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Author Topic: iStock rebound?  (Read 19820 times)

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« on: January 17, 2009, 03:42 »
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Is anyone else having a dramatic increase in sales this month? They have definitely changed the best match because some of my files are appearing on the front page in some searches when before I was unable to even find any of my photos. If things keep up iStock might have its best month since February 2008 and be my top earner this month. Anyone else seeing a change? Also, has anyone noticed whether new files are getting exposure again or if they are still buried as soon as they are approved?
« Last Edit: January 17, 2009, 03:51 by Kngkyle »


lagereek

« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2009, 03:47 »
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Yes!  big improvment.

abimages

« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2009, 03:56 »
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I'm still waiting and hoping :o

« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2009, 04:16 »
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I have seen an improvement but sales vary a lot from one day to the next.  Still nowhere near the amount of sales I would like to see there, considering they are taking 80% commission.

« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2009, 04:32 »
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Also, I have noticed iStock google advertisements on various sites that I frequently visit. Never saw them before so its definitely something new.

« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2009, 06:01 »
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I am sure I will get beyond my December earnings there, but doubt I will reach the levels of October or November and not sure I can go back to where I was November 2007. But, would love to be corrected... .

« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2009, 06:01 »
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not for me, looking worse than december

« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2009, 07:22 »
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Mine's looking about the same as December - perhaps a little better - but that's what I'd expect in January.

Last October was my BME, closely followed by November, but it's normal to drop over the holiday season so I see nothing unusual.

bittersweet

« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2009, 07:26 »
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Also, I have noticed iStock google advertisements on various sites that I frequently visit. Never saw them before so its definitely something new.


Also, I have noticed iStock google advertisements on various sites that I frequently visit. Never saw them before so its definitely something new.


I've been seeing the google ads for a while, but last night while I was watching the new episode of Psych (don't laugh! :D), the network was advertising during the commercial breaks for some contest they were having about spotting pineapples in the episode. Of course my kids wanted to go check it out. We clicked on the "Find the Pineapple" button. I was very surprised to see a big istock banner ad there on the side of the page, one click from the USA network home page. It offered 10 free credits + 10% off.

http://www.usanetwork.com/series/psych/games/findthepineapple/

USA network is owned by NBC. Other companies also advertising in this rotation: Toyota, Hyundai, Bayer, SC Johnson (Windex), Saab. I saw these other ones on the front page as well, but got tired of refreshing it waiting for istock to pop up there, so I'm not sure if they ever would, or if they are just on this interior page. Either way, this advertising is clearly in a different league. I'm sure a big chunk of your 80% is going there.  ;)




DanP68

« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2009, 07:50 »
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There has definitely been a noticeable pickup since the best match changed, and they are back to competing for me for the #2 position with DT.  Now that they are back above 10% of total earnings, I am satisfied enough to upload some new material.

I spent a few hours working through a bunch of my online images and removing keywords which I found to be irrelevant. If iStock wants a lean and mean set of keywords, good for them.  I'll be happy to do my part and help the cause.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2009, 07:53 by DanP68 »

« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2009, 08:14 »
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Things seem back to Sept/Oct sales. Gooooooooooooood. Me happy.  ;D

« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2009, 08:32 »
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Also very good here. :) Should be much better sales than the last couple of months and IS is #1 for me this month by far. Got a couple of large file sales this week for $3.36 which was very nice as well. YAY! About half of my latest downloads on the first page are new files with 1-3 downloads each.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2009, 12:32 by epantha »

« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2009, 08:33 »
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I'm already beyond nov and dec earnings at this moment.  Looks like my best month since apr '08.

this again shows the importance of search result  >:(

« Reply #13 on: January 17, 2009, 08:41 »
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lately my sales have been pretty  good too but I am very cautious as I don't know  what will happen with the best match 2.0 if I am not wrong it is not in effect yet?

« Reply #14 on: January 17, 2009, 08:56 »
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Looking good for me too. Way better than December. Almost double over January 2008 at this same time. As the istock cheerleaders say - wooyay!

