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Author Topic: D-Day (Deactivation Day) on Istock - Feb 2  (Read 221568 times)

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« Reply #725 on: January 30, 2013, 03:55 »
+7
I don't think Getty are bothered because they know the majority of the crowd will tolerate almost anything as long as they still make them some money.  They've shown no sign of improving their relationship with contributors, it just gets worse all the time.  I think this should be more about getting the message out to buyers that there are much better sites for non-exclusives that have better prices for them as well.  Most of us wont be able to continue producing new images if we get less commissions and then some of our best images are virtually given away.

I hope anyone publicizing D-Day mentions alternative sites, it could be a good opportunity to give them a boost.


« Reply #726 on: January 30, 2013, 07:44 »
+4
Interesting quote from the Istock forums:

-----------------------------
Posted By PaulCowan:
I think I will delete at least one useless old file on the 2nd, just in case anybody is watching the numbers to see how many contributors are annoyed enough to make some minor gesture of protest.

(Edited on 2013-01-29 04:25:50 by PaulCowan)


Posted By Lobo:
Paul, we are watching everything.

I'm betting they're going to put out something on Friday afternoon, if for no other reason than to try to disrupt D-Day.

« Reply #727 on: January 30, 2013, 07:55 »
+3

Interesting quote from the Istock forums:

Posted By Lobo:
Paul, we are watching everything.

Quote
I'm betting they're going to put out something on Friday afternoon, if for no other reason than to try to disrupt D-Day.

Nothing short of a new policy announcement, from HQ, that they will no longer sell images to companies that give away our hi-res images with stripped metadata, will change many minds.

« Reply #728 on: January 30, 2013, 08:03 »
+1
I'm betting they're going to put out something on Friday afternoon, if for no other reason than to try to disrupt D-Day.

I'm betting you're going to be disappointed then. They've already had 2-3 weeks to diffuse the situation but they've essentially done nothing other than confirm what we had already discovered for ourselves.

Istock management didn't even know about the Getty/Google deal until we informed them (and they went scurrying away to find out what Getty had done). At the moment they appear powerless to intervene or help even if they wanted to.

I think Istock management will be monitoring very closely the actions of contributors on D-Day and will then use that information to hopefully influence Getty. Unfortunately I believe that Getty will only react, if at all, when they see irrefutable evidence that the Google Drive deal is hurting them in the pocket.

« Reply #729 on: January 30, 2013, 08:16 »
+2
I'm betting they're going to put out something on Friday afternoon, if for no other reason than to try to disrupt D-Day.

I'm betting you're going to be disappointed then. They've already had 2-3 weeks to diffuse the situation but they've essentially done nothing other than confirm what we had already discovered for ourselves.

Istock management didn't even know about the Getty/Google deal until we informed them (and they went scurrying away to find out what Getty had done). At the moment they appear powerless to intervene or help even if they wanted to.

I think Istock management will be monitoring very closely the actions of contributors on D-Day and will then use that information to hopefully influence Getty. Unfortunately I believe that Getty will only react, if at all, when they see irrefutable evidence that the Google Drive deal is hurting them in the pocket.


I don't think it is hurting them in the pocket. They don't care if they lose some contributors and some images...there are millions more images and new contributors signing up all the time. I think whatever deal they made with Google is going to put money in their pockets. It's the contributors who continue to do business with them who are going to be hurting in the pockets.

« Reply #730 on: January 30, 2013, 08:29 »
+3
I don't think it is hurting them in the pocket. They don't care if they lose some contributors and some images...there are millions more images and new contributors signing up all the time. I think whatever deal they made with Google is going to put money in their pockets. It's the contributors who continue to do business with them who are going to be hurting in the pockets.

If my sales at IS over the last few days are anything to go by it might already be happening. This week my sales have fallen off a cliff, to literally about one third of what they were during the same week in January 2012. Probably just the normal ebb and flow but I wonder how others are doing?

« Reply #731 on: January 30, 2013, 08:58 »
0
I don't think it is hurting them in the pocket. They don't care if they lose some contributors and some images...there are millions more images and new contributors signing up all the time. I think whatever deal they made with Google is going to put money in their pockets. It's the contributors who continue to do business with them who are going to be hurting in the pockets.

If my sales at IS over the last few days are anything to go by it might already be happening. This week my sales have fallen off a cliff, to literally about one third of what they were during the same week in January 2012. Probably just the normal ebb and flow but I wonder how others are doing?


