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Author Topic: Another Massive Best Match Shift  (Read 246874 times)

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helix7

« Reply #1050 on: February 24, 2012, 21:16 »
0
I actually emailed them about the PP and the very small number of files I've got in there right now. Not to encourage them to get on it, but just to see what they'd say. The problem is so widespread that I've really got no concerns about my portfolio getting transitioned over any time soon.

The response I got was a canned "Due to the incredibly high number of images eligible for the Partner Program, this project will take some time..." sort of thing. I'll make this prediction now: A year from now my whole port is still not in the PP. I'll say 80% or less of my istock images are on TS one year from today.

I also asked them about the oversaturation issue with vector files. Also not expecting them to do anything about it, and just wondering if they knew what the reason was (I do, but doubt that they get it).  

For anyone not aware of this issue, here's a comparison of two of my images on TS vs. istock:



The response to this issue was, "We do not have administrative access to the site therefore we cannot rectify this issue at this time."

Essentially, istock has no control over how images are ported over, so if TS ingests images using the EPS file to generate the preview instead of the user-supplied JPG, you get these oversaturated previews that aren't representative of the actual EPS image, and istock is powerless to do anything about it.

Kinda scary, since all of these Getty sites are supposed to become more integrated. They can't even talk to each other or share existing image data. And if there's a problem, they can't do anything to fix it because they "do not have administrative access."


PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #1051 on: February 25, 2012, 08:16 »
0
Looks like they switched it somewhat back but now when I checked my usual keywords once you get past the first 5% of the images everything turns to EdStock.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #1052 on: February 25, 2012, 09:12 »
0
Looks like they switched it somewhat back but now when I checked my usual keywords once you get past the first 5% of the images everything turns to EdStock.
Yeah.  >:(
Two which just popped into my port in the past couple of hours are down at 44 and 45 of one of their two main keywords, well trumped by CSA's cartoons.
Be careful what you wish for.  :(
« Last Edit: February 25, 2012, 10:05 by ShadySue »

wut

« Reply #1053 on: February 25, 2012, 18:11 »
0
Since when indie XXXL files cost only 23 credits? Weren't they sold at 25 before? Weren't the prices even increased by 2 or 3 credits?

« Reply #1054 on: February 26, 2012, 02:37 »
0
Since when indie XXXL files cost only 23 credits? Weren't they sold at 25 before? Weren't the prices even increased by 2 or 3 credits?

I think there was a surreptitious price shake-up last month. Some things went up a bit, some things went down.

wut

« Reply #1055 on: February 27, 2012, 11:08 »
0
ANd another BME, a big EL just took care of that. I dunno, if IS keeps on delivering for me at this rate, I might go exclusive by the end of the year ;D . Joking aside, SS is probably going to be 2nd BME unless an EL or two make it BME. But looking at other sites that are performing badly, below the top 4 or 5 pathetically really, it would be nice to get rid of so much hassle and just contribute to a single site.

« Reply #1056 on: February 29, 2012, 06:34 »
0
Since the weekend its all gone down again, im having an awful week so far.

I just wish they would stop f'in around with the best match, just leave it alone for * sake.

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #1057 on: February 29, 2012, 17:21 »
0
Since the weekend its all gone down again, im having an awful week so far.

I just wish they would stop f'in around with the best match, just leave it alone for  sake.

would we really want that? given that any best match shake seems to equally affect contributors, either up or down. the best match has had my sales on an absolute roller coaster the last month. but I wouldn't have it become a static thing...at least with the variables things can look up from one day to the next

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #1058 on: February 29, 2012, 17:33 »
0
Yes, what if they stuck it at a best match which generally disadvantaged you/me?

« Reply #1059 on: February 29, 2012, 22:18 »
0
Well, regardless of all the constant medling that goes on, the search engine appears to be a naturally evolving beast anyway. It still moves you around based upon how good your content is ie. file age, ranking, downloads, location based searches etc. And used to work like this for many years before these crazy best match shifts became all the rage.

lagereek

« Reply #1060 on: March 01, 2012, 01:56 »
0
"how good your content is"   no way! in my standard ten searches, I find nothing but generic stuff, stuff that anybody with a P/S, can shoot and highly irrelevant material.
Sure enough the majority on first 2 pages have very few views and hardly any DLs.  Ofcourse its to be expected since TS, has taken over.