« Reply #15 on: January 17, 2009, 09:26 »
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I have almost earned as much this month as I did in whole december, so it looks good (not great) for me too.

dbvirago

« Reply #16 on: January 17, 2009, 09:32 »
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Yes, a huge jump. All of my old best sellers are coming back. Images that used to sell daily, but stopped selling mid last year are on the rebound. This could be a BME at IS for me.

On the other hand, I tried to upload for the first time in months, and it seems they are back to not grabbing desc and keywords again, so I'll keep holding off on that.

« Reply #17 on: January 17, 2009, 09:51 »
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Unfortunately still way off the mark. At least as bad as Nov and Dec.

abimages

« Reply #18 on: January 17, 2009, 09:54 »
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On the other hand, I tried to upload for the first time in months, and it seems they are back to not grabbing desc and keywords again, so I'll keep holding off on that.

Just click into any of the IS forums first (you don't need to read any). Then go straight to 'upload' do your uploading. All the data should show up. Been working that way for a while ???

« Reply #19 on: January 17, 2009, 10:19 »
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Better than december, possibly close to november, still far from previous months.

Regards,
Adelaide

« Reply #20 on: January 17, 2009, 10:24 »
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Only 50% of earnings (monthly projection) in comparison to December or November which were the same for me.

SS is doing fine (+30%), but all other sites are going down. I see a significant decrease of $/image downloaded in DT.

Hopefully, the 2nd half of January will be better.

« Reply #21 on: January 17, 2009, 11:41 »
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Just saw an IS ad on the YouTube front page. We'll see if this brings in more customers. Hope so! ;D

« Reply #22 on: January 17, 2009, 11:48 »
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Personally, I'm seeing constant iStock ads on my yahoo mail page.

« Reply #23 on: January 17, 2009, 12:05 »
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I'm already beyond nov and dec earnings at this moment.  Looks like my best month since apr '08.

this again shows the importance of search result  >:(

Ditto - looks like I'm back on the road to diamond!

vonkara

« Reply #24 on: January 17, 2009, 12:25 »
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Back too. Hope it's stay like this now and everyone will be happy this time

lisafx

« Reply #25 on: January 17, 2009, 14:00 »
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My IS sales are finally back to where they were before the mid October best match shakeup. 

The latest best match thread on IS would seem to indicate that this is due almost entirely to the best match, though, rather than a pickup in overall sales volume.  Losts of folks that benefited from good positions in November and December are complaining of huge sales drops in January.

I am hesitant to get too excited as this current situation is only temporary until best match 2.0 is implemented....

« Reply #26 on: January 17, 2009, 14:18 »
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My IS sales are finally back to where they were before the mid October best match shakeup. 

The latest best match thread on IS would seem to indicate that this is due almost entirely to the best match, though, rather than a pickup in overall sales volume.  Losts of folks that benefited from good positions in November and December are complaining of huge sales drops in January.

I am hesitant to get too excited as this current situation is only temporary until best match 2.0 is implemented....

best match 2.0 has already been/is currently being implemented.
Quote
Starting in mid-January we will start applying these results to best match searches.

« Reply #27 on: January 17, 2009, 14:21 »
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Losts of folks that benefited from good positions in November and December are complaining of huge sales drops in January.

Yap. The secret of success on any stock site is your position in the search engine. If there are so many winners, there must be losers too. I'm one of them.
Just when I decided to stop with them they accepted 11 of 15 of my last batch. That used to be 3 of 15. They are haunted...

Back too. Hope it's stay like this now and everyone will be happy this time

I'm not.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2009, 14:26 by FlemishDreams »

lisafx

« Reply #28 on: January 17, 2009, 14:26 »
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best match 2.0 has already been/is currently being implemented.



No.  It hasn't.  Here's the latest word on istock's forums as of 1-16:

"best match 2.0 has not been released yet. The system continues to work on the regular version and we expect that the best match 2.0 will be released shortly."

