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Author Topic: How's Your Month Shaping Up?  (Read 20090 times)

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« on: November 08, 2008, 17:34 »
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I joined in May, standard 15 upload attempts a month.




lisafx

« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2008, 18:32 »
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Kinda early, but not looking too good so far.  Yesterday had an EL that helped, but generally I am way down off early October sales. 

AVAVA

« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2008, 18:40 »
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Added my allotment of new work every week and my sales are down 20% for the first week compared to last months weekly average. Wait and see and make sure to enjoy your weekend.  :)

Best,
AVAVA

« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2008, 02:56 »
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Looking better than October for me but there have only been 5 working days so far this month, so far too early to tell.

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2008, 08:33 »
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I'm on track for being down about 50%. The new best match is not my friend.

« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2008, 08:51 »
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I know too early  to talk but my photo sales have been extremely slow this month comparing to my average.

charlesknox

  • www.charlesknoxphoto.com
« Reply #6 on: November 09, 2008, 09:53 »
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Ya its been very slow for me too

« Reply #7 on: November 09, 2008, 10:20 »
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First november week was pretty good for me, one of the best weeks ever. But not only on iStock. I guess I am one of the few non-exclusives who did not got hit that hard by the best match.

« Reply #8 on: November 09, 2008, 11:09 »
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S.O.S.

S.O.S.

« Reply #9 on: November 09, 2008, 11:37 »
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First november week was pretty good for me, one of the best weeks ever. But not only on iStock. I guess I am one of the few non-exclusives who did not got hit that hard by the best match.

For me too

« Reply #10 on: November 09, 2008, 13:25 »
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It looks 20% down for me, but given we had two weekends and only five working days (although sales happen in weekends also), it may recover.

Regards,
Adelaide

« Reply #11 on: November 09, 2008, 13:36 »
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It's turning out to be a very dreadful month.  Whatever changes they've made to the best match has effectively turned the faucet off.

dbvirago

« Reply #12 on: November 09, 2008, 14:20 »
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Looking like the 5th WME in a row. Focusing more time on sites that make money.

« Reply #13 on: November 09, 2008, 14:30 »
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Looking like a very, very poor month developing - the worst of my 6 months on istock if this keeps up >:(

« Reply #14 on: November 09, 2008, 14:54 »
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It's a disaster for me, Istock used to be either #1 or #2, however this month, even bigstock, stockxpert, fotolia, shutterstock, 123rf all are head of Istock, does that ever happen to you?

CofkoCof

« Reply #15 on: November 09, 2008, 15:08 »
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Looks 50% down to me. It was going very well till third week of October when best match changed again. Since then sales are awfully slow.

« Reply #16 on: November 09, 2008, 17:24 »
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Way better here.

« Reply #17 on: November 09, 2008, 19:59 »
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80% down for me

« Reply #18 on: November 09, 2008, 22:02 »
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Miserable so far. $17 from SS. Last month, only got into double digit sales on 4 days.

helix7

« Reply #19 on: November 09, 2008, 23:58 »
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At this rate, I'll be crying at the end of the month.



lagereek

« Reply #20 on: November 10, 2008, 03:22 »
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All in all, pretty good with the exeption of IS, which is well down since Im a non-excl. Ive kind of given up on them now, just letting my shots hang-in there for the time being that is.

« Reply #21 on: November 10, 2008, 05:22 »
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It's a disaster for me, Istock used to be either #1 or #2, however this month, even bigstock, stockxpert, fotolia, shutterstock, 123rf all are head of Istock, does that ever happen to you?

Well, yes. Almost every month. BS and IS usually compete which of them will be the worst earner of the month. SS, DT, FT, SX and even 123 are always far better than IS.

« Reply #22 on: November 10, 2008, 05:45 »
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Very, very bad... this is the situation when one third of the month is already gone by.


SS is also performing very poorly, the only one keeping things rolling are DT and FT

I'm seriously considering quitting stock photography, It's just not worth it anymore.

