What you have said makes perfect sense to me BaldricksTrousers.

Ditto. FANTASTIC posts, Mr. Trousers.

snip.... The "ship's boats" are in short supply and already pretty full, and the order of the day would seem to be "Newbies and non-exclusives first"
 ....snip

do you really think that newbies and non-exclusives are being favored here? The non-exclusives have an advantage if IS continues imploding in that they are already elsewhere, but they sure aren't getting any favors from IS. The Newbies that are exclusive are getting screwed in all directions from IS unless they are producing large volumes of sellers.

IS needs to put price into the sort mix, but I can't see them doing that. It goes against what they have been trying to do.

Good analysis Mr Trousers, it looks like you hit how this search works.  Too bad it isn't a very good way to run a search.

I think the suggestion about a price-oriented client-specific search result is interesting. but it would actually be the reverse of what we want. the search, AFAIK, is meant to produce regional results.

I am very skeptical of regional search.

If I was king - there would be a more clearly delineated sense of identity attached to the different collections. And as well as the big search it would be possible to search and browse within the various collections. And there would be more collections. Perhaps we could even apply to start our own - like an extension of lightboxing.

And I would try to think about reinventing search a little too. There would be something like --- "show me more stuff which potentially has the same feel or style as this". That would be algorithmically tied to lightboxing, previous choices etc. In that way it would be possible not only to drill down --- but also to sort of go sideways too. A bit like how people browse ffffound. This would enable users to more easily find stuff by accident when they don't know what they are looking for.

I would also introduce some sort of system of 'liking' (buyers only) - so you could follow through all the stuff which different people had liked. Bringing in the social aspect of search. Which is pretty much the holy grail, many believe. And that might well also feed into the threaded idea.

IMO old fashioned search fails when there is too much stuff. Looking for images I think many people almost want to see stuff which is more mood based. Small selections even.

ETA: and I would launch a Flipboard content stream with pages and pages of images for people to browse on the iPad, magazine style.

Quote from: SNP on April 13, 2011, 10:56

I think the suggestion about a price-oriented client-specific search result is interesting. but it would actually be the reverse of what we want. the search, AFAIK, is meant to produce regional results. I think that's a good move and provides a value-added service to customers. but to take that and apply it regarding price (based on previous spending associated with that account), doesn't really make sense. the purpose of marketing is to turn customers into the type of buyers we need them to be, hence the buckshot approach to filling every industry hole. "don't like things here (iStock), well too bad, but why don't you shop here instead (TS)?" it's destabilizing and you don't have to be a brilliant economist to see that the longterm effect is the erosion of iStock's brand and business (which I think is well underway).

I hope that iStock isn't aiming for a long term effect that is the erosion of iStock's brand and business.  If they truly wanted to force self-destruct, that would be very achievable, but I don't believe that's the aim.

A (possibly dubious) analogy for a price-sensitive best match search could be a well run jewellery shop that pays attention to what its customers buy.  A person walks into the shop looking for a new watch, and the owner knows that person has bought four Swatches and two Timex watches in the past.  So the owner leads that customer towards the budget end of the shop, but also points out some medium-priced brands which the customer may appreciate.  What the owner doesn't do is lead the customer through a lengthy presentation of Rolex watches, then move on to Longines and dozens of other premium brands.

And conversely, when a high rolling customer who's only ever bought jewellery with the finest quality gems and precious metals walks in, he/she would be shown the best and most expensive stuff that the shop has to offer.

I'm sure I'm teaching my gran how to suck eggs here, but imho that would be a better way to convert buyer visits into purchases than a one-size-fits-all, highest-priced-products-for-everybody policy.

I don't think it's what they are intentionally aiming for. I think they probably very legitimately believe the buckshot approach will work and bring us all lots of money. and frankly I hope it does turn out that way. but without having any insider knowledge of the goings ons, and with only what we are told to work with....it's hard to quell the anxiety about our future in this industry. in any case, I'm in it for the long haul as many of us are, and adapt or die seems to be the order of the day. the question is, how to adapt. how to manage my work to best exist in this industry as it changes. I guess the obvious decision that can affect some change at least individually is whether or not to remain exclusive. but I'm so tired of thinking about that.

