Author Topic: I Don't Stand a Chance with Pond5 (Read 10510 times)

Asthebelltolls · « **on:** February 06, 2014, 21:43 »

I recently submitted a 30 second clip of an abandoned, empty and derelict shack.
It was accepted and after a few days I thought I'd check with Pond5 to see where
it was placed. Initially I used the simple search word "shack" and "best match" and couldn't find it.

Undaunted, I tried "man" and "shack" since I locked off the shot and walked into
the shack - using me as the model is relatively inexpensive

and adds a bit more interest to the setup. Still no luck!

When I look at Pond5's offerings using the search terms "man" and "shack" and see this at the top of the first page, I've got to wonder what my chances are of selling anything with Pond5.

https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/30408580/raw-footage-two-men-shacking-hands-full-hd-1920x1080.html

lisafx · « **Reply #1 on:** February 06, 2014, 22:07 »

Quote from: Asthebelltolls on February 06, 2014, 21:43

https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/30408580/raw-footage-two-men-shacking-hands-full-hd-1920x1080.html

OTOH, just be glad your shack with a man in it didn't have shag carpeting, or imagine what the search would have turned up!

ruchos · « **Reply #2 on:** February 06, 2014, 22:43 »

When was it accepted? It usually takes 3-4 days after acceptance for clips to show up in search results. It also would help a lot if you showed us your clip, so we can see your keywording, etc.

Rinderart · « **Reply #3 on:** February 07, 2014, 00:40 »

Sorry, P5 is a great site.One of Mine sells constantly.

https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/1039769/catv-1098-homeless-senior.html

Me · « **Reply #4 on:** February 07, 2014, 00:52 »

Quote from: Rinderart on February 07, 2014, 00:40

Sorry, P5 is a great site.One of Mine sells constantly.

https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/1039769/catv-1098-homeless-senior.html

Really? Constantly? 2 sales out of 28 views

emblem · « **Reply #5 on:** February 07, 2014, 02:36 »

Yeah slight exaggeration...

KB · « **Reply #6 on:** February 07, 2014, 13:51 »

Quote from: emblem on February 07, 2014, 02:36

Yeah slight exaggeration...

I think he meant this one:
https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/1042836/catv-1102-homeless-senior.html

14 sales in 3 years. Not exactly "constantly", but better than almost every clip of mine has done.

Rinderart · « **Reply #7 on:** February 07, 2014, 15:10 »

Oops, ya your right I also included other footage sites. sorry. But I like P5 a lot. Especially the upload process.And how they get back to you when theres a bug.

Asthebelltolls · « **Reply #8 on:** February 07, 2014, 17:59 »

Rinderart. This is a post about erroneous clips/images found in places they don't belong. Not about whether you like or dislike an agency.

Pond5 is not alone. Most agencies don't police their image/clip placements very well. When a prospective buyer uses the keywords "man" and "shack" they should not have to wade through two men shaking hands, a man eating prawns and a man walking his dog through a grocery store in the first eight clips. Period.

If I type in the keyword "cow", do I really want to see a cowgirl? If I type in the keyword "barn", do I really want to see a Barn Owl?

ShadySue · « **Reply #9 on:** February 07, 2014, 19:05 »

Quote from: Asthebelltolls on February 07, 2014, 17:59

Rinderart. This is a post about erroneous clips/images found in places they don't belong. Not about whether you like or dislike an agency.

Pond5 is not alone. Most agencies don't police their image/clip placements very well. When a prospective buyer uses the keywords "man" and "shack" they should not have to wade through two men shaking hands, a man eating prawns and a man walking his dog through a grocery store in the first eight clips. Period.

If I type in the keyword "cow", do I really want to see a cowgirl? If I type in the keyword "barn", do I really want to see a Barn Owl?

But almost every agency has the same problem - my standard test is Blue Whale, which normally turns up any random whale species or whale shark with blue sky or blue water.
Yet the alternative, a controlled vocabulary, isn't liked by a lot of contributors either.

ArenaCreative · « **Reply #10 on:** February 07, 2014, 20:54 »

I just uploaded my first 4 video clips there. My audio/beats have even sold a handful of times, which I made for fun when I decided to screw around with beat making. So far, very few views.