« Reply #23 on: November 10, 2008, 05:50 »
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Even exclusive members are complaining  about the best match on IS's forum and they say it was only the old exclusive members benefiting from the change.

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #24 on: November 10, 2008, 05:59 »
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Even exclusive members are complaining  about the best match on IS's forum and they say it was only the old exclusive members benefiting from the change.
Yes, I'd say it's benefiting a small percentage of the top contributors. How they're defining "top" I don't know.

I'm guessing there's a group of 10% of their contributors that make up 90% of their revenue and they're trying to make sure that 10% stays happy. While I'm not happy that I don't appear to be in this group (yet), I understand it from a business standpoint.

« Reply #25 on: November 10, 2008, 06:10 »
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For me, last week SS, Fotolia, SX and DT burried IS in revenue. Amazingly last week I did not need IS to make it my best week ever. How will IS wil ever get any more exclusives? Denis

lagereek

« Reply #26 on: November 10, 2008, 06:21 »
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Here is a weird observation! got to use figures to demo.

I get approx. 4000 bucks from Micro per month ( not RM or RF). Now IS used to represent around 30% of that, before last two best match changes.
SS, FT and StockXpert have shot in the air so much that they more then well cover for my losses at IS. IS now only stands for approx, 10% of totals.
This is only a guess but it could be that buyers are so put off having to wade through page after page of irrelevant material, they simply start going elsewhere.

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #27 on: November 10, 2008, 07:13 »
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Lagereek, I don't know if wading through stuff is the cause but I definately see signs that the best match along with some other factors are causing the drop.

I had some images that were showing up in the first couple of pages for a pretty saturated subject. After the best match change they got pushed into nowhere and sales tanked.

But, I also had some images that were selling well and their position from the best match change didn;t change much. They moved back maybe a page or two. So if they're still pretty much in the same spot why did they suddenly stop selling around the same time as the best match change? Seasonal buying shift? Drop in buyers downloading?

Caz

« Reply #28 on: November 10, 2008, 07:36 »
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Great for me so far. On course to at least equal October figures, which was my BME. Fingers crossed that posting this doesn't have the downloads grinding to a halt  ;)

« Reply #29 on: November 10, 2008, 08:15 »
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 ;D ;D


msv

« Reply #30 on: November 10, 2008, 11:05 »
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Terrible.
So far I felt lucky to not have been hit too much in october by the new best match, now see by yourself:

This is not good at all.

lagereek

« Reply #31 on: November 10, 2008, 12:32 »
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Best for non-exclusives is to just let the shots hang-in there, better they earn something then nothing. As far as uploading? well Im certainly not uploading any speciality stuff involving MRs etc. That stuff nowdays goes to the ones that can show results.
Lets be honest, us non-exclusives, weve had a good run anyway, everything comes to an end, might as well face it.

« Reply #32 on: November 10, 2008, 14:51 »
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My month is slow now is IS, but also in DT. StockXpert and FT look normal.

Regards,
Adelaide

lagereek

« Reply #33 on: November 10, 2008, 15:26 »
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In all fairness madelaide youve only got a portfolio of 200 odd shots and youre a non-exclusive, so really what do you expect.
Wait until youve got around 1000 shots and STILL find it slow.

best  Chris

« Reply #34 on: November 10, 2008, 15:43 »
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This is only a guess but it could be that buyers are so put off having to wade through page after page of irrelevant material, they simply start going elsewhere.

Given iS's attempt at disambiguation (god I hate that word) you'd think they would have more relevant hits. Or do you mean that buyers have to look at exclusive content only?

« Reply #35 on: November 10, 2008, 15:56 »
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In all fairness madelaide youve only got a portfolio of 200 odd shots and youre a non-exclusive, so really what do you expect.
Wait until youve got around 1000 shots and STILL find it slow.

It seems others have small portfolios too, and most here aren't exclusive, so I guess I can share tendencies as well, and they may or may not be relevant. 