Feel free to read all about it here:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=80951&page=15

vonkara

« Reply #29 on: January 17, 2009, 14:34 »
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Back too. Hope it's stay like this now and everyone will be happy this time

I'm not.
Sorry to hear that really. I know how it feel from the last search ranking.

« Reply #30 on: January 17, 2009, 14:48 »
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best match 2.0 has already been/is currently being implemented.



No.  It hasn't.  Here's the latest word on istock's forums as of 1-16:

"best match 2.0 has not been released yet. The system continues to work on the regular version and we expect that the best match 2.0 will be released shortly."

Feel free to read all about it here:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=80951&page=15


Ah OK thanks for the correction. I never read the forums so didn't know.  ;)

RacePhoto

« Reply #31 on: January 17, 2009, 14:53 »
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Yap. The secret of success on any stock site is your position in the search engine. If there are so many winners, there must be losers too. I'm one of them.
Just when I decided to stop with them they accepted 11 of 15 of my last batch. That used to be 3 of 15. They are haunted...


Same as what I was trying to point out when "everyone" was dropping in the ranking and sales were slumping. For someone to go down, someone else MUST go up. Same for the other direction. You can't have one without the other.

Hopefully you'll get back to normal, if such a thing exists, because you are active and a regular contributor. That should count for something?

« Reply #32 on: January 17, 2009, 18:35 »
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Unfortunately still way off the mark. At least as bad as Nov and Dec.

everytime some gain, some of us lose.  my sales for this month are looking to be about 50-60% of any month of last year :(

« Reply #33 on: January 17, 2009, 22:33 »
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I noticed a couple days ago that IS has started advertising on the Los Angeles Times website too. Which is something new.

« Reply #34 on: January 18, 2009, 16:44 »
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note: A number of posts were removed due to inappropriate content  and further discussion that was totally off topic and unnecessary

shank_ali

« Reply #35 on: January 18, 2009, 17:24 »
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The buyers had an extended xmas break this year.Things will improve hopely towards the end of january.I am keeping 'all my eggs in the one basket' for the time being as getting $6.21 for an XLarge sale this week made me realise istockphoto still ticks all my boxes.

« Reply #36 on: January 19, 2009, 05:57 »
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This is the advertisement I keep seeing on another forum I visit that has over 20,000 registered users. Also saw an ad on DeviantArt today when I was looking for a new background.


Jeez I am finding the advertisements everywhere! Icanhascheezburger....
« Last Edit: January 19, 2009, 09:26 by Kngkyle »

lisafx

« Reply #37 on: January 19, 2009, 10:58 »
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Thanks for posting those Kyle.  Glad to see istock are advertising heavily. 

With so many new contributors joining all the time it is good to see the emphasis on bringing in more buyers!

CofkoCof

« Reply #38 on: January 20, 2009, 08:51 »
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IS rebounded nicely for me, might get close to a BME which was just before the best match change in October. It looks like it will be infront of SS for the first time for me (2 months without uploads on SS is really starting to show  :-\).
« Last Edit: January 20, 2009, 08:57 by CofkoCof »

« Reply #39 on: January 20, 2009, 21:21 »
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My downloads on istock in January are going like they used to be on SS. I've already passed Oct, Nov and Dec, it's the best month since Sept and it's only the 20th. So far this new year IS is my #1 earner.

vlad_the_imp

« Reply #40 on: January 21, 2009, 13:49 »
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Quote
"best match 2.0 has not been released yet. The system continues to work on the regular version and we expect that the best match 2.0 will be released shortly."

This is making the rather big assumption that anyone is going to be told exactly what's going on with new best match. IS management are famous for playing their cards close to their chests as far as best match is concerned. They've also stated in the forums that it's not just a case of flicking a switch, it will be gradually rolled out.

« Reply #41 on: January 21, 2009, 13:59 »
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I didn't get a single sale in a week. The problem is they accepted my last batch totally last week. Does anybody know how long is the wait period of accepted pictures before you can close your account on iStock?

lisafx

« Reply #42 on: January 21, 2009, 14:05 »
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I didn't get a single sale in a week. The problem is they accepted my last batch totally last week. Does anybody know how long is the wait period of accepted pictures before you can close your account on iStock?