I will shack your hand if it would make you feel better Asthebelltolls

Rinderart · « **Reply #11 on:** February 07, 2014, 21:13 »

Quote from: Asthebelltolls on February 07, 2014, 17:59

Rinderart. This is a post about erroneous clips/images found in places they don't belong. Not about whether you like or dislike an agency.

Pond5 is not alone. Most agencies don't police their image/clip placements very well. When a prospective buyer uses the keywords "man" and "shack" they should not have to wade through two men shaking hands, a man eating prawns and a man walking his dog through a grocery store in the first eight clips. Period.

If I type in the keyword "cow", do I really want to see a cowgirl? If I type in the keyword "barn", do I really want to see a Barn Owl?

Sorry, I completely misread your post. To many windows open. The issue you mentioned is ongoing and probably to late to do anything about.

maxvis · « **Reply #12 on:** February 08, 2014, 00:10 »

Try including a set of steak knives with every sale.

ruchos · « **Reply #13 on:** February 08, 2014, 00:26 »

Quote from: Asthebelltolls on February 06, 2014, 21:43

I recently submitted a 30 second clip of an abandoned, empty and derelict shack.
It was accepted and after a few days I thought I'd check with Pond5 to see where
it was placed. Initially I used the simple search word "shack" and "best match" and couldn't find it.

Undaunted, I tried "man" and "shack" since I locked off the shot and walked into
the shack - using me as the model is relatively inexpensive and adds a bit more interest to the setup. Still no luck!

When I look at Pond5's offerings using the search terms "man" and "shack" and see this at the top of the first page, I've got to wonder what my chances are of selling anything with Pond5.

https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/30408580/raw-footage-two-men-shacking-hands-full-hd-1920x1080.html

In regards to the subject of the thread and your first paragraphs, I checked again and what I assume are your clips now show up in the first 30 for "shack" (best match search) and one of yours comes up first for "man" and "shack". Therefore I think you do stand a very good chance there.

There is a lot of badly key worded footage on P5, as with all agencies. Those bother me a lot more than a barn owl showing up when I am searching for a barn. At least as a buyer I understand that a barn owl may show up. If I keep seeing hands shaking and other completely irrelevant results when I search for "shack", that may turn me off a site and should definitely be cleaned up. I have sent messages to contributors before to let them know of incorrect spellings like that, and they are always appreciated and fix their errors. It would be better if P5 could do something from their end to help this though.

dingles · « **Reply #14 on:** February 08, 2014, 15:19 »

I had footage up on POND5 before I went exclusive and they never got a single view or sale. I currently have images there and the same thing, no views and no sales. I priced them all in line with the competition too. I gave up on them

cobalt · « **Reply #15 on:** February 08, 2014, 17:45 »

I think their view counter doesn't work properly.

it took me a long time before my files began selling on pond5 but now they sell regularly.

Basically for video I could probably do with just pond5 and SS, they get me 80% of the sales.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #16 on:** February 10, 2014, 13:02 »

I think you are correct and this has been reported over and over, so I'll believe it. Counters don't work.

As for search, unless it's a human, we can't expect Barn Owl to not see Barn and Owl, unless the keywords are "barn owl" together with the image. In which case someone will say, well I searched for Barn or Owl and my images don't show. What's wrong?

Hey folks, can't have it both ways! Searches have limitations and can't think. They also can only do what WE ask them to do. A good one would have an option for Barn AND Owl as a choice. And not display if only one word matched.

Now about Royal Gorge, which is going to get you all kinds of interesting results on any site. Super Bowl food, Royals in the UK and all kinds of gorges. Maybe even one of "Royal Gorge" on the Arkansas river.

So a better search from us as humans would not be two common words (Barn Owl?) but three and four word searches. Then see what comes up.

Bad search requests return bad search results. And before someone else points out the long used computer term. You can't expect a computer to understand what you want, just because you know what you wanted.

GIGO - Garbage in garbage out.

One word searches are plain useless, two words and you still might get garbage. If you are looking for something, the minimum should be at least three well qualified words that describe what one is looking for.

Quote from: cobalt on February 08, 2014, 17:45

I think their view counter doesn't work properly.

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Author Topic: I Don't Stand a Chance with Pond5 (Read 10510 times)

Asthebelltolls

lisafx

ruchos

Rinderart

Me

emblem

KB

Rinderart

Asthebelltolls

ShadySue

ArenaCreative

Rinderart

maxvis

ruchos

dingles

cobalt

Uncle Pete

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