Regards,
Adelaide

lagereek

« Reply #36 on: November 10, 2008, 15:58 »
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No, no, no, buyers dont give a crap if exclusive or not as long as they find their image. They dont care about IS little exclusive-game! which is to stop contributors from belonging to multiple sites. Thats all.
If I was coming into work at 8 in the morning there I probably hit the Scotch before noon.

« Reply #37 on: November 10, 2008, 18:00 »
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In all fairness madelaide youve only got a portfolio of 200 odd shots and youre a non-exclusive, so really what do you expect.
Wait until youve got around 1000 shots and STILL find it slow.

It seems others have small portfolios too, and most here aren't exclusive, so I guess I can share tendencies as well, and they may or may not be relevant. 

Regards,
Adelaide


It's slow for me too, but then again, I haven't reached a thousand yet. Though when I do, the number will probably have to be around two thousand to keep up with the competition.

« Reply #38 on: November 10, 2008, 18:26 »
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Besides SS everything is pretty miserable...

« Reply #39 on: November 10, 2008, 19:28 »
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This graph indicate my trends of SS, IS, DT, SX and FT in the last 39 months. As we can see IS is presently taking a nose dive while others are about to overtake it. For clarity I did not put in Bigstock, 123rf and others, but they are picking up steam as well. Denis



« Last Edit: November 10, 2008, 19:39 by cybernesco »

« Reply #40 on: November 11, 2008, 15:01 »
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If I multiply the number of files sold so far after 11 days by 3 to get an idea of my month result, I will end with about 150 sales, this is the worse result since august 2005 (3 months after having joined IS).
In March 2007 I was  up to 750 Dl/month. It has declined since a a regular pace, despite downloading as before.
What can I say more.....there must be a life after IS as well.....
jean


« Reply #41 on: November 11, 2008, 17:19 »
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Looking better than October for me but there have only been 5 working days so far this month, so far too early to tell.

It was far too early.  My sales have ground to a halt again.  Hope this best match changes soon.

« Reply #42 on: November 11, 2008, 17:41 »
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For me, same data different graphs





including the other big agencies

« Last Edit: November 11, 2008, 17:44 by Kngkyle »

« Reply #43 on: November 12, 2008, 08:05 »
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Going pretty well at SS - others steady except BigStock.

j2k

« Reply #44 on: November 12, 2008, 15:41 »
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Steady growth till October and a nose dive since then.
October was at about 50% of September and so far November looks worse. Might not even make a $100.

« Reply #45 on: November 12, 2008, 16:26 »
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Istock is tough for me lately. Others are ok, lets hope for a turnaround.

« Reply #46 on: November 12, 2008, 17:20 »
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Did they change best match again? Because suddenly I got in one day 20% of the whole month so far.

Regards,
Adelaide

« Reply #47 on: November 12, 2008, 17:32 »
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Istock has gone down every month for me since March despite steady uploading. They were consistently my 2nd best earner, but now they are my 5th which is quite a drop, basically I am earning half what I used to a year ago. I don't understand why they are being so down on non-exclusives regarding the best match and rejections, surely decreased earnings is putting new people off becoming exclusive, are the existing exclusives generating enough new imagery for them to allow them to be complacent toward new exclusive applications?

« Reply #48 on: November 12, 2008, 20:04 »
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Istock has gone down every month for me since March despite steady uploading. They were consistently my 2nd best earner, but now they are my 5th which is quite a drop, basically I am earning half what I used to a year ago. I don't understand why they are being so down on non-exclusives regarding the best match and rejections, surely decreased earnings is putting new people off becoming exclusive, are the existing exclusives generating enough new imagery for them to allow them to be complacent toward new exclusive applications?

Yes, exclusives, specially diamonds use to be very active uploading. For many, istock is a important part of her monthli income.

« Reply #49 on: November 12, 2008, 20:59 »
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IS has completely tanked this month. Compared to my #1 site (Fotolia), IS is at about 30% of their earnings. It might even drop to 5th place this month.

