through their software. Not everyone wants to sign up to subs packs via Photoshop. Hopefully they've got a cunning plan that helps contributors earn more money...but I'm not holding my breath for that. Losing faith in them now.

HalfFull · « **Reply #8 on:** August 06, 2019, 05:19 »

Quote from: Dennis Radeke on August 06, 2019, 04:50

Quote from: mindstorm on August 05, 2019, 22:08

Yep. We call that "summer."

Happens every year. People take vacations. Companies decide what to for the coming Winter season. Nothing unusual.

This is not a paycheck that remains the same whether you work or not, or whether the stuff you sell is wanted or not. It has seasonal variations, and the pipeline must be constantly fed to keep the material fresh.

This, and nothing more. Adobe Stock is growing and doing well. There will be seasonality and depending on what your content focuses on, you will have good and bad months. We're working all of the time to improve sales and the experience for all contributors. If I could even out the seasonality, I would.... ;-)

Hi Dennis, thanks for the feedback. I really hope this is true.

When I contacted AS about strange clumping of images in the search I was told that changes had been and still are taking place. Basically I had 83 images on the one page instead of being spread out... images that used to be on 1st page suddenly joined this clump a half dozen pages back. This issue went on for several pages. I also spotted that when viewing images in my portfolio at FT, sorted by "Relevance", it was basically all my new images, videos first and all my popular work pushed back out of sight. Could it be that some of the changes have had an unintended effect elsewhere... such as the FT "Relevance" positioning.

For me, the sudden disappearance of higher value sales has been very noticeable. This for me is the main cause of concern, especially when I hear of "Changes" taking place. I can see a gentle reduction in volume that would be the summer slowdown (although it appears to be a little worse this year) and this I would expect.

Thanks again

jonbull · « **Reply #9 on:** August 06, 2019, 05:30 »

not only as but i'd say all agency are falling down and is not the classic summer slowdown which i never had in the past years....ss after a great july for example show a completely sudden death

trucic · « **Reply #10 on:** August 06, 2019, 05:49 »

... extreme slow down, too... sporadic, random sales on old material...

davidbautista · « **Reply #11 on:** August 06, 2019, 05:53 »

Quote from: jonbull on August 06, 2019, 05:30

not only as but i'd say all agency are falling down and is not the classic summer slowdown which i never had in the past years....ss after a great july for example show a completely sudden death

They change a lot the search algorithm...

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jonbull · « **Reply #12 on:** August 06, 2019, 06:04 »

i thinks is more saturation of market and that's all...sson it will be even worst and most till nobody could make a living out of it...i mean a serious living, in a modern western country...sure if you live in a jungle in cambogia o in some remote russian town maybe you can still make a good living for that standard. earning 5 6k with micro stock will be a dream for 99,99 %. it's only a matter of small time.
personally i'm already differentiate through other source of income. but really what's the point of this? accepting zillions images that never sell, invention zillions more photographer to the party to make them earning 1 dollar month...i mean is not stupid this?

jonbull · « **Reply #13 on:** August 06, 2019, 06:11 »

yesterday ai received a briefing from sss customer...a super briefing for a lifestyle shoot with exclusivity and you know 40 dollar per image...40 dollar!! and you not even know if they will accept your images!!! i eran more money in one hour shooting of couple in a beach than 10 assign,int like this....how they think i can recover expenses!! wifi cannot even resell the photos' 4 8 model, lot of action , different style,, mixed race and i lieve in a county where finding a black model is not the easiest thing...for company who earn hundreds of millions and whose managers probably spend 40 dollar just for having their nails done! this industry should i hope soon collapse and bankrupt.

HalfFull · « **Reply #14 on:** August 06, 2019, 06:19 »

Quote from: jonbull on August 06, 2019, 05:30

not only as but i'd say all agency are falling down and is not the classic summer slowdown which i never had in the past years....ss after a great july for example show a completely sudden death

SS has been good for me... been a good July and excellent start to Aug... just AS that's tanked.

jonbull · « **Reply #15 on:** August 06, 2019, 06:22 »

Quote from: HalfFull on August 06, 2019, 06:19

Quote from: jonbull on August 06, 2019, 05:30
not only as but i'd say all agency are falling down and is not the classic summer slowdown which i never had in the past years....ss after a great july for example show a completely sudden death

SS has been good for me... been a good July and excellent start to Aug... just AS that's tanked.

for me ss has tanked much much more than as...ss is like 10 per cent of last august so far...not even in 2007 i had a start of august like this...only subs...0 on demand...1 single of 5 dollar...really seems like i'm non existent in sss....despite already having lifestyle for autumn and christmas uploaded in half july.

Phototom · « **Reply #16 on:** August 06, 2019, 07:18 »

#Dennis Radeke

Dear Dennis,

thank your for your answer.

the reason for declining earnings at Adobe Stock is not only seasonal. Since the year who Adobe had absorbed Fotolia,
the earnings goes proportional continuous more and more back. I remeber how Adobe had promised us that we all
benefit from the acquisition - but unfortunately nothing happened. I think Adobe should reconsider their strategy. Of
course, there are still other new Problems for contributors in the microstock industry. But I think, the main probelm are
the Agencies ( not only Adobe) self and the estimation to the contributors.