You're wanting to close your account with them altogether??  Are you going exclusive somewhere else, or just fed up with low sales? 

Most of us seem to be seeing sales improvement lately - might be worth hanging in there a bit longer.  At least until best match 2.0 is fully implemented...

bittersweet

« Reply #43 on: January 21, 2009, 14:23 »
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I didn't get a single sale in a week. The problem is they accepted my last batch totally last week. Does anybody know how long is the wait period of accepted pictures before you can close your account on iStock?

Not sure how it will help your situation, but there is no waiting period. You can contact support to completely close your account, or you can deactivate your images one at a time yourself. Should you close your account and then change your mind, you will likely have to go through the entire application process again.

They aren't big on forcing people to stay who don't want to be there.

« Reply #44 on: January 21, 2009, 14:30 »
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You're wanting to close your account with them altogether??  Are you going exclusive somewhere else, or just fed up with low sales?

Rather fed up with their attitude. Well never mind, I'll just ignore them for half a year again and restrict our conversation to Paypal. If it wasn't for SS, yes, I would like to go exclusive on DT. I'm too emotional sometimes.

« Reply #45 on: January 24, 2009, 20:25 »
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Just curious to see how they'll implement best match 2.0 the way it should be. Let's say the biggest problem are keyword spammers. How's that going to be solved? Reducing old bones' kw spam in amounts of 80%? This is not going to happen.

Just to mention, I'm a IS newbie, dropped in a month ago, doing vectors only. My files contain only 7-10 kws, 100% relevant. Performing a best match search, it is hard to find them among the first 400-500 matches. I have no clue how's that going to change noticeably.
« Last Edit: January 24, 2009, 20:52 by nebojsak »

yecatsdoherty

« Reply #46 on: January 26, 2009, 23:27 »
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my sales have nose dived....I can't get any answers from anyone, which only adds to my concern. obviously not everyone is affected, however, I have been receiving a ton of emails both via IS sitemail as well as people emailing me privately. silvers, golds, diamonds all experiencing huge downturns and finding that they are not getting answers.

not one of my newest files is being downloaded and I can no longer find my newer files in searches. I have gone from an average of 25 dls per day to an average of 10 dls per day. my income is down by almost 50%. I was chugging consistently to Gold, which I thought I would hit in January. won't hit it at this pace until the summer. what can I say? I'm pissed. this sucks.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2009, 23:29 by yecatsdoherty »

« Reply #47 on: January 26, 2009, 23:37 »
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My sales continue to skyrocket. If best match 2.0 continues this trend and they release some statement saying that the best match will not be changed every few months then exclusivity could be a possibility for me in the future. Another thing that would be a huge +++ for me would be them relaxing there total rejection of nearly all raster illustrations.

yecatsdoherty

« Reply #48 on: January 26, 2009, 23:54 »
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Kyle - you have 52 files...!!! I would hardly say that you can judge the best match...no offense, I'm sure you will get there. and I am glad your sales are going well, but your performance is hardly a gauge

traveler1116

« Reply #49 on: January 26, 2009, 23:56 »
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Sales are back to about the same level almost exactly as they were when they changed the best match the first time. 

« Reply #50 on: January 27, 2009, 00:01 »
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my sales have nose dived...

Not that it's much consolation, but I know where you're coming from: my IS sales dropped from >1000 per month to <300. They've recovered to about 70% of their previous norm with this last best match change. It's a zero sum game: some win, some lose, and I'm happy to be back on the winning side again.

« Reply #51 on: January 27, 2009, 00:34 »
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Kyle - you have 52 files...!!! I would hardly say that you can judge the best match...no offense, I'm sure you will get there. and I am glad your sales are going well, but your performance is hardly a gauge

Yes that is true I only have 52 files on Istock. I have however, been on Istock for over a year now so I do have an idea of how this best match compares to past ones. My Istock portfolio is so small because about 80% of my images are raster illustrations, and they accept about 1/100 of those. The few that I did manage to get accepted outsell my photos by a large margin though. If they were more accepting of my raster illustrations, that would be a huge incentive for me to go exclusive.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2009, 00:36 by Kngkyle »

yecatsdoherty

« Reply #52 on: January 27, 2009, 00:35 »
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my sales have nose dived...