RacePhoto

« Reply #50 on: November 12, 2008, 23:45 »
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This graph indicate my trends of SS, IS, DT, SX and FT in the last 39 months. As we can see IS is presently taking a nose dive while others are about to overtake it. For clarity I did not put in Bigstock, 123rf and others, but they are picking up steam as well. Denis


Love your graph no matter what it's showing, it's good looking. What do you use to make it?

AVAVA

« Reply #51 on: November 13, 2008, 09:46 »
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 Hi all,

 13 out of 15 rejected this week all for technical issues at Istock. We will see if we can get it down to 2 maybe even 1 if we try really hard. I will report back. The week they reject all 15 we are throwing a loser party for anyone that wants to attend. Going back out to shoot more rejects today, good luck. ;D

Peace,
AVAVA

« Reply #52 on: November 13, 2008, 10:01 »
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IS - overall more or less like in October, i.e., somewhat better than in the end of October.
SS - fewer downloads than in Oct, but I have a higher rate now
BigStock - great (for BigStock level)
everything else (DT, FT, StockXpert, 123RF) pretty low

« Reply #53 on: November 13, 2008, 14:05 »
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For me Istock better this month than October... thanks to the first EL sale :)
Otherwise it would be really sad...

« Reply #54 on: November 13, 2008, 14:12 »
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This graph indicate my trends of SS, IS, DT, SX and FT in the last 39 months. As we can see IS is presently taking a nose dive while others are about to overtake it. For clarity I did not put in Bigstock, 123rf and others, but they are picking up steam as well. Denis


Love your graph no matter what it's showing, it's good looking. What do you use to make it?


Thank you. This is easily done with Excel.  Denis

helix7

« Reply #55 on: November 13, 2008, 22:22 »
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13 out of 15 rejected this week all for technical issues at Istock. We will see if we can get it down to 2 maybe even 1 if we try really hard. I will report back. The week they reject all 15 we are throwing a loser party for anyone that wants to attend. Going back out to shoot more rejects today, good luck. ;D

I get the feeling that standards at istock are really tightening up. From what Rob posted in the istock thread about best match aiming to reward high quality and consistency, cater to the buyers, etc., plus the constantly increasing rejection rate most contributors seem to experience, all signs point to an effort by istock to refine the collection and raise the standards bar. Maybe that bar is just finally catching up to everyone in a way that really makes it much harder to do business as usual with istock.

On top of that with the rumor that the best match change has had little impact on the top contributors, it seems that the higher quality images will continue to do well, while the mid-range images that previously did ok will now not see as much action while best match puts more emphasis on quality. 

Bottom line seems to be (in my opinion) that this new best match change is here to stay, and any changes going forward will be based on the current algorithm. No fix is needed, since this is the result that istock wanted. To me, this seems to say that the rules of the istock game have changed, and us middle-of-the-road guys can either step up to the challenge or get left behind.



lagereek

« Reply #56 on: November 14, 2008, 02:38 »
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Hi helix7!

Sorry but dont agree at all about increasing standards at IS. Most searches Ive tested even using generic keywords and heavy, weighted keywords gives first 3 or 4 pages of Exclusives, yes, but theres still tons of irrelevant material and a few down and out bad.
Saying "increasing standards"  sounds very good, if you get my drift. Besides, its too late to start now, after years of letting spammers infiltrate the site and then make others suffer for it. This should have been dealt with 2 years back before the disembaguation.
Truth of the matter is: Today the IS collection is no better or worse then any other micro collection among the leading ones, exclusive or not.
The word exclusive is used as marketing strategy, making buyers "think" theyre getting something out of the ordinary.
Since anybody can become exclusive renders in: an exclusive image doesnt at all have to be a great image.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2008, 02:41 by lagereek »

« Reply #57 on: November 14, 2008, 03:17 »
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Bottom line seems to be (in my opinion) that this new best match change is here to stay, and any changes going forward will be based on the current algorithm. No fix is needed, since this is the result that istock wanted. To me, this seems to say that the rules of the istock game have changed, and us middle-of-the-road guys can either step up to the challenge or get left behind.


