ISP - Horrible month so far + Alexa numbers down, anyone else?

[tank_bmb]

Having a horrible month on IstockPhoto so far.  I normally go with the ebb and flow of stock earnings, but in this case I am on pace to have my lowest earnings in 2 years on that site!    Making it even stranger, I had my 2nd BME on ISP last month.

SS is doing rather well, but not enough to make up for it.

Also, the traffic based on Alexa seems to have crashed for ISP beginning in mid-June.

Anyone noticing the same thing?

[bittersweet]

Not really.

I'm down about 6% from June so far. Considering it is only the 14th, and the first half of the month contained a major US holiday, I'm not concerned.

[sharpshot]

...Also, the traffic based on Alexa seems to have crashed for ISP beginning in mid-June...

Could be something to do with designers taking their summer holidays.  Spring and autumn seem to be the peaks for microstock downloads with falls during the summer and winter.

[Stu99]

About a 30% drop compared to this time last month, so yes, I have noticed a slow down. This seems to be a trend for me at IS over the last few months, however, my other main sites are all doing well and showing growth. Such is the ebb and flow in microstock :-)

[lumina]

According to Alexa, traffic in istockphoto is now less than 50% of one month ago. I think istockphoto clients are professional designer in bigger proportion than others microstock sites.

[Read_My_Rights]

It's the first time and low popularity DLs that keep me at an even keel. Too many XSmall though. The popular files (Designer best starting materials) are taking a beating. 2 high earning days ($17) this month prevent the worst. VERY variable $/DL days eg. 8DL for $17 are followed by 8 DLs for 5.70. Summer sux for growing earnings.

[faber]

-> tankbmb

Similar experience here, I already posted this in the "ref5esh" thread. Ebb and flow + limited portfolio size (I have similar numbers, 500 UL/3300DL) + holiday season. And being non-exclusive doesn't help either (not surprising, no complaint).

We should be glad that the other sites compensate this drop (at least some of it).

[Stu99]

I should mention that my drop in earnings this month is based on a drop in average earnings per sale. Too many small sales in comparison to previous months.

[Whiz]

Having a horrible month on IstockPhoto so far.  I normally go with the ebb and flow of stock earnings, but in this case I am on pace to have my lowest earnings in 2 years on that site!    Making it even stranger, I had my 2nd BME on ISP last month.

SS is doing rather well, but not enough to make up for it.

Also, the traffic based on Alexa seems to have crashed for ISP beginning in mid-June.

Anyone noticing the same thing?

Feel better? 

[abimages]

My usual top 3 IS SS and DT are neck and neck on earnings so far this month. Whilst FT is way ahead of them all! Usually IS is always way out in front. So yes I see a big drop too!

[lisafx]

Wow, the Alexa graph is really stunning!  I just did a comparison between ISP, SS, DT, and FT. 

I had put the slower sales down the the summer slump, but the other three seem to be pretty even while only ISP shows a really sharp decline over the last month.

My numbers at istock have only dropped by about 15% though, not 50% as the Alexa graph indicates.  It makes me wonder if there is something up at Alexa. 

Could they have changed the way istock's traffic is calculated or something?  Hard to believe a 50% drop in a month when my numbers aren't showing it.

[louoates]

Whiz....what a trend. Looks like next month you'll be paying Istock.

[Marburg]

For me, July has been my best month ever.  I'm fairly new so it doesn't take a whole lot to make that happen.
Marburg

Having a horrible month on IstockPhoto so far.  I normally go with the ebb and flow of stock earnings, but in this case I am on pace to have my lowest earnings in 2 years on that site!    Making it even stranger, I had my 2nd BME on ISP last month.

SS is doing rather well, but not enough to make up for it.

Also, the traffic based on Alexa seems to have crashed for ISP beginning in mid-June.

Anyone noticing the same thing?

[bittersweet]

Could they have changed the way istock's traffic is calculated or something?  Hard to believe a 50% drop in a month when my numbers aren't showing it.

Maybe they figured out a way to exclude the F5 page loads.