Not that it's much consolation, but I know where you're coming from: my IS sales dropped from >1000 per month to <300. They've recovered to about 70% of their previous norm with this last best match change. It's a zero sum game: some win, some lose, and I'm happy to be back on the winning side again.


well, that is some consolation, my sales have dropped the same, from 1000 approx to 300. so maybe things will pick up at some point. congrats that you are doing better, that's good news since we are very similar in numbers. thank you.

yecatsdoherty

« Reply #53 on: January 27, 2009, 00:37 »
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Kyle - you have 52 files...!!! I would hardly say that you can judge the best match...no offense, I'm sure you will get there. and I am glad your sales are going well, but your performance is hardly a gauge

Yes that is true I only have 52 files on Istock. I have however, been on Istock for over a year now so I do have an idea of how this best match compares to past ones. My Istock portfolio is so small because about 80% of my images are raster illustrations, and they accept about 1/100 of those. The few that I did manage to get accepted outsell my photos by a large margin though.

I sure wish I knew how to do vectors.....stupid camera ;-)

« Reply #54 on: January 27, 2009, 00:39 »
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Kyle - you have 52 files...!!! I would hardly say that you can judge the best match...no offense, I'm sure you will get there. and I am glad your sales are going well, but your performance is hardly a gauge

Yes that is true I only have 52 files on Istock. I have however, been on Istock for over a year now so I do have an idea of how this best match compares to past ones. My Istock portfolio is so small because about 80% of my images are raster illustrations, and they accept about 1/100 of those. The few that I did manage to get accepted outsell my photos by a large margin though.

I sure wish I knew how to do vectors.....stupid camera ;-)

I wish I had the motivation to learn how to do vectors. It probably wouldn't be too difficult of a transition from Photoshop to Illustrator.

« Reply #55 on: January 27, 2009, 00:42 »
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well, that is some consolation, my sales have dropped the same, from 1000 approx to 300. so maybe things will pick up at some point. congrats that you are doing better, that's good news since we are very similar in numbers. thank you.

On the down side, and I hate to tell you the bad news, the best match change resulted in about $4500 of lost income for me.
You might be wise to plan for something similar.

yecatsdoherty

« Reply #56 on: January 27, 2009, 00:47 »
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well, that is some consolation, my sales have dropped the same, from 1000 approx to 300. so maybe things will pick up at some point. congrats that you are doing better, that's good news since we are very similar in numbers. thank you.

On the down side, and I hate to tell you the bad news, the best match change resulted in about $4500 of lost income for me.
You might be wise to plan for something similar.


at this point, and especially because I can't get any answers from admins at all....I am counting on nothing, and anything else is gravy...I'm also a writer....I sure know how to pick careers to get rich with

jsnover

« Reply #57 on: January 27, 2009, 01:18 »
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I'm also a writer....I sure know how to pick careers to get rich with
And you have actor and musician to keep in reserve in case you find too steady an income in writing and photography :)

traveler1116

« Reply #58 on: January 27, 2009, 01:39 »
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You guys saying IS is down, are you comparing your sales now to the last few months?  You look like exclusives and it's common knowledge that the best match that was changed last fall/winter heavily favored exclusives (look at the rankings to the right, IS was a strong 2nd just before that change), pretty much all the nonexclusives sales died.  I was down over 50% overnight when the 1st change happened and then another 25% after the second one, but I would not compare my earnings now to then.  To me that was just IS giving exclusives a christmas bonus and now it's getting back to normal.  During both of those changes the best match thread in the forum got over 70 pages long and there wasn't a word from the admins about it, I wouldn't expect much different after this change.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2009, 01:52 by traveler1116 »

shank_ali

« Reply #59 on: January 27, 2009, 02:03 »
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Sales are now back to normal for me since the xmas break.Downloads on new files are minimal to say the least but that is expected.Even had sales this saturday and sunday which was the first this year.