I think they will radically change it by the end of the month.  some of my highest quality images with the most downloads are on the last page of my portfolio on the best match search.  That can't be good for me or for istock sales.  There is a noise on the forums every time they change the best match but this one is the most unpopular I have seen.

« Reply #58 on: November 14, 2008, 04:20 »
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I surely hope that they do change it, as my sales have tanked notably since April of this year. I am now down over 50%.  IS used to be my #1 money maker and now they are down to #4 and steadily headed downward.  When you factor in all the heartaches that you have to go thru to upload there and the way they treat us like second hand citizens.......There is becoming no motivation to upload there any more.  I have been diamond with them for several months now, but my sale still continue to plummet.....I used to always have my 35 images in the Queue....put anymore I upload to them last.....this can't be good for them ......??? or can it.   Almost everybody that has posted here is saying the same thing.......Sales are way down.........for nonexclusives anyway.  I don't think this can last....there are a lot of quality photos out there by NonExclusives that are getting buried by junk from exclusives....the buyers are going to get tired of this at some point....I hope.   I never thought I see the day when I started contemplating about not uploading to IS......but it is coming very fast.

« Reply #59 on: November 14, 2008, 04:33 »
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If IS stays like this for the rest of the month it might become my worst earner. First week was good, since then it is dead. Other agencies are doing ok, except Fotolia, which is doing spectacular.

« Reply #60 on: November 14, 2008, 04:40 »
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For me in november at day 13:

IS - very slow but last days is better
SS - slow
FT - very close to BME
StockXpert - already BME
DT - a little slow
BigStock - 0

« Reply #61 on: November 14, 2008, 08:49 »
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I get the feeling that standards at istock are really tightening up. From what Rob posted in the istock thread about best match aiming to reward high quality and consistency, cater to the buyers, etc., ......
..... the higher quality images will continue to do well, while the mid-range images that previously did ok will now not see as much action while best match puts more emphasis on quality. 



For the moment, I do not beleive that an algorithm can be created to figure the quality of a photo. How can an algorithm know about composition, focus where it is best, suitability for stock, overexposure, oversaturated, over-filtered ect..?? Only the human mind can do that for now.  The only criteria that a search algorithm can work with are variables such as number of downloads,  number of days that an image has been online,  number of views, ratings given by viewers, contributor status such as exclusive or non-exlusives and the canister level. Now like I mention in another tread, mathematically speaking, the only way that an algorithm will give the best result for the buyers for the best match would be by using a very simple algoritm like at SS which is rated by number of downloads divided by number of days. Any other variables such as contributor status or canister level would absolutly not help in getting the best quality on top. Even views and viewers rating would not help as we all know that a nice picture is not necessarily one that sell. The most important variables are number of downloads versus the time it has been online. Those two variables may not be the best to verify the quality of an image but they are the most probable ones as it is impossible to fully see the quality of the image until downloaded. Denis
« Last Edit: November 14, 2008, 12:21 by cybernesco »

helix7

« Reply #62 on: November 14, 2008, 11:14 »
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For the moment, I do not beleive that an algorithm can be created to figure the quality of a photo. How can an algorithm know about composition, focus where it is best, suitability for stock, overexposure, oversaturated, over-filtered ect..?? Only the human mind can do that for now.  The only criteria that a search algorithm can work with are variables such as number of downloads,  number of days that an image has been online,  number of views, ratings given by viewers, contributor status such as exclusive or non-exlusives and the canister level...

Number of views might lend some insight into quality. Often times the preview thumbnail is enough to tell if an image is good enough for a buyer's needs or not, and if lots of buyers are clicking on a particular image, it could stand to reason that the high quality and composition of the thumbnail alone leads to more views. If a thumbnail draws lots of buyers to look at an image, the algorithm could weigh views heavily towards best match ranking. If an image is oversaturated, over filtered, etc., it probably would have been rejected anyway, so those things aren't an issue for the algorithm to deal with. Human response to the thumbnails could, however, be used to give a very general assessment of image quality.