VOMITING

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #732 on: January 30, 2013, 09:01 »
0
I don't think it is hurting them in the pocket. They don't care if they lose some contributors and some images...there are millions more images and new contributors signing up all the time. I think whatever deal they made with Google is going to put money in their pockets. It's the contributors who continue to do business with them who are going to be hurting in the pockets.

If my sales at IS over the last few days are anything to go by it might already be happening. This week my sales have fallen off a cliff, to literally about one third of what they were during the same week in January 2012. Probably just the normal ebb and flow but I wonder how others are doing?
1 dl Mon, 3 yesterday, 0 so far today ...

« Reply #733 on: January 30, 2013, 09:07 »
+2
All time low for me, makes it a bit emotional easier to remove my files, I do feel for Exclusives  :-[

« Reply #734 on: January 30, 2013, 09:14 »
0
If my sales at IS over the last few days are anything to go by it might already be happening. This week my sales have fallen off a cliff, to literally about one third of what they were during the same week in January 2012. Probably just the normal ebb and flow but I wonder how others are doing?

Terrible. As usual.

EmberMike

« Reply #735 on: January 30, 2013, 09:45 »
+2
I'm betting they're going to put out something on Friday afternoon, if for no other reason than to try to disrupt D-Day.

Historically, istock doesn't respond to threats of coordinated action. Lots of people removed images or left istock when royalty rtes were dropped, when they removed the ThinkStock opt-out for independents, etc.

I'd be amazed if they did anything this week in an effort to impact D-Day.

« Reply #736 on: January 30, 2013, 09:50 »
+1
I'm betting they're going to put out something on Friday afternoon, if for no other reason than to try to disrupt D-Day.

Historically, istock doesn't respond to threats of coordinated action. Lots of people removed images or left istock when royalty rtes were dropped, when they removed the ThinkStock opt-out for independents, etc.

I'd be amazed if they did anything this week in an effort to impact D-Day.

Not quite true. Exclusive video artists campaigned against and halted the Vetta royalty reduction for their media.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #737 on: January 30, 2013, 09:52 »
+2
I'm betting they're going to put out something on Friday afternoon, if for no other reason than to try to disrupt D-Day.


Historically, istock doesn't respond to threats of coordinated action. Lots of people removed images or left istock when royalty rtes were dropped, when they removed the ThinkStock opt-out for independents, etc.

I'd be amazed if they did anything this week in an effort to impact D-Day.


They are, however, admitting they're in trouble:
Lobo:
"There have been a number of changes to the site over the last several months that make flipping switches to make things as they were problematic. I'm not going to pretend I have a solid handle on all of it but I do know we are working REALLY hard to get things sorted. "
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=349553&messageid=6832753
... a direct admission that they did do something to cause the problems and they need to sort it.
I don't think we've had that sort of admission for a long time.

« Reply #738 on: January 30, 2013, 09:55 »
0
The deactivation spread sheet is very nice... except it shows me pledging only 10.  I've deactivated 26 at istock (plus 327 at stockexpert) so far.  Will do more on Feb 2nd. 

Providing an opt out would be a smart business decision.  I hope Getty eventually realizes this.

Thanks for the update.  So then yours should say 353?  I will pass it along to Marina :)
yes nice sheet - shows 1 for me that I deleted - but I aim to remove around 200 on the 2nd (not removing my entire port yet )

« Reply #739 on: January 30, 2013, 10:26 »
+2
Interesting quote from the Istock forums:

-----------------------------
Posted By PaulCowan:
I think I will delete at least one useless old file on the 2nd, just in case anybody is watching the numbers to see how many contributors are annoyed enough to make some minor gesture of protest.

(Edited on 2013-01-29 04:25:50 by PaulCowan)


Posted By Lobo:
Paul, we are watching everything.

What a good thought!!  If enough people do at least that much delete, the message will be stronger .. although what may hurt them most will be the long term implications .. at first there's D-Day and all the noise around that - and then, it probably stands to reason that many contributors participating in D-Day will not place new content in future, thus gradually weakening the solid contributor base that exists for them.  However much they replace, the dice is still going to fall in favor of their top business rivals who will receive more content from many of their seasoned (ex-) contributors.

So "watching" may not be enough  ::) - much better if they could understand - comprehend - and act in a way that restores back the widespread loss in confidence.

« Reply #740 on: January 30, 2013, 12:30 »
0
I'm betting they're going to put out something on Friday afternoon, if for no other reason than to try to disrupt D-Day.

