that is what all stock media sites are going to use in their search algorithms, and there is no secret recipe.

Well, that was all conjecture.  Lol.

There are ways that searches change that push various images or whole portfolios up and down in the search. For instance location search. I wish I had paid closer attention when I changed my address since it didn't change any of my photos (at least at the moment I did it) but suddenly my location was drastically different and if that is a factor in what images get shown to buyers... Sure the big picture is that keywords and sales are a huge factor, but do you take portfolio into account or just the image? So many factors can make the difference between good sales and poor sales and we are pretty much at the mercy of the search. Sure nobody can make the buyer buy an image they don't want, but with for example at SS 3850 pages of fireworks pics having your generic image on page one meant a lot of sales and having it not on the first 3 pages means almost no sales (an example I know for a fact since one of my images went from the first line of the first page to I have no idea where one day and sales did the same).

Maybe they make a secret deal with Nikon and those files get a boost. Or boost "pro" cameras, or whatever random thing they decide to boost. If their testing shows more sales they go with it even if it might help or hurt any one port or even the whole site in the long run.

Every stock photo company is going to use the same algorithm for search results.

They don't have to use exact code to be using the same algorithm. Algorithms can have variances.

They are all going to prioritize and code their search algorithm based on the data they have available, and they are all going to prioritize the results based on sales revenue first and views last, just as I describe.

There is a very limited amount of data to search (sales, titles, keywords, and quality scores, etc). the algorithms will be similar and simplistic. there is no company that is going to have a magic formula that is going to produce amazing search results. all the programmers are going to come up with similar algorithms. its not rocket science.

Not in my dictionary and you say yourself they will be similar which doesn't mean the same.

So, to review, all sites' sorting algorithms are different.  Got it.

And within a site, the algorithm could change weekly, daily or hourly.

Move on, nothing to see here.

Every stock photo company is going to use the same algorithm for search results.

They don't have to use exact code to be using the same algorithm. Algorithms can have variances.

They are all going to prioritize and code their search algorithm based on the data they have available, and they are all going to prioritize the results based on sales revenue first and views last, just as I describe.

There is a very limited amount of data to search (sales, titles, keywords, and quality scores, etc). the algorithms will be similar and simplistic. there is no company that is going to have a magic formula that is going to produce amazing search results. all the programmers are going to come up with similar algorithms. its not rocket science.

I dont get this?  from where do you get they are all going to use the same algorithm? I have never heard of that.

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on January 05, 2017, 06:56

So, to review, all sites' sorting algorithms are different.  Got it.

And within a site, the algorithm could change weekly, daily or hourly.

Move on, nothing to see here.

And even if we did know what a particular sort algorithm was, there's nothing we could do about it, and even if there was, most agencies take a very dim view of people who do try to play the system.

you said: " from where do you get they are all going to use the same algorithm? I have never heard of that."

to solve any problem, there will be many algorithms to solve the same problem. there will always be 1 algorithm that is better than the others. programmers will always choose the best algorithm (or the obvious one).

a stock media web site is basically a database driven web site, no different than a real estate site, ecommerce site, or any search engine. they use keyword density algorithms. the algorithms are very simple.

stock media search engines are so obvious, and simple, the algorithm is so basic, they will all use a keyword density search.

the most basc search:
select * from table where keywords like '%keyword%' order by sort_rank desc

not difficult.

you said: " from where do you get they are all going to use the same algorithm? I have never heard of that."

to solve any problem, there will be many algorithms to solve the same problem. there will always be 1 algorithm that is better than the others. programmers will always choose the best algorithm (or the obvious one).

a stock media web site is basically a database driven web site, no different than a real estate site, ecommerce site, or any search engine. they use keyword density algorithms. the algorithms are very simple.

stock media search engines are so obvious, and simple, the algorithm is so basic, they will all use a keyword density search.

the most basc search:
select * from table where keywords like '%keyword%' order by sort_rank desc

not difficult.

So that's how Google works right, purely on keywords?