Just an idea. I could be totally wrong, but it seems plausible.

One thing is for sure after this month for me: Exclusivity is off the table. Honestly, I was giving it serious thought. My istock earnings had been creeping towards 50% of my monthly total all year long, and if they went over that 50% threshold I might have done it. The benefits would have made it worth it to take the leap at that point, and having steady earnings over 50% of all my microstock earnings would make it financially possible. All that has changed now, and I've had the unfortunate experience of seeing a best match change decimate my earnings. At this month's pace, I'll be earning around 25% of what I earned in May. If I were exclusive, I'd be totally screwed right now. Thankfully I'm having my best month ever at StockXpert, and DT and Fotolia are looking pretty good. My StockXpert earnings should top istock earnings this month. Exclusivity with istock is not at all an option anymore, not for me.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2008, 11:28 by helix7 »

CofkoCof

« Reply #63 on: November 14, 2008, 11:24 »
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For the moment, I do not beleive that an algorithm can be created to figure the quality of a photo. How can an algorithm know about composition, focus where it is best, suitability for stock, overexposure, oversaturated, over-filtered ect..?? Only the human mind can do that for now.  The only criteria that a search algorithm can work with are variables such as number of downloads,  number of days that an image has been online,  number of views, ratings given by viewers, contributor status such as exclusive or non-exlusives and the canister level. Now like I mention in another tread, mathematically speaking, the only way that an algorithm will give the best result for the buyers for the best match would be by using a very simple algoritm like at SS which is rated by number of downloads divided by number of days. Any other variables such as contributor status or canister level would absolutly not help in getting the best quality on top. Even views and viewers rating would not help as we all know that a nice picture is not necessarily one that sell. The most important variables are number of downloads versus the time it has been online. Those two variables may not be the best to verify the quality of an image buy they are the most probable ones as it is impossible to fully see the quality of the image until downloaded. Denis
Mostly agree with you but let me offer another idea for the algorithm, that has been mentioned a few times and I think would solve at least two problems at the same time: it (should) return good results and it would help against keyword abuse. Here it goes: sites would have to track the keywords that lead to the download of a particular image. For each keyword you would have a factor of relevance. This way you would get good (because they sold many times) relevant (because their relevance factor is high) images at the front. Ofc you would have to put in other factors like age to give newer images a chance at the start. Also sometimes people go to your portfolio and don't download image on a keyword but just by browsing. You could maybe add a small factor like 0.1 to all keywords if an images get's downloaded like that.

However it looks like this would be too hard to implement (also you would need to track a lot of data, have a seperate field in the database for all keywords on a image). So I don't see it coming anytime soon.

CofkoCof

« Reply #64 on: November 14, 2008, 11:28 »
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For the moment, I do not beleive that an algorithm can be created to figure the quality of a photo. How can an algorithm know about composition, focus where it is best, suitability for stock, overexposure, oversaturated, over-filtered ect..?? Only the human mind can do that for now.  The only criteria that a search algorithm can work with are variables such as number of downloads,  number of days that an image has been online,  number of views, ratings given by viewers, contributor status such as exclusive or non-exlusives and the canister level...

Number of views might lend some insight into quality. Often times the preview thumbnail is enough to tell if an image is good enough for a buyer's needs or not, and if lots of buyers are clicking on a particular image, it could stand to reason that the high quality and composition of the thumbnail alone leads to more views. If a thumbnail draws lots of buyers to look at an image, the algorithm could weigh views heavily towards best match ranking. If an image is oversaturated, over filtered, etc., it probably would have been rejected anyway, so those things aren't an issue for the algorithm to deal with. Human response to the thumbnails could, however, be used to give a very general assessment of image quality.

