Author Topic: How do you feel about IStock? (Read 48254 times)

CarlssonInc · « **Reply #150 on:** December 14, 2011, 11:06 »

Quote from: SNP on December 14, 2011, 10:53

Quote from: Eyedesign on December 14, 2011, 05:54

Alexa Traffic Rank

Istock

Global Rank = 325
US Rank = 243

Huge drop at the end of 2010 (Nov-Dec) for istock in pageviews.
What cause the drop? Most here are hoping it's because buyers are
leaving. I would think if that was true we would see a different type
of chart.

exactly ^ alexa is often quoted around here with glee...but if we pretend their stats are accurate, the drop in traffic is probably due simply to the huge change in the forums. at one point I personally visited the iStock forums maybe 50 times a day give or take. now....maybe three or four times per week. and I'm not alone. pageviews mean nothing. contributors have all but stopped going to iStock's forums except for important stuff.

I so miss the page where you could see all the latest posts from all the sub-forum categories. It is very easy to miss out on important news/tidbits the way the forum is working now-a-days.

SNP · « **Reply #151 on:** December 14, 2011, 11:15 »

actually , I hated seeing those. I find the home page far more professional. forums shouldn't be front page IMO. but I guarantee that much of the lost traffic is contributors no longer going into forums.

ProArtwork · « **Reply #152 on:** December 14, 2011, 12:22 »

Quote from: SNP on December 14, 2011, 10:53

Quote from: Eyedesign on December 14, 2011, 05:54

Alexa Traffic Rank

Istock

Global Rank = 325
US Rank = 243

Most here are hoping it's because buyers are
leaving. I would think if that was true we would see a different type
of chart.

exactly ^ alexa is often quoted around here with glee...but if we pretend their stats are accurate, the drop in traffic is probably due simply to the huge change in the forums.

Activities in the forums are not like it used to be. Therefore traffic will be a lot lower.
Unfortunately some will interpret that as something different!

CarlssonInc · « **Reply #153 on:** December 14, 2011, 12:26 »

Quote from: SNP on December 14, 2011, 11:15

actually , I hated seeing those. I find the home page far more professional. forums shouldn't be front page IMO. but I guarantee that much of the lost traffic is contributors no longer going into forums.

I agree about it not being on the FP, but miss being able to see all the latest posts from various sub-forums (like you can here).

gostwyck · « **Reply #154 on:** December 14, 2011, 12:31 »

Quote from: ProArtwork on December 14, 2011, 12:22

exactly ^ alexa is often quoted around here with glee...but if we pretend their stats are accurate, the drop in traffic is probably due simply to the huge change in the forums. [/quote]

Activities in the forums are not like it used to be. Therefore traffic will be a lot lower.
Unfortunately some will interpret that as something different!
[/quote]

Yes, that's it __ it's just less forum traffic. If we all keep saying it often enough then maybe it will come true.

Out of interest how would 'forum traffic' explain why my earnings at Istock have steadily slipped from 40% of my total 18 months ago to just 24% this month?

cobalt · « **Reply #155 on:** December 14, 2011, 12:31 »

I sincerly doubt that anyone here is hoping that istock customers leave and lead to a drop in traffic.

The fact remains that istock management have remained completely silent about the terrible drop in traffic and haven´t offered a single explanation to their contributor base. This is drop of over 70% depending on which stats page you look at.

If the traffic loss was because of some google seo change magic I am sure they would have told us immediatly. It is not in their interest to be perceived as a "failing site".

The silence about the traffic loss is the scary part, not the loss itself.

Add this to the depressing monthly threads, site bugs, abruptly disappearing KW, refunds, the unreliability in any announcements, inability to meet deadlines they set themselves and then the video artists reporting slow sales although they are supplying a growth market that is just starting out...

I would love to believe that all is well with istock, but if they continue to avoid communicating about the issues that contributors are worried about, they will have to live with the lack of trust and exclusive contributors spreading out into the larger stock market.

We are all digital entrepreneurs here, if we didn´t know how to spot a trend, we wouldn´t have become so successful.

traveler1116 · « **Reply #156 on:** December 14, 2011, 12:40 »

Quote from: gostwyck on December 14, 2011, 12:31

Out of interest how would 'forum traffic' explain why my earnings at Istock have steadily slipped from 40% of my total 18 months ago to just 24% this month?

It wouldn't. Things that would explain it could be that you haven't uploaded much and the best match favors new images, or 18 months ago nonexclusive files were better placed, or lots of new images were added in categories that you did well in, or that other sites have gone up, or that your rate dropped since then, or that you had a few more ELs then, who knows what explains it but I'm pretty sure that forum traffic doesn't. It may be that buyers have left but there are many other factors that could explain your drop.

briciola · « **Reply #157 on:** December 14, 2011, 12:49 »

Quote from: cobalt on December 14, 2011, 12:31

I sincerly doubt that anyone here is hoping that istock customers leave and lead to a drop in traffic.