Best Regards

Tom

Julied83 · « **Reply #17 on:** August 06, 2019, 09:15 »

I may sound stupid, but how do we submit editorial to AS ?

Quote from: Minsc on August 05, 2019, 22:01

Quote from: davidbautista on August 05, 2019, 20:33
I'm experiencing the opposite situation. Even tho my portfolio is half editorials.

As I remembered, FT didn't accept editorials. Your sales are coming directly from the AS side, where they started accepting editorials after they bought FT.

For us older contributors, we're losing the credit sales from FT's side. Maybe AS has been actively trying to convert all those credit buyers into subscribers, but credit buyers probably loved the flexibility of the system instead of being charged every month for something they may not use.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #18 on:** August 06, 2019, 09:39 »

Quote from: mindstorm on August 05, 2019, 22:08

Yep. We call that "summer."

Happens every year. People take vacations. Companies decide what to for the coming Winter season. Nothing unusual.

This is not a paycheck that remains the same whether you work or not, or whether the stuff you sell is wanted or not. It has seasonal variations, and the pipeline must be constantly fed to keep the material fresh.

Learn to live with it... or leave the hobby/business (getting harder and harder to really call it a business...)

Thanks for the tips.

No, it's not just summer. This July was 35% lower than last July and August. About 10% lower than last June. Sure, there's a summer slowdown, but that's in addition to no growth, and just waning sales. I hope it roars back in the fall. AS had been fairly consistent.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #19 on:** August 06, 2019, 10:34 »

Quote from: mindstorm on August 05, 2019, 22:08

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 05, 2019, 21:36
Yep, last month was about half of my peak, which was last November.
Yep. We call that "summer."... Learn to live with it... or leave the hobby/business...

Where I come from we refer to this as "Teaching your grandmother to suck eggs"

Deyan Georgiev Photography · « **Reply #20 on:** August 06, 2019, 11:07 »

Quote from: mindstorm on August 05, 2019, 22:08

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 05, 2019, 21:36
Yep, last month was about half of my peak, which was last November.
Yep. We call that "summer."

Happens every year. People take vacations. Companies decide what to for the coming Winter season. Nothing unusual.

On this can believe someone for whom this is the first "summer" in stock photography

Everyone more experienced can see its own stats during the years and will see the truth for this "summer". How many contributors doubled its portfolio and doubled the income?

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #21 on:** August 06, 2019, 11:30 »

Quote from: Deyan Georgiev on August 06, 2019, 11:07

How many contributors doubled its portfolio and doubled the income?

Well, the world doesn't work like that, unless you are the only person in the world.

If you double your portfolio but the total portfolio of everyone quadrupled, you have actually cut your relative portfolio in half.

If the number of customers doubled in the same time you might (statistically) expect around the same earnings.

Lina · « **Reply #22 on:** August 06, 2019, 16:42 »

AS web subscription is not available in all countries, maybe not crucial, but probably doesn't help to get more sales. Same thing is with Adobe software, it's really an issue for us in countries geoblocked by Adobe, but nobody cares.

ShadySue · « **Reply #23 on:** August 06, 2019, 16:55 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 05, 2019, 21:36

Yep, last month was about half of my peak, which was last November.

I sure hope you're doing well on Stocksy!

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #24 on:** August 06, 2019, 16:59 »

Quote from: ShadySue on August 06, 2019, 16:55

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 05, 2019, 21:36
Yep, last month was about half of my peak, which was last November.
I sure hope you're doing well on Stocksy!

Oddly enough, I get a nice chunk of change from our partnership with Adobe. I'm not hating on AS by any means. I just wish every site would show some growth.

wds · « **Reply #25 on:** August 06, 2019, 17:33 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 06, 2019, 16:59

Quote from: ShadySue on August 06, 2019, 16:55
Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 05, 2019, 21:36
Yep, last month was about half of my peak, which was last November.
I sure hope you're doing well on Stocksy!

Oddly enough, I get a nice chunk of change from our partnership with Adobe. I'm not hating on AS by any means. I just wish every site would show some growth.

Are any sites showing growth ?!?

gnirtS · « **Reply #26 on:** August 06, 2019, 18:43 »

Something odd happened on the week of June 17th to me on here.

Prior to that it was growing every month and has done consistently.
Suddenly on that June 17th week income dropped by 40% or so on the rolling average and has been fairly stable at that now low level every week since.
My download *numbers* have stayed pretty constant but the earnings have dropped significantly and instantly since that date.

(and yes, i am still uploading).

Oddly SS has been growing the last month or 2 which surprised me somewhat.

Deyan Georgiev Photography · « **Reply #27 on:** August 06, 2019, 22:46 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on August 06, 2019, 11:30

Quote from: Deyan Georgiev on August 06, 2019, 11:07
How many contributors doubled its portfolio and doubled the income?

Well, the world doesn't work like that, unless you are the only person in the world.