Just an idea. I could be totally wrong, but it seems plausible.
Yeah but some images get a lot of views that don't lead to any downloads (naked women for exapmle). It doesn't mean they are that good. Also it would have to be tweaked for vectors since you don't really know the price of the vector till you click on it. Not sure how important is the price, but still, vectors have a lot worse views/download ratio. I think that might be the problem with the current best match.

helix7

« Reply #65 on: November 14, 2008, 11:31 »
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Yeah but some images get a lot of views that don't lead to any downloads (naked women for exapmle). It doesn't mean they are that good. Also it would have to be tweaked for vectors since you don't really know the price of the vector till you click on it. Not sure how important is the price, but still, vectors have a lot worse views/download ratio. I think that might be the problem with the current best match.

Good point. Especially the vector issue. It seems like a pretty likely explanation of the best match troubles.



« Reply #66 on: November 14, 2008, 11:48 »
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For the moment, I do not beleive that an algorithm can be created to figure the quality of a photo. How can an algorithm know about composition, focus where it is best, suitability for stock, overexposure, oversaturated, over-filtered ect..?? Only the human mind can do that for now.  The only criteria that....................................................... Denis
Mostly agree with you but let me offer another idea for the algorithm, that has been mentioned a few times and I think would solve at least two problems at the same time: it (should) return good results and it would help against keyword abuse. Here it goes: sites would have to track the keywords that lead to the download of a particular image. For each keyword you would have a factor of relevance. This way you would get good (because they sold many times) relevant (because their relevance factor is high) images at the front. Ofc you would have to put in other factors like age to give newer images a chance at the start. Also sometimes people go to your portfolio and don't download image on a keyword but just by browsing. You could maybe add a small factor like 0.1 to all keywords if an images get's downloaded like that.

However it looks like this would be too hard to implement (also you would need to track a lot of data, have a seperate field in the database for all keywords on a image). So I don't see it coming anytime soon.

I agree with you about keywords having a factor of relevance when an image is downloaded within such an algorithm. Alamy has something similar, the difference is that they attach the same factor of relevance to keywords when an image is "zoomed in" and downloaded instead of when it is only downloaded. Hence, the logic goes, the more you get zooms, the better is the chance to get downloads. This is good because it forces you to put in better keywords. IStock....Are you listening!!! Denis
« Last Edit: November 14, 2008, 12:43 by cybernesco »

shank_ali

« Reply #67 on: November 19, 2008, 02:24 »
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BDE for me yesterday with 13 sales and got my first extra large sale ( $4.95 ). The best thing though is having 7 files selling for the first time this mon/tues.

« Reply #68 on: November 20, 2008, 03:34 »
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istock is still in a big slump during the busiest time of the year.  I am having a great month on most of the other sites.  Perhaps it isn't a bad thing if the buyers leave istock, as I only make 20% commission there.

« Reply #69 on: November 20, 2008, 05:53 »
0
istock is still in a big slump during the busiest time of the year.  I am having a great month on most of the other sites.  Perhaps it isn't a bad thing if the buyers leave istock, as I only make 20% commission there.

Yes, probably is better to got 30-35 c. for an XXL suscription elsewhere than 4 dollars at istock...

(BTW, going for MBE there)

« Reply #70 on: November 20, 2008, 06:21 »
0
istock is still in a big slump during the busiest time of the year.  I am having a great month on most of the other sites.  Perhaps it isn't a bad thing if the buyers leave istock, as I only make 20% commission there.

Yes, probably is better to got 30-35 c. for an XXL suscription elsewhere than 4 dollars at istock...

(BTW, going for MBE there)

I agree :)  There hasn't been one month since I started this that istock has come anywhere near the money I make just from those subs sales.  This year, istock has shown no signs of earnings growth and is falling back further from the sites that have subs sales.  If I want higher priced sales, sometimes much higher that $4, I can still use alamy, zymmetrical, mostphotos, rodeo, panthermedia, mostphotos and feturepics.  Just the earnings from those are beating istock at the moment.