Why? I'd be happy to see customers move from a site that pay a pittance % to somewhere fairer

lisafx · « **Reply #158 on:** December 14, 2011, 13:10 »

Quote from: traveler1116 on December 14, 2011, 12:40

It may be that buyers have left but there are many other factors that could explain your drop.

All the factors you mentioned could certainly explain one person's drop. However it is more difficult to explain away when it's happening to so many people

jamirae · « **Reply #159 on:** December 14, 2011, 13:14 »

I would say that the drop in forum traffic IS a sign of the drop in sales. Not all of them, but certainly an indication. Many of the contributors (myself included) who now less frequent the forums also stopped purchasing, or significantly scaled back, from iStock. I used to purchase exclusively from iStock and now I can't think of the last time I bought an image there. One factor that keeps slipping here is the large amount of contributors who are also buyers.

traveler1116 · « **Reply #160 on:** December 14, 2011, 13:25 »

Quote from: lisafx on December 14, 2011, 13:10

Quote from: traveler1116 on December 14, 2011, 12:40
It may be that buyers have left but there are many other factors that could explain your drop.

All the factors you mentioned could certainly explain one person's drop. However it is more difficult to explain away when it's happening to so many people

Do you know if anyone has been following istockcharts? There are stats on total DLs there so the overall trend should be easy to see if someone kept records of it.

loop · « **Reply #161 on:** December 14, 2011, 13:34 »

Quote from: jamirae on December 14, 2011, 13:14

I would say that the drop in forum traffic IS a sign of the drop in sales. Not all of them, but certainly an indication. Many of the contributors (myself included) who now less frequent the forums also stopped purchasing, or significantly scaled back, from iStock. I used to purchase exclusively from iStock and now I can't think of the last time I bought an image there. One factor that keeps slipping here is the large amount of contributors who are also buyers.

Where did you source that data? It's a guess? Yes, we know some contributors are buyers as well , yes, but... Have they a real significance in sales volume? I doubt it, but I don't know. Nor anybody else knows... except istock management. They have the data, they know exactly how much of the business comes from the "contributor-buyer". If this percentage was really significant, probably they would be more careful to not dissapoint contributors.

SNP · « **Reply #162 on:** December 14, 2011, 14:30 »

^ I think if you were to combine all these theories, divide them by 42...and add some eye of newt...we'd get a real answer. as in, the truth is obviously a combination of factors.

specifically @gostwyck...I'm not telling myself the drop in traffic is forum conversations. that's just silly. I think that is one factor that is being completely ignored here though. I do believe iStock has alienated buyers and contributors, without question. the question is, how does this alienation compare in numbers to past years? we will never have that information.

I agree with Jasmin, however, that silence is scary. it may as well confirm the fear since they're not quelling it with numbers. why not brag if you've got the numbers?

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #163 on:** December 14, 2011, 14:34 »

Quote from: traveler1116 on December 14, 2011, 13:25

Quote from: lisafx on December 14, 2011, 13:10
Quote from: traveler1116 on December 14, 2011, 12:40
It may be that buyers have left but there are many other factors that could explain your drop.

All the factors you mentioned could certainly explain one person's drop. However it is more difficult to explain away when it's happening to so many people

Do you know if anyone has been following istockcharts? There are stats on total DLs there so the overall trend should be easy to see if someone kept records of it.

I'm sure someone said they were keeping some historical data. Alternatively, it may be possible for (almost) anybody to track some of the changes by using the "wayback machine" which archives historical data from sites. Unfortunately, I can't access it here because of the ISP firewall.

gostwyck · « **Reply #164 on:** December 14, 2011, 14:58 »

Quote from: SNP on December 14, 2011, 14:30

specifically @gostwyck...I'm not telling myself the drop in traffic is forum conversations. that's just silly. I think that is one factor that is being completely ignored here though. I do believe iStock has alienated buyers and contributors, without question. the question is, how does this alienation compare in numbers to past years? we will never have that information.

I agree with Jasmin, however, that silence is scary. it may as well confirm the fear since they're not quelling it with numbers. why not brag if you've got the numbers?

Agreed, Jasmine's post was excellent. Even when Istock have an obvious opportunity to 'brag' about their numbers, for example when they announced this year's RC targets, they delayed and prevaricated for as long as possible before finally coming up with "er ... no change". Exactly what we all predicted here months previously. They'll probably do the same again this year too unless they feel forced into lowering the RC targets because too many exclusives are leaving.