CarlssonInc

« Reply #1061 on: March 01, 2012, 03:01 »
0
"how good your content is"   no way! in my standard ten searches, I find nothing but generic stuff, stuff that anybody with a P/S, can shoot and highly irrelevant material.
Sure enough the majority on first 2 pages have very few views and hardly any DLs.  Ofcourse its to be expected since TS, has taken over.

My understanding though is that "generic stuff" sells in greater number than "niche stuff" (hence the name) - therefore a search featuring more generic stuff is catering better to the the greater market...

I don't find any clear evidence of the iStock best match search returning any great numbers of highly irrelevant material. Like most things you get back what you put in i.e. a more eloborate (several keywords, ANDs, NOTs etc.) specific search returns much better results.

lagereek

« Reply #1062 on: March 01, 2012, 03:26 »
0
"how good your content is"   no way! in my standard ten searches, I find nothing but generic stuff, stuff that anybody with a P/S, can shoot and highly irrelevant material.
Sure enough the majority on first 2 pages have very few views and hardly any DLs.  Ofcourse its to be expected since TS, has taken over.

My understanding though is that "generic stuff" sells in greater number than "niche stuff" (hence the name) - therefore a search featuring more generic stuff is catering better to the the greater market...

I don't find any clear evidence of the iStock best match search returning any great numbers of highly irrelevant material. Like most things you get back what you put in i.e. a more eloborate (several keywords, ANDs, NOTs etc.) specific search returns much better results.

Yes it probably does sell better but it doesnt look good or inspire, does it?  so called top-notch agency and on first 5 pages you find nothing but mediocre material. I can see creative buyers turning their nose and just move on to next site.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #1063 on: March 01, 2012, 03:48 »
0
Yes it probably does sell better but it doesnt look good or inspire, does it?  so called top-notch agency and on first 5 pages you find nothing but mediocre material. I can see creative buyers turning their nose and just move on to next site.
The funny thing is that creative buyers don't seem to care one iota about accuracy. I see totally wrongly-tagged images selling over correctly keyworded ones quite regularly. I don't even mean spam, where the photo is of an A and it's tagged A, B, C, where B and C are wrong. I mean that the main subject is A, and it's only tagged B, and really it's just a photo of A, and they still sell.
I'm guessing that'll be your 'creative buyers'.
It's the technical/scientific/knowledgeable buyers you stand to lose, though probably they are more likely to use specialist libraries anyway.

CarlssonInc

« Reply #1064 on: March 01, 2012, 03:55 »
0
"how good your content is"   no way! in my standard ten searches, I find nothing but generic stuff, stuff that anybody with a P/S, can shoot and highly irrelevant material.
Sure enough the majority on first 2 pages have very few views and hardly any DLs.  Ofcourse its to be expected since TS, has taken over.

My understanding though is that "generic stuff" sells in greater number than "niche stuff" (hence the name) - therefore a search featuring more generic stuff is catering better to the the greater market...

I don't find any clear evidence of the iStock best match search returning any great numbers of highly irrelevant material. Like most things you get back what you put in i.e. a more eloborate (several keywords, ANDs, NOTs etc.) specific search returns much better results.

Yes it probably does sell better but it doesnt look good or inspire, does it?  so called top-notch agency and on first 5 pages you find nothing but mediocre material. I can see creative buyers turning their nose and just move on to next site.

I don't care about the type of buyer, as long as they are just that BUYERS. The more buyers the better, the more they buy the better - I don't give a toss whether they are from some "top-notch agency" or smelly half-wit Joe Average buying images for some geek newsletter. Everyone's dollar is worth just the same, and appreciated just the same. Any stock-library worth it's name would have that as it's number one priority - severing up content that sales, generic or not.

If someone feel the needs to impress someone, they should take their best images, get them blown up, frame them and try to get them into an art gallery or go down the vanity publishing route.