« Reply #71 on: November 20, 2008, 17:25 »
0
Here's my analogy for IS. It's like i meet this wonderful guy who heaps lots of love and attention on me and then just when I'm starting to fall hard for him and ready to make a commitment, I find out he is already married to someone else. ???

AVAVA

« Reply #72 on: November 20, 2008, 17:34 »
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 Is there any horse left to beat. ;D I am seeing my worst week in months and my worst month in the last three while at the same time I started to upload my full alotment every week for the first time over the past month.
 Micro everywhere else is looking stable with growth for me except Istock. I will continue to upload every week and approach it like a longer term investment and see how that pans out. Checking your sales every day can be harmful to your health ;)

Best,
AVAVA

« Reply #73 on: November 20, 2008, 17:36 »
0
Here's my analogy for IS. It's like i meet this wonderful guy who heaps lots of love and attention on me and then just when I'm starting to fall hard for him and ready to make a commitment, I find out he is already married to someone else. ???

In fact you are the married guy and she wants exclusivity from you. ;D

Regards,
Adelaide

« Reply #74 on: November 20, 2008, 21:33 »
0
Istock has always been my favorite site, but sales lately have been slow. The search engine does not like me lately. I just hope the adjust it and I can see sales pick up. I will not go exclusive because my stuff is ok but not pro level so more sites equals more money.

charlesknox

  • www.charlesknoxphoto.com
« Reply #75 on: November 20, 2008, 21:35 »
0
Odd thing i noticed. My sales pick up a lot more in the second half of the month.... weird

« Reply #76 on: November 20, 2008, 22:20 »
0
Odd thing i noticed. My sales pick up a lot more in the second half of the month.... weird


I have noticed the same thing....but I think there is a reason for it.
Someone once mentioned here that designers often submit a project for review early in the month, using comps.
Once it is approved. they go ahead and purchase the images needed to finish the project by the end of the month.

charlesknox

  • www.charlesknoxphoto.com
« Reply #77 on: November 20, 2008, 22:33 »
0
Hmm... makes total sense! I was seriously freaking out when i saw my stats this month but It's slowly waking up certainly not a BME but its alive lol

bittersweet

« Reply #78 on: November 20, 2008, 22:54 »
0
They have also been tweaking the heck out of the best match algorithm. Who knows where any of us will end up. :) I hope things pick up for those who are down.

« Reply #79 on: November 21, 2008, 02:03 »
0
no comment.....my heart stops beating when I look at stats....

« Last Edit: November 21, 2008, 02:06 by diego_cervo »

« Reply #80 on: November 21, 2008, 03:51 »
0
Just to show you how bad IS is getting on downloads........yesterday, I made more on Big Stock than I did on IS :o.....and I'm a diamond on IS......  If your not exclusive....your photos get lost in the great IS Abiss...


« Reply #81 on: November 21, 2008, 04:40 »
0
So far this month I have made 3x more on FT than IS and 2X more on SS.
I expected to reach diamond this summer but sales have been so bad this year that it seems almost impossible to get there now. 
I rarely get a refusal at any site as I'm picky about what I upload but IS always seem to find something in just about every batch to refuse.
I'm so dissapointed in IS as it was my first site and always used to be my favourite.

CofkoCof

« Reply #82 on: November 21, 2008, 04:56 »
0
Odd thing i noticed. My sales pick up a lot more in the second half of the month.... weird
Same here, had a BDE this week.  I think best match is a bit better now, at least for the new files. They moved quite a few places up in my portfolio (vector still stuck at the back though).

I rarely get a refusal at any site as I'm picky about what I upload but IS always seem to find something in just about every batch to refuse.
I'm so dissapointed in IS as it was my first site and always used to be my favourite.
I'm getting strange rejections also, especially "not suitable for stock" on my renders. It looks like some people can submit a simple 3d dollar sign, but I have to put some other details (like a person holding it) to get the image trough.



 

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