I think that istock is trying to do what a lot of companies are trying to do now...control the buyers. They are trying to custom tailor every freakin search to every region, person, past history, past buying trends, etc. ad nauseum.

It's a particular case of a wider issue. They are forcing us to install software in local language (Try installing "Safari" in English on a non-English OS), they are changing flavour of foreign imported food and drink to our supposed taste, they are feeding us local news, and so on... it's really annoying.

I think that istock is trying to do what a lot of companies are trying to do now...control the buyers. They are trying to custom tailor every freakin search to every region, person, past history, past buying trends, etc. ad nauseum.

It gets to a point where it is just a big turnoff.

I totally agree with a Best Match...Best Match meaning if I put in the word horse, I'm going to get horse photos. Don't tailor it for me so that only horses in the US show, don't tailor it so I only see white horses, because last month I bought a white horse photo. istock has NO CLUE about what type of project I'm working on. They should concentrate their energy on just getting horses and not all the other crap you have to wade through to come from the search. Don't try to trick me into buying something I can't afford by shoving all the expensive stuff to the front.

Word.

Other things that are annoying me today as I search for photos for a project at work:

* Stop showing me images multiple times that you've already shown me on previous pages. This makes no effing sense. Particularly as I'm now sorting by file age. Cripes.

* Stop showing me renderings when I'm looking for photos and have the photos box ticked. It really ticks me off! The number of renderings in photo results when you're searching on various types of interiors is out of control. Seriously.

It's a shame we haven't heard from Sean yet, but maybe he's had to start shooting Vetta and is busy on an artistic series showing an exclusive photographer with his head in a gas oven.

Sean Locke Plath? lol....

Quote from: SNP on April 13, 2011, 14:54

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on April 13, 2011, 14:44

It's a shame we haven't heard from Sean yet, but maybe he's had to start shooting Vetta and is busy on an artistic series showing an exclusive photographer with his head in a gas oven.

Sean Locke Plath? lol....

Wow! That was erudite!

ooo, and you're being ironic. aren't we high brow around here today 

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on April 13, 2011, 15:02

Quote from: SNP on April 13, 2011, 14:54

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on April 13, 2011, 14:44

It's a shame we haven't heard from Sean yet, but maybe he's had to start shooting Vetta and is busy on an artistic series showing an exclusive photographer with his head in a gas oven.

Sean Locke Plath? lol....

Wow! That was erudite!

ooo, and you're being ironic. aren't we high brow around here today 

  It's so nice to see the level of conversation moving up a few levels from Monty Python. And that was a very good reference...

Quote from: caspixel on April 13, 2011, 16:43

Quote from: cclapper on April 13, 2011, 14:01

I think that istock is trying to do what a lot of companies are trying to do now...control the buyers. They are trying to custom tailor every freakin search to every region, person, past history, past buying trends, etc. ad nauseum.

The regional thing is really beyond stupid. With things being global like they are, why should they assume that designers don't have clients from all over the world. As for the rest of it, I couldn't agree more with the things that people are saying. How would iStock *possibly* know what projects people are working on? What arrogance.

I'm not a fan of it either, but I definitely see the impact it's had already. I've noticed a very large shift in the time of day the bulk of DL's occur from American business hours to European business hours.

Wouldn't you rather have both though? What if there are Americans who need your photos too?

So not only are they manipulating buyers, but they are manipulating contributor's income. Makes me sick. Or mad. Or both. 

Lisa - from my understanding, that's not how the regional results work. your comment makes a big ( and I believe incorrect) assumption about how the regional sort works. there was a thread in the iStock forum in which the way it will work was described in detail. I'm trying to find the thread for you where they discussed the regional sort and how it would work in theory, but it's not coming up in any searches. bizarre. anyone know if the regional search is actually live? or have they taken all mentions of regional search results back into the 'classified arena'.