Also, keep in mind that "creative buyers" which by I assume you mean more "professional" buyers are more likely to be more used to advanced searching and probably wouldn't go for first page material which they quite right would think that many others would go for...they would probably quite quickly bury themselves deep into the search and find something really unique, something that stands out, a golden nugget, something that give evidence that they are in fact "professional" buyers.

lagereek

« Reply #1065 on: March 01, 2012, 05:59 »
0
"how good your content is"   no way! in my standard ten searches, I find nothing but generic stuff, stuff that anybody with a P/S, can shoot and highly irrelevant material.
Sure enough the majority on first 2 pages have very few views and hardly any DLs.  Ofcourse its to be expected since TS, has taken over.

My understanding though is that "generic stuff" sells in greater number than "niche stuff" (hence the name) - therefore a search featuring more generic stuff is catering better to the the greater market...

I don't find any clear evidence of the iStock best match search returning any great numbers of highly irrelevant material. Like most things you get back what you put in i.e. a more eloborate (several keywords, ANDs, NOTs etc.) specific search returns much better results.

Yes it probably does sell better but it doesnt look good or inspire, does it?  so called top-notch agency and on first 5 pages you find nothing but mediocre material. I can see creative buyers turning their nose and just move on to next site.

I don't care about the type of buyer, as long as they are just that BUYERS. The more buyers the better, the more they buy the better - I don't give a toss whether they are from some "top-notch agency" or smelly half-wit Joe Average buying images for some geek newsletter. Everyone's dollar is worth just the same, and appreciated just the same. Any stock-library worth it's name would have that as it's number one priority - severing up content that sales, generic or not.

If someone feel the needs to impress someone, they should take their best images, get them blown up, frame them and try to get them into an art gallery or go down the vanity publishing route.

Also, keep in mind that "creative buyers" which by I assume you mean more "professional" buyers are more likely to be more used to advanced searching and probably wouldn't go for first page material which they quite right would think that many others would go for...they would probably quite quickly bury themselves deep into the search and find something really unique, something that stands out, a golden nugget, something that give evidence that they are in fact "professional" buyers.

Yeah but according to all stas, not even joe bloggs is buying very much, is he?  I agree with you, who cares who buys, only the creative buyer tend to spend a lot more money, tend to buy much more and much larger files then the ordinary punter.

Remember Ingemar Bergman?  his motto in film-making, start strong, ease up in the middle and then end strong. A search starting strong and with lots of variety will hold the interest alive and the onlooker wants to see more,  a mediocre start doesnt hold.

best

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #1066 on: March 01, 2012, 06:13 »
0

Yeah but according to all stas, not even joe bloggs is buying very much, is he?

So far the stats here and on the iStock thread seem to indicate vastly improved sales on iStock compared to last Feb. The only person so far who has reported being really down compared to last Feb has only added c20 files to his/her port in the past year, (though that is almost 10% of their port).

lagereek

« Reply #1067 on: March 01, 2012, 06:26 »
0

Yeah but according to all stas, not even joe bloggs is buying very much, is he?

So far the stats here and on the iStock thread seem to indicate vastly improved sales on iStock compared to last Feb. The only person so far who has reported being really down compared to last Feb has only added c20 files to his/her port in the past year, (though that is almost 10% of their port).

I agree! and at the moment, under the indie circumbstances I cant complain too much but its still nowhere near the way it used to be. I do know lots of pro buyers who used IS, the majority of them shop elsewhere nowdays.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #1068 on: March 01, 2012, 06:47 »
0
I agree! and at the moment, under the indie circumbstances I cant complain too much but its still nowhere near the way it used to be. I do know lots of pro buyers who used IS, the majority of them shop elsewhere nowdays.
Like you say, as you're indie, you can supply them wherever they shop; and by (mostly) undercutting iStock prices, certainly compared to if you were exclusive, they no doubt love you for it.  ;)

« Reply #1069 on: March 01, 2012, 07:15 »
0
So far the stats here and on the iStock thread seem to indicate vastly improved sales on iStock compared to last Feb. The only person so far who has reported being really down compared to last Feb has only added c20 files to his/her port in the past year, (though that is almost 10% of their port).

There's only been 18 replies so far (that in itself is remarkable) almost entirely small players and/or those who have hugely increased portfolio size.

