http://app.engage.gettyimages.com/e/es?s=1591793372&e=1690456&elqTrackId=178baed6532740e59ffea78497faafe5&elq=dd36087fbd8f479f85568da90ab7b11a&elqaid=19590&elqat=1

"Getty Images is retiring Thinkstock.com to make way for a newer and overall improved experience for Thinkstock customers on Getty Images and iStock."

Well, I think that it is a really "exciting new" and that it will "improve our experience"!!!

oh iam so excited! Next is SS with Bigstock...

R2D2, looks like that this statement is pretty close to reality.
Not so long ago i've seen some agencies, that are proud of 0.25$ royalties. And positioning such earnings as advancement.

Situation is demanding completely new marketplace that will over-top SS.

Thinkstock was still paying a flat (but very low compared to SS) set price per download. IStock/ Getty cleverly changed their terms to be able to pay us 2c per download from their subs and is now doing away with the better paying of the two platforms.

Yup, almost certainly Getty is hoping to migrate TS buyers to premium access: they keep more, we get less.
The customer may well pay about the same or less, but will have access to all of iS/Getty offerings.

Quote from: r2d2 on April 04, 2018, 02:47

oh iam so excited! Next is SS with Bigstock...

Exactly the opposite.

Bigstock pays a lot less than SS (unless you got in with bridge)

Thinkstock was still paying a flat (but very low compared to SS) set price per download. IStock/ Getty cleverly changed their terms to be able to pay us 2c per download from their subs and is now doing away with the better paying of the two platforms.

Ah yes, but remember that we all got migrated from Stockxpert to TS, except people who couldn't ever get accepted at IS or didn't want to be there. Then Exclusives were added to TS but some shouted angrily because they didn't want to be on the flat rate site, so exclusives were removed from TS, upon which, some complained very loudly because they felt they were being cut out and would lose money. (as in... no matter what you do, someone will be unhappy?)

The TS flat rate is barely more than BS, which to me, puts them both in the same boat. I'm happy to not supply cheap subs at low commissions. But the trick is, BS is nothing but a way for SS to get more web presence, link to test deals, sell off videos at rock bottom prices, and sell our work for less. Exception is the group that got included in that test of The Bridge.

While IS has found another way to pay us less, and will be closing the TS link from IS. See bold above and yes Sue is also right on target. Question is, what about StockXpert and all the other collections that IS/Getty owns which were featured on TS? Will they also be moved to the consolidated website? They are wholly owned Getty assets, and the dump (aka transfer of assets) will most certainly bring more competition into the search, even if most of that is old stock.

We could be getting more 2c downloads instead of 28c downloads and we could be seeing more in house competition, which will mean less income. Or possibly, outside chance, closing TS could bring more buyers to IS to see our work. I can't claim to know, but I'm not optimistic about a brighter future with more sales and my income going up.

I got the email today, and it made me realize that Getty is pretty much a secret bunker that sends me a check every month. I really don't know what's going on or where the money comes from.

Pretty much covered the situation right now. 

Retiring is pretty much business speak for abandoning an ill-conceived idea or project. I never liked TS anyway, no complaints from me, I'll wait and see how this all turns out.

I think we are agreeing, Thinkstock was the worst thing ever, until the next even worse worst thing ever they could dream up (the 2c dls or fraction of a cent streaming). Now it's out with the old and in with the new.

Yes.

Feb. 2010 StockXpert "closes" and Thinkstock is the new distribution service for whatever was transitioned. You must upload through IS to get onto TS.

In January 2013 IS slipped below FT in the earnings poll here.

ThinkstockPhotos (there was already a company called Thinkstock, the name was taken) had so many collections, I can't list them all. Stockxpert, photos.com, Jupiter, Hermera, DigitalVision, Ingram, Image Source, Wavebreak, Digitialvison, purestock, Blend, and more. Plus, at least at this point, all the independent IS contributors.

Then there are the, sometimes mysterious, partner program sales from TS, remember those? Something is going on with Corbis / Veer and Visual China Group licensing to Getty. Ever changing is the fairest way to describe this.

Personally odd, I search my name and find I have 3 more images on IS than TS. There are some duplicates, when I never uploaded two of anything, at least not intentionally. I'm not going to try to find which they are. But that means with the dupes, all my IS images are not on TS.

Most of the "most popular" on TS are images that I don't think have ever sold on TS. Too hard to know what's sold on TS let alone the mess on IS.  When I look at newest, middle of the first page has images from 2007? 

Thank you Getty this could be a mercy killing.

I can't say I'll miss the PP or low pay subs from ThinkStock and I hope that the transition will make for better sales on IS. I'm always that kind of optimistic stupid hopeful, when the agencies make changes like this. I know they aren't doing this for us, but there could be a side effect and we actually do make more? I mean... maybe?