Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on February 22, 2012, 23:28

Quote from: StanRohrer on February 22, 2012, 23:03
Sometimes I wonder if we are looking at this wrong.  Do they boost some segment of the library?

I'm thinking it's more of a constant shuffle to give sellable files an opportunity to rise up.

That's really idealized, that's what it's supposed to do, while in fact we know it's more or less broken, spitting out bad/average search results. More if you're an indie, of course

Odd, I'm seeing a major best match shift on Google chrome; a different (but also major) best match sort on Safari; and a third different best match sort on the browser on the smart phone.  Some of these are way different, e.g. a file that shows up in the third row of the best match sort on google doesn't show up until the second page of files on the smartphone browser.  It's really odd. 

Well I think this version is very strongly favouring old content once again.

Quote from: holgs on February 23, 2012, 04:12
Well I think this version is very strongly favouring old content once again.

Yes, I will second that one. All new files are gone to back of my PF. No sales since the change 

The upside is that the ingested stuff like Ed and CSA are no longer dominating searches. 

Quote from: ShadySue on February 23, 2012, 17:04
The upside is that the ingested stuff like Ed and CSA are no longer dominating searches. 

Not for them it isn't.

Quote from: holgs on February 23, 2012, 04:12
Well I think this version is very strongly favouring old content once again.

Until Monday or maybe Thursday, (new month) then someone flips the switch and everything gets tossed into the boiling sea of chaos again. 

Quote from: ShadySue on February 23, 2012, 17:04
The upside is that the ingested stuff like Ed and CSA are no longer dominating searches. 

I happened to notice Edstock had less files yesterday. Now they are uploaded maybe they are sorting them out?

Haven't really noticed a change in best match from a sales point of view. Sales are still good.

My sales have  been suffering so badly since the change even as an exclusive videographer. I hope they will switch back again soon, sooo bad!!!

My sales are almost dead the last 3 days

With this new shift, iStock has basically said new images are worthless not important.

Someone just had a thread asking if they should upload or not, which was deleted.
ETA: Looks like Kelvin put it back up with a stern warning that you cannot talk about the best match.

I wonder if iStock has any idea on how something like this hurts the productivity of their contributors?

They say they want "real" imaged but if you upload them now they will not be seen.

Quote from: wut on February 24, 2012, 11:56
My sales are almost dead the last 3 days

Mine have been dead the past 3 days as well, its got me worried. Never gone this long with this poor of a performance without a holiday or something causing it.

So...it has changed again, and will change again - no point in analysing something that will be old news in less than a month. This is part and parcel of contributing to iStock - they shake the search up from time to time, lesser seen files gets another chance to be seen again, hopefully be sold and gain traction.

This looks like a best match from about a year ago where best sellers were toward the front. Fortunately I have some former best sellers that are starting to sell again while the newer stuff looks like its pretty much DOA.

Yes, plenty of DLs since the latest change.

That re-instated thread is talking about whether people will upload in the current environment, and for good reasons, a number of posters there are saying they'll hold off.

When you look at the files in the queue - 32,812 - I guess that's why the number's so low. I thought 40K or so from a few months back was low - it was frequently at 90K when things were busy.

Quote from: jsnover on February 24, 2012, 18:32
When you look at the files in the queue - 32,812

I've always wondered ... maybe you know, Jo Ann? Or someone else?

What does that number include? Does it include all media types (photo, video, audio, etc.), or just photos? Does it include editorial, or just commercial?

Quote from: lagereek on February 24, 2012, 14:07
Yes, plenty of DLs since the latest change.

Yep, my old popular files are selling again. I don't mind giving the oldies a new chance from time to time.

Quote from: Freedom on February 24, 2012, 20:06

Quote from: lagereek on February 24, 2012, 14:07
Yes, plenty of DLs since the latest change.

Yep, my old popular files are selling again. I don't mind giving the oldies a new chance from time to time.

I agree that some of my older files are selling, but to bury the new files so deep it the issue.

Well it seems as if the Wizards of the best match listen to everyone.
Lobo posted this about an hour ago.
The current sort wasn't exactly what we had in mind this time around so we can expect things to be dialed back over the weekend.

Quote from: cmannphoto on February 24, 2012, 22:59
Well it seems as if the Wizards of the best match listen to everyone.
Lobo posted this about an hour ago.
The current sort wasn't exactly what we had in mind this time around so we can expect things to be dialed back over the weekend.

Actually this is even more worrisome. It is an admission that they don't have a clue what they are doing. The whole site seems to be experiencing some major disfunctionality right now. The stats haven't been updated since the 19th. Indexing of files is taking at least three days. The editorial queue is barely crawling while the creative queue is popping them out in three to six hours. (not much good since they won't appear in search till three days later and then be buried deep in best match). No one knows what is going on with the PP program or when we will get January's payout.

Not being a contributor and having no empathy for them, Lobo is very unconcerned that our newest work is DOA. His advice: the best match will change, get used to it. Don't talk about it. We're just fiddling with the dials back here and we couldn't care less if somebody loses a few days sales. If we screwed up, we will fix it in time. Be patient blah blah. 

Quote from: whimsikewl on February 25, 2012, 00:10


Actually this is even more worrisome. It is an admission that they don't have a clue what they are doing. The whole site seems to be experiencing some major disfunctionality right now. The stats haven't been updated since the 19th. Indexing of files is taking at least three days. The editorial queue is barely crawling while the creative queue is popping them out in three to six hours. (not much good since they won't appear in search till three days later and then be buried deep in best match). No one knows what is going on with the PP program or when we will get January's payout.

Yep, I see it that way too.  Guess those 30 or so people they let go were more important to the running of the site than the higher-ups thought. 

The URL for looking at the queue size (some admin posted this when they took the number of files in queue away from the front page a few years back) is http://www.istockphoto.com/stats

I don't know what the number includes, but I'm sure that the bulk of it is photos even if it does include other media

Regarding the best match "tweaking", I think it's working as well as the rest of the site, which is to say not very well. I think if you get your algorithm right, you don't change the best match at all, but what gets displayed does change as files sell, age, and new ones are added. Those factors are all taken into account when figuring out how to display search results.

I think their desire to try and maximize profit out of a system that was originally about trying to present the best results to the buyer is the major factor in them having totally messed up best match. The other is that their software engineers suck.

If I ever get the feeling that IS has stabilized as a business, stopped reducing commissions,  and things are once again making sense,  I'll submit more images.  Until then, it's not even worth the trouble of wading through their keyword and approval process only to find that - as an independent - I'm being shut out, or that my new images are buried, or I've been totally dumped and transferred to TS, or that commissions are being whacked again because 10 cents was just not sustainable.

I've quit thinking about IS.