I'm betting you're going to be disappointed then. They've already had 2-3 weeks to diffuse the situation but they've essentially done nothing other than confirm what we had already discovered for ourselves.

Istock management didn't even know about the Getty/Google deal until we informed them (and they went scurrying away to find out what Getty had done). At the moment they appear powerless to intervene or help even if they wanted to.

I think Istock management will be monitoring very closely the actions of contributors on D-Day and will then use that information to hopefully influence Getty. Unfortunately I believe that Getty will only react, if at all, when they see irrefutable evidence that the Google Drive deal is hurting them in the pocket.

I should have been clearer. I wasn't suggesting that they'd put out anything substantive that would solve the problem, or even address the questions people have been asking. I was thinking more along the lines of some kind of "cat among the pigeons" statement that might wave off people who are uncertain about participating in D-Day or those who still believe they'll offer a real solution at some point.

lisafx

« Reply #741 on: January 30, 2013, 18:42 »
0

Historically, istock doesn't respond to threats of coordinated action. Lots of people removed images or left istock when royalty rtes were dropped, when they removed the ThinkStock opt-out for independents, etc.

I don't know of any coordinated action before.  I recall people doing things pretty much on their own, but as far as I remember there has never before been a coordinated action by Istock contributors.  Maybe someone else remembers something? 

ETA:  I hadn't read Fotovoyager's post about the video contributors campaign when I posted the above.  I stand corrected :)

lisafx

« Reply #742 on: January 30, 2013, 18:47 »
+1
Interesting quote from the Istock forums:

-----------------------------
Posted By PaulCowan:
I think I will delete at least one useless old file on the 2nd, just in case anybody is watching the numbers to see how many contributors are annoyed enough to make some minor gesture of protest.

(Edited on 2013-01-29 04:25:50 by PaulCowan)


Posted By Lobo:
Paul, we are watching everything.

What a good thought!!  If enough people do at least that much delete, the message will be stronger .. although what may hurt them most will be the long term implications .. at first there's D-Day and all the noise around that - and then, it probably stands to reason that many contributors participating in D-Day will not place new content in future, thus gradually weakening the solid contributor base that exists for them.  However much they replace, the dice is still going to fall in favor of their top business rivals who will receive more content from many of their seasoned (ex-) contributors.

I'm a bit late to the party today, but just wanted to agree with others that I think Paul's idea about people deleting at least one image so they know how many people are upset and paying attention is brilliant!

« Reply #743 on: January 30, 2013, 19:21 »
+5

I'm a bit late to the party today, but just wanted to agree with others that I think Paul's idea about people deleting at least one image so they know how many people are upset and paying attention is brilliant!

But, by deleting one photo, you are leaving all of your best sellers vulnerable to be sold to Google and given away for free. They are cherry picking the best ones, and there are no signs, that they won't ramp up that process in the future. Paul's idea won't prove worthy if you lose some of your best sellers forever.

« Reply #744 on: January 31, 2013, 00:57 »
+1
Deleting all but 1 is my way of protesting, if people delete 1 or 10 and show iStock something it will send a message. I also think the number of redistered delete files will be doubled by people who don't join the list. The list has most recognized names. We could have 100,000 gone which they will see.

« Reply #745 on: January 31, 2013, 17:43 »
0
Dont know if this is the right spot (thread) but posting this anyway  :)

It just got posted on twitter..

http://www.selling-stock.com/Article/istock-exclusives-welcomed-at-shutterstock

« Reply #746 on: January 31, 2013, 18:10 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 22:34 by tickstock »

« Reply #747 on: January 31, 2013, 18:31 »
0
Istock expects a lot of reactivations after Feb. 2., from Lobo:

"I should mention, I had a discussion with folks about how reactivations are going to work in the event we see a number of people request it after the FEB 2 event. The reactivations are entirely manual so we could be looking at a considerable wait for those people to have their files brought back to the live site. I asked about bulk-reactivations and it's not likely we will have that ability. "

Why would they expect that? Is it actually their intent to let Feb 2 happen, hundreds of contributors deactivate thousands of files - then release some big positive announcement about the Google deal, just so they can say haha, now you can all reactivate them one at a time?

Makes no sense.

« Reply #748 on: January 31, 2013, 18:42 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 22:33 by tickstock »

mattdixon

« Reply #749 on: January 31, 2013, 18:58 »
+2
I'm guessing the news they will announce won't be what contributors want to hear, that's why they will release it next week.


 

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