[lisafx]

Could they have changed the way istock's traffic is calculated or something?  Hard to believe a 50% drop in a month when my numbers aren't showing it.

Maybe they figured out a way to exclude the F5 page loads.

I know you're joking, but you may actually be onto something there...

[tank_bmb]

Wow, the Alexa graph is really stunning!  I just did a comparison between ISP, SS, DT, and FT. 

I had put the slower sales down the the summer slump, but the other three seem to be pretty even while only ISP shows a really sharp decline over the last month.

My numbers at istock have only dropped by about 15% though, not 50% as the Alexa graph indicates.  It makes me wonder if there is something up at Alexa. 

Could they have changed the way istock's traffic is calculated or something?  Hard to believe a 50% drop in a month when my numbers aren't showing it.

Yeah - I just found it strange as IStock is one of my most consistent earners.  If they perform anywhere near normal for me, I was looking at a BME this month.

Would also add that my gallery is all travel photography if that has anything to do with it.

[cphoto]

Having a horrible month on IstockPhoto so far.  I normally go with the ebb and flow of stock earnings, but in this case I am on pace to have my lowest earnings in 2 years on that site!    Making it even stranger, I had my 2nd BME on ISP last month.

SS is doing rather well, but not enough to make up for it.

Also, the traffic based on Alexa seems to have crashed for ISP beginning in mid-June.

Anyone noticing the same thing?

Feel better? 

Wait until you see mine, LOL!  I'm like 80% down this month, never seen that:

[DanP68]

Could they have changed the way istock's traffic is calculated or something?  Hard to believe a 50% drop in a month when my numbers aren't showing it.

Maybe they figured out a way to exclude the F5 page loads.

No.  Just examine the unique visitor graphs on the various analytic sites.  1 unique visitor counts as 1 visit per 24 hours, no matter how many times the F5 key is hit.

I don't think the exclusives are seeing the fall quite like the rest of us.  At the same time that traffic is falling at istock, they are also giving huge best match advantages to exclusives. 

If you want evidence, start a private lightbox and rank by best match.  Further evidence is the personal experiences of people on the boards.  Most independents are saying sales have fallen through the floor, whereas exclusives generally mention no problem with sales trends.

[loop]

Month is going on par with June, that fell a 15% from May. Second half of July was far better for me than first half in past years, so I hope at the end, July witl be somewhere between May and June.

[madelaide]

I have been facing a steady slow decline in IS for a few months.  Now in the middle of July, I'm half way from my June dlds, so it seems stable.  Earnings per image have been slightly better, in fact.

Regards,
Adelaide

[Seren]

Feel better? 

Mine is looking very similar!

I didn't want to believe it when I put the stats into the istockroyalties spreadsheet a few days ago...

[Freezingpictures]

I must say I am quite dissappointed from IS. While except StockXpert every other agency seem to go up, downloads decrease every month for me at IS since January. This month really is bad.

[epixx]

Same trend here. If it continues, IS will be 30% lower than July 2007. Halfway through this month, FT is ahead of them. That has never happened to me before.

There are some strange new trends within my portfolio. FT, 123 and FP are soaring, while many of the other are going down. IS isn't the worst one, but StockXpert and DT are really bad. Still, my total sales are 30% up from the same month last year, so I guess I should be all smiles 

Oh, and btw., I would take the Alexa stats with a grain of salt. For some reason, at some agencies, like SV, I have lots of views but very few sales. Alexa doesn't see the difference between those just browsing and those buying. Apparently, some agencies attract more browsers than the others.

[travelstock]

Well I'm * the trend on IS, although I think this is partly due to an EL sale yesterday which has given the stats a boost. Last month was also my BME, but then I have been uploading a lot lately.

I wonder if the traffic can partly be attributed to some upload problems at IS this month, along with the iStockalypse that has apparently pulled out a lot of reviewers etc. Having said that the current dip according to Alexa is lower than Christmas.

[Pixart]

Fewer sales and sizes are much smaller also.  Is it only bloggers buying photos this summer?