MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: lewis larkin on September 12, 2013, 17:38
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as per ...
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=356210&page=1 (http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=356210&page=1)
Istock introduced a new bigger thumbnail version of the search page... and then withdrew it (as it was too slow) pending a 'better' way of introducing the feature
at the same time, they announce that 'editors pick' (or cronyism as you might term it) will become a 'search filter' ..
Ho hum ...
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It's been taken down as it was apparently making an already treacle-slow site even slower, so their tech guys are trying to find ways of making it faster. Yet again, they don't seem to test things before launch, but at least this time they took the new features down quickly enough - I couldn't even see them when I tried, even before Kelvin's repost.
And yes, the 'crony search'. Another booster to my theory that they only want 'big hitters' as exclusives. It's their ball, but I wish they would just spell out their plans officially, then we'd all know where we stood. Note, it's not just that EP would get preferential placement, the buyers could exclude everything else.
OTOH, in Pollyanna mode, the buyers don't seem (from personal and most people's anecdotal evidence) to be using the 'New' slider much, so maybe they'll just stay with best match or Popular.
I'm sure they'll tell us that the buyers were hammering their door telling them to let them exclude indie and plebby exclusive files, but keep in the faux-exclusive ones, please.
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I saw it in action, and it was chronically slow. As for the so called Editors Pick, what a complete joke. I notice at least one vector admin has virtually her entire portfolio so called 'Editors Pick', even small, inconsequential files of little value, thus making the whole process a farce before it even starts.
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I'm not convinced that iStock's strategy to promote certain files of their own choice (Vetta, Agency and now Editors' Pick...) is a very good idea. Shouldn't the number of downloads be all that matters? So that the images that customers are actually buying are at the top of each search?
I just noticed that one vector top seller (>200000 downloads) has one Editors' Pick image in his entire portfolio. And that's a one year old file with five downloads... !?
If somebody understand what their long term goal is with all these changes, please enlighten me. I don't get it.
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I'm not convinced that iStock's strategy to promote certain files of their own choice (Vetta, Agency and now Editors' Pick...) is a very good idea. Shouldn't the number of downloads be all that matters? So that the images that customers are actually buying are at the top of each search?
I just noticed that one vector top seller (>200000 downloads) has one Editors' Pick image in his entire portfolio. And that's a one year old file with five downloads... !?
If somebody understand what their long term goal is with all these changes, please enlighten me. I don't get it.
You don't get it, I don't get it, iStock doesn't get it.
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I'm not playing this game very long but even I remember all the complaints from indies about being pushed into PP - guess what, not alone is PP now generating about 4 times the volume, the RPD is actually better >:(
I see the end game as PP for indies, IS for a favoured few exclusives and other exclusive being * out of luck.
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I just found a vector contributor with 99 files and 4300 downloads in eight years. Almost every file in his portfolio is an Editors' Pick file.
So 99 files uploaded during eight years and an average of 1,4 downloads a day is to "consistently provide us with some of our best material", like Lobo described it in the iStock forum. :o
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Also, EP must be part of a 'special deal' when they go headhunting.
This new contributor joined in July, has 386 files and 20 sales (OK, that's impressive for new uploads), is nevertheless exclusive (yes, with 20 sales) and all their files are EP.
http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=10434681 (http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=10434681)
(Seems to have been ingested from Getty.)
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, has 386 files and 20 sales (OK, that's impressive for new uploads),
I have 33 files and 27 downloads, I guess I am doing well then.
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I really hope that the EP filter will be hard to find, so that almost nobody will use it.
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, has 386 files and 20 sales (OK, that's impressive for new uploads),
I have 33 files and 27 downloads, I guess I am doing well then.
Since July?!
You should become exclusive if so!
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So you are suggesting that Editor's pick is a label that indicates "super secret getty deal" if it was slapped across the entire portfolio? It's possible. An easy way to identify those loved more...
What I really don't get how they try to pretend that Getty is such a tiny outfit they cannot go over millions of files to pick the best content. When in reality Getty has a huge team of editors scouting through billions of files on flickr to find the best work. It would probably take that team of very experienced editors just a few weeks to comb through the istock exclusive content, especially because the Vetta and agency collection already gave them an idea in which portfolios to look first.
I thought the remark about not being ready to find "the best handshake" spoke volumes of the low apprciation of the quality of the istock exclusive contributors.
It's important to remember when Getty communications mentions exclusive contributors, they don't mean the regular istock or getty contributors, but only the select few or their wholly owned content. Editors pick just makes it more visible, that is all.
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Also, EP must be part of a 'special deal' when they go headhunting.
This new contributor joined in July, has 386 files and 20 sales (OK, that's impressive for new uploads), is nevertheless exclusive (yes, with 20 sales) and all their files are EP.
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=10434681[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=10434681[/url])
(Seems to have been ingested from Getty.)
This is one of Getty's ports, isn't it? The entire port is Vetta (which is what happens when a Getty port is put on IS). And all Vettas are automatically EPs, so no mystery here, really. More of the same ol', same ol'.