My own sales at IS, relative to Feb 2011, were 40% down in DLs and 17% down in $'s (thanks to P+) however that is marginally better than the previous month. In contrast SS was 40% up and BigStock 31% up. I wouldn't hold your breath in anticipation of Istock winning back customers __ judging by my data they're still heading elsewhere.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2012, 07:17 by gostwyck »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #1070 on: March 01, 2012, 07:19 »
0
So far the stats here and on the iStock thread seem to indicate vastly improved sales on iStock compared to last Feb. The only person so far who has reported being really down compared to last Feb has only added c20 files to his/her port in the past year, (though that is almost 10% of their port).
There's only been 18 replies so far (that in itself is remarkable)
Not so remarkable:the stats are 2 days behind. Plus lots of us are banned.  ::)
I'm very much ;average' there - my $$ are up compared to Feb 2011; my dls are waaaaay up (the discrepancy is no ELs this year). I'll post in the thread here once the stats are updated.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2012, 07:22 by ShadySue »

« Reply #1071 on: March 01, 2012, 10:46 »
0
So far the stats here and on the iStock thread seem to indicate vastly improved sales on iStock compared to last Feb. The only person so far who has reported being really down compared to last Feb has only added c20 files to his/her port in the past year, (though that is almost 10% of their port).
There's only been 18 replies so far (that in itself is remarkable)
Not so remarkable:the stats are 2 days behind. Plus lots of us are banned.  ::)
I'm very much ;average' there - my $$ are up compared to Feb 2011; my dls are waaaaay up (the discrepancy is no ELs this year). I'll post in the thread here once the stats are updated.

The stats have been updated, 41 replies so far ... and now not looking quite so rosy.

lagereek

« Reply #1072 on: March 01, 2012, 10:52 »
0
So far the stats here and on the iStock thread seem to indicate vastly improved sales on iStock compared to last Feb. The only person so far who has reported being really down compared to last Feb has only added c20 files to his/her port in the past year, (though that is almost 10% of their port).
There's only been 18 replies so far (that in itself is remarkable)
Not so remarkable:the stats are 2 days behind. Plus lots of us are banned.  ::)
I'm very much ;average' there - my $$ are up compared to Feb 2011; my dls are waaaaay up (the discrepancy is no ELs this year). I'll post in the thread here once the stats are updated.

Most of you are banned, hey?  well not a very good recommendation is it ;) see what I mean, theres more to life then just lolly, isnt it.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #1073 on: March 01, 2012, 10:59 »
0
So far the stats here and on the iStock thread seem to indicate vastly improved sales on iStock compared to last Feb. The only person so far who has reported being really down compared to last Feb has only added c20 files to his/her port in the past year, (though that is almost 10% of their port).
There's only been 18 replies so far (that in itself is remarkable)
Not so remarkable:the stats are 2 days behind. Plus lots of us are banned.  ::)
I'm very much ;average' there - my $$ are up compared to Feb 2011; my dls are waaaaay up (the discrepancy is no ELs this year). I'll post in the thread here once the stats are updated.

Most of you are banned, hey?  well not a very good recommendation is it ;) see what I mean, theres more to life then just lolly, isnt it.

Oh no, it's only money that makes me happy.
Besides if I was over there I might just accidentally help someone who would overtake me in RCs - and then where would I be?  ;)

lagereek

« Reply #1074 on: March 01, 2012, 11:19 »
0
So far the stats here and on the iStock thread seem to indicate vastly improved sales on iStock compared to last Feb. The only person so far who has reported being really down compared to last Feb has only added c20 files to his/her port in the past year, (though that is almost 10% of their port).
There's only been 18 replies so far (that in itself is remarkable)
Not so remarkable:the stats are 2 days behind. Plus lots of us are banned.  ::)
I'm very much ;average' there - my $$ are up compared to Feb 2011; my dls are waaaaay up (the discrepancy is no ELs this year). I'll post in the thread here once the stats are updated.

Blimey!  Scotish lass, arent you,  wouldnt like to be on the wrong side of you :D

Most of you are banned, hey?  well not a very good recommendation is it ;) see what I mean, theres more to life then just lolly, isnt it.

Oh no, it's only money that makes me happy.
Besides if I was over there I might just accidentally help someone who would overtake me in RCs - and then where would I be?  ;)


 

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