What amazes me with Istock is how they appear to be transfixed, like a deer in the headlights, unable to take any action to save themselves. Unfortunately I think the only route back they may have is to roll back the price increases and the commission cuts and hope that their customers/contributors might forgive them. Of course doing that would mean that their income (and in particular that of their exclusives) would also immediately be reduced even further, thus compounding the situation they find themselves in. They can't go forwards and going backwards is too painful for them to contemplate.

pancaketom · « **Reply #165 on:** December 14, 2011, 15:02 »

Quote from: briciola on December 14, 2011, 12:49

Quote from: cobalt on December 14, 2011, 12:31
I sincerly doubt that anyone here is hoping that istock customers leave and lead to a drop in traffic.
Why? I'd be happy to see customers move from a site that pay a pittance % to somewhere fairer

I too would love to see most buyers leave IS and FT and migrate to sites that pay a better %age. Both to send a rock solid message to the other sites that dropping %ages isn't the way to get ahead and for my own personal greed. If I was only going on personal greed I'd hope they could keep just enough sales to keep the big exclusives from leaving - I am skeptical of that now though.

I think IS has been hiding the drop in revenue for exclusives by slowly lowering indy sales (through best match). Unfortunately for IS eventually they won't be able to keep doing that and the exclusives will start to notice. I think that high level exclusives are still probably doing fairly well at IS and would take a big hit to leave, but if the IS line is only going up slowly or even going down and the other sites are going up more rapidly at some point you are going to want to get onto the faster rising sites.

As far as all the alexa rankings etc. - they do suggest a drop at IS - one thing to consider is that the SS rankings might only be for the buyer side and all the forum and checking stats etc. is all on submit.shutterstock.com

Aldra - that port should do well anywhere. Wow.

SNP · « **Reply #166 on:** December 14, 2011, 15:17 »

I think it's ridiculous to see contributors posting that they hope any agency loses customers. ^ it is a post like that that reminds that many comments here should be taken with with a massive ~~grain~~ chip of salt sitting on a number of shoulders around here

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #167 on:** December 14, 2011, 15:48 »

Hmmmm a poll to gather feelings on iStock?
My opinion ... we do not need a poll. They are just one of many agencies. iStock gets far too much press. Just count the threads.

SNP · « **Reply #168 on:** December 14, 2011, 16:01 »

Quote from: WarrenPrice on December 14, 2011, 15:48

Hmmmm a poll to gather feelings on iStock?
My opinion ... we do not need a poll. They are just one of many agencies. iStock gets far too much press. Just count the threads.

that's because iStock has a lot of bitter ex girlfriends

helix7 · « **Reply #169 on:** December 14, 2011, 16:52 »

Quote from: SNP on December 14, 2011, 15:17

I think it's ridiculous to see contributors posting that they hope any agency loses customers. ^ it is a post like that that reminds that many comments here should be taken with with a massive ~~grain~~ chip of salt sitting on a number of shoulders around here

Its ridiculous to want customers to buy images where I get the most money per sale?

disorderly · « **Reply #170 on:** December 14, 2011, 17:08 »

Quote from: SNP on December 14, 2011, 16:01

that's because iStock has a lot of bitter ex girlfriends

I've never been anyone's girlfriend, but being with iStock does have some of the features of an abusive relationship. I feel a whole lot better now that I'm out of it, and I'd like to see the abuser get what's coming to it. Don't even feel bad about about my vindictive feelings either. I'm happy to see iStock suffer, given what they did and tried to do to me and others. I'm sorry for those who haven't made the break, but don't see that pretending all's well will do them any good long term. Or maybe I'm just mean. Yeah, that's it.

Aldra · « **Reply #171 on:** December 14, 2011, 17:16 »

My problem is that "alexa" graph .... looks pretty similar as "Aldra" graph. hmmm ....maybe just my buyers left .. who knows ?

pro@stockphotos · « **Reply #172 on:** December 14, 2011, 17:28 »

Quote from: Aldra on December 14, 2011, 17:16

My problem is that "alexa" graph .... looks pretty similar as "Aldra" graph. hmmm ....maybe just my buyers left .. who knows ?

I would look at what happened at istock from 2005-2010 more like an IPO in the stock market. You got in at the right time and made huge returns with relativly little investment. All the contributors with the gold cameras next to their name probably shouldn't expect to find the same returns in the future inside or outside of istock.

Aldra · « **Reply #173 on:** December 14, 2011, 17:41 »

I always "get in at the right time ... ", and .... I always get out

traveler1116 · « **Reply #174 on:** December 14, 2011, 17:50 »

Quote from: Aldra on December 14, 2011, 17:41

I always "get in at the right time ... ", and .... I always get out

Let us know how it works out for you. Remember if you put files on dreamstime you can't take them off for 6 months, so if you do see a drop of 80-85% (which was reported in another thread here) you won't be able to go back exclusive until that time is up.

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Author Topic: How do you feel about IStock? (Read 48254 times)

CarlssonInc

SNP

ProArtwork

CarlssonInc

gostwyck

cobalt

traveler1116

briciola

lisafx

jamirae

traveler1116

loop

SNP

BaldricksTrousers

gostwyck

pancaketom

SNP

WarrenPrice

SNP

helix7

disorderly

Aldra

pro@stockphotos

Aldra

traveler1116

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