If you double your portfolio but the total portfolio of everyone quadrupled, you have actually cut your relative portfolio in half.

If the number of customers doubled in the same time you might (statistically) expect around the same earnings.

Exactly, you're right. What i waned to say is that this "summer" have drop in sales not because of the summer period(we compare this summer to the past a few years summers), but because of other factors like portfolio growth in all agencies as a whole. I'm sure AS doing well.

HalfFull · « **Reply #28 on:** August 07, 2019, 00:27 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 06, 2019, 16:59

Quote from: ShadySue on August 06, 2019, 16:55
Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 05, 2019, 21:36
Yep, last month was about half of my peak, which was last November.
I sure hope you're doing well on Stocksy!

Oddly enough, I get a nice chunk of change from our partnership with Adobe. I'm not hating on AS by any means. I just wish every site would show some growth.

+1 AS/FT have been been a consistent and good earner for me... it's because of that consistency when things go bad like they have for the last 1-2 months, it makes it all the more obvious. They are/were my preferred agency and I do hope they turn things around. Yesterday, AS was one third of SS which was a rarity but is happening all to frequently now.

What I would say is that I do appreciate the likes of Dennis and Mat coming here and answering questions... it's a lot more than most/all agencies would do

trucic · « **Reply #29 on:** August 07, 2019, 00:48 »

Quote from: gnirtS on August 06, 2019, 18:43

Something odd happened on the week of June 17th to me on here.

Prior to that it was growing every month and has done consistently.
Suddenly on that June 17th week income dropped by 40% or so on the rolling average and has been fairly stable at that now low level every week since.
My download *numbers* have stayed pretty constant but the earnings have dropped significantly and instantly since that date.

(and yes, i am still uploading).

Oddly SS has been growing the last month or 2 which surprised me somewhat.

Definitely something happened in June... sales are at level of my beginnings with stock... but, not seeing growth on SS... something happened there in April, with totally slow periods before and during summer... in both cases, much different then regular summer slowdowns...

MxR · « **Reply #30 on:** August 07, 2019, 02:30 »

Quote from: mindstorm on August 05, 2019, 22:08

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 05, 2019, 21:36
Yep, last month was about half of my peak, which was last November.
Yep. We call that "summer."

Happens every year. People take vacations. Companies decide what to for the coming Winter season. Nothing unusual.

This is not a paycheck that remains the same whether you work or not, or whether the stuff you sell is wanted or not. It has seasonal variations, and the pipeline must be constantly fed to keep the material fresh.

Learn to live with it... or leave the hobby/business (getting harder and harder to really call it a business...)

Are you new in this business?

trabuco · « **Reply #31 on:** August 07, 2019, 05:33 »

I'm new but AS is my lowest earner far from DS or BS after 11 months.

Julied83 · « **Reply #32 on:** August 07, 2019, 09:25 »

Adobe Stock is down for me right now . Anyone else ?

PhotoBomb · « **Reply #33 on:** August 07, 2019, 09:30 »

Yep down, and they have been extremely slow (server wise) for the last couple days for me as well.

HalfFull · « **Reply #35 on:** August 07, 2019, 10:12 »

Quote from: PhotoBomb on August 07, 2019, 09:30

Yep down, and they have been extremely slow (server wise) for the last couple days for me as well.

I'm regularly seeing Server 500 errors on the contributor side of things and times where it just hangs for ages. Long spells of absolutely nothing at AS in terms of sales.

I also reported a problem whereby the $ amount under "Activity" was not matching the $ amount under "Earnings" the other day... something just feels wrong there at the moment. It's almost as if they've been hiring ex-SS software engineers

KeremGo · « **Reply #36 on:** August 08, 2019, 18:20 »

Quote from: Dennis Radeke on August 06, 2019, 04:50

This, and nothing more. Adobe Stock is growing and doing well. There will be seasonality and depending on what your content focuses on, you will have good and bad months. We're working all of the time to improve sales and the experience for all contributors. If I could even out the seasonality, I would.... ;-)

These are really great to hear!

alexandersr · « **Reply #37 on:** August 08, 2019, 18:32 »

Quote from: davidbautista on August 05, 2019, 20:33

I'm experiencing the opposite situation. Even tho my portfolio is half editorials.

Enviado desde mi LYA-L29 mediante Tapatalk

When did Adobe Stock start accepting editorial material?

davidbautista · « **Reply #38 on:** August 08, 2019, 19:47 »

Quote from: alexandersr on August 08, 2019, 18:32

Quote from: davidbautista on August 05, 2019, 20:33
I'm experiencing the opposite situation. Even tho my portfolio is half editorials.

Enviado desde mi LYA-L29 mediante Tapatalk

When did Adobe Stock start accepting editorial material?

I mean I don't have a lot of material in Adobe because I shoot mostly editorials.

Aaaan, it seems that Adobe is now accepting editorials

(from today)

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noodle · « **Reply #39 on:** August 08, 2019, 20:01 »

Just to clarify
Adobes accepting illustrative editorial from Emerald members for now

If you’re not Emerald you can apply if you have a good collection of illus ed

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