And...?

Go on just search with the word "teamwork" at all agencies and see what happens. Page after page of all similar images, handshakes, circles of hands, groups laughing, etc, etc. Page after page.

Is it any wonder?  that the sorts are the way they are and that probably the majority of shots never see the light of day.

This is just one single example.

Then look at the amount of sales  on them 100s up to over 10,000 so they are obviously what a lot of buyers are looking for
.

I searched "facial massage" the other day and the number one image (once I refined to "new images") was an editorial of some old wrinkly guy in sth america.

"christmas" is the worst, some real violations in there, even despite istock's controlled vocab thingy.

So, what would your ideal image be to represent "teamwork." It's kind of a vague concept.

Hmmm. iStock's best match is f*cked up, but if same sort of images are showing across all the agencies' default sort order, it presumably shows that's what most buyers want for that keyword.
A 'random' button which changed the search quite radically with every click might be welcome for some buyers, but it seems that most stick with the apparently 'safe' options.