Author Topic: iStock's * search tinkering is ruining my months (Read 4527 times)

ichiro17 · « **on:** April 11, 2007, 08:17 »

Well, the title pretty much explains it.

I was doing 50-70 dollars a month on iStock but now that they messed with the keywords again, I'm having a lot of zero download days. I like the site and the potential for downloads are there, but why does it have to be such a crapshoot?

vicu · « **Reply #1 on:** April 11, 2007, 08:40 »

I've tried not to get too worked up over a crappy day here or there. At the end of the month I'm still having record months, despite the occasional zero download day. How many images do you have in your portfolio? Is your subject matter very narrowly targeted? Seasonal? How do your AVERAGES look? Have you had a complete month that has been significantly less than the complete month before?

I am glad that they did away with the ratings weight in the best match search. Despite the fact that everyone was ranting about it, these same people were organizing their own groups to rate each others photos. I never did agree with the "if you can't beat em, join em" philosophy. Hopefully those individuals are now realizing that their time would have been better spent improving their skills.

stokfoto · « **Reply #2 on:** April 11, 2007, 09:05 »

Quote from: vicu on April 11, 2007, 08:40

I am glad that they did away with the ratings weight in the best match search.

Agree with you on that.I think ratings should remain as a way of expressing your appreciation on ones work,nothing more,as it is very subjective-and sometimes even can be biased,too. having said that receiving ratings and comments is still nice but they shouldn't have anysort of commercial impact on one's work IMO.

ichiro17 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 11, 2007, 09:31 »

I'm not saying that 0 download days are bad, but the overall projections for the month are going to be lower than last month. Only once before has a current month been less than the previous. I have 170 photos online (I would have more but they have this ridiculous rejection policy) and I upload the maximum per week.

I just hope the downloads pick up again because I just bought some new lenses and a 430EX and I'd like to pay for it.

sharply_done · « **Reply #4 on:** April 11, 2007, 11:20 »

Quote from: ichiro17 on April 11, 2007, 09:31

I'm not saying that 0 download days are bad, but the overall projections for the month are going to be lower than last month.

Well I'll say it: Zero DL days are bad! With 170 images online at IS I would expect that you should rarely, if ever, have them.

I don't understand your complaint - how did IS's "search tinkering"/"messing with the keywords" affect your DLs? Sure, they went down, but what makes you think it's due to something that IS did? Since you don't have that many images online at IS, maybe you should revisit your images with the goal of improving your keywords. A hassle, yes, but it may really pay off. Who knows, maybe the new keywording feature may be helpful.

April, I think, is not going to be a record month for many people - too many holidays. How ironic that I looked forward to holidays when I had conventional employment, but regard them as inconvenient now that I am independent.

ManicBlu · « **Reply #5 on:** April 21, 2007, 05:29 »

$50 to $70 a month with such a small port is actually quite good.

February and March were really good months so the beginning of April was like a shock, but, at least for me, it has been the same over all the sites not just iStock.

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Author Topic: iStock's * search tinkering is ruining my months (Read 4527 times)

ichiro17

vicu

stokfoto

ichiro17

sharply_done

ManicBlu

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