« Reply #60 on: January 27, 2009, 03:17 »
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My sales seem to of returned after a big slump for the past 3 months.  I just hope best match 2.0 isn't as bipolar :)
« Last Edit: January 27, 2009, 08:05 by sharpshot »

« Reply #61 on: January 27, 2009, 05:35 »
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My sales have always been slow but steady. I make twice more money there by referring buyers

« Reply #62 on: January 27, 2009, 05:59 »
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I am sure I will get beyond my December earnings there, but doubt I will reach the levels of October or November and not sure I can go back to where I was November 2007. But, would love to be corrected... .

Well, with the month being close to over I see my prediction to be correct. So far I went beyond Decembers earnings but am nowhere near the levels of October 2008, which was, if I may add, my second worst month at Istock last year. Earnings will probably be around 60% of what they were in January 2008. I plan a stronger push to uploading images to istock the next weeks. So maybe that will help. Not sure though.

« Reply #63 on: January 27, 2009, 10:18 »
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More EL sales yesterday than the whole of last year :-)) But it was only 2 :-)
However, this month has shown a decent increase in the number of downloads encouraging me to start uploading regularly again. Also, approvals have gone up. Perhaps there is hope for us non-exclusives!

« Reply #64 on: January 27, 2009, 10:49 »
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sales are definately on the increase :) you got 2 ELs in 1 day. Im yet to get any dam you :p

lisafx

« Reply #65 on: January 27, 2009, 12:03 »
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I mentioned it in the "totalitarian" thread, but I'll agree here, that sales at istock are not down across the board.  Just shifted. 

The people who got a HUGE bonus of sales from mid October through December are no longer so heavily favored, and those of us who lost thousands of $ in sales during that time are recovering to the sales levels we had before that massive best match shakeup in October. 

yecatsdoherty

« Reply #66 on: January 27, 2009, 12:07 »
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I mentioned it in the "totalitarian" thread, but I'll agree here, that sales at istock are not down across the board.  Just shifted. 

The people who got a HUGE bonus of sales from mid October through December are no longer so heavily favored, and those of us who lost thousands of $ in sales during that time are recovering to the sales levels we had before that massive best match shakeup in October. 

well, even though I am not benefitting.....this does make me feel better. as long as the best match remains dynamic.

« Reply #67 on: January 27, 2009, 12:19 »
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I'm not seeing anything like a rebound.  This month I'm on target to equal my second worst month at iS in two years (May 08), with of course a far larger portfolio.  I'm only up 13% over December 08, my worst month, which was down 40% from November.

« Reply #68 on: January 27, 2009, 13:36 »
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Well I have a very small sample size but I do have duration working for me.  In 4 years of IStock, this will be my BME by 1.5x with absolutely 0 new images in at least 3-5 months.


« Reply #69 on: January 27, 2009, 14:39 »
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I mentioned it in the "totalitarian" thread, but I'll agree here, that sales at istock are not down across the board.  Just shifted. 

The people who got a HUGE bonus of sales from mid October through December are no longer so heavily favored, and those of us who lost thousands of $ in sales during that time are recovering to the sales levels we had before that massive best match shakeup in October. 

Yes, I'm seeing the same.  The previous best match favored exclusives very much.  But like I said before this didn't serve the buyers who don't care if they have to buy from exclusives or non-exclusives, they just want the best images (best match ?) in front of them.  IS restored that imho.  Now those who got a boost from that weird best match are seeing a drop.

My sales are back to normal.  I think this will be my best month since feb.

lisafx

« Reply #70 on: January 27, 2009, 14:48 »
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Well I have a very small sample size but I do have duration working for me.  In 4 years of IStock, this will be my BME by 1.5x with absolutely 0 new images in at least 3-5 months.



Regardless of your sample size I think you are making a very relevant point.  This best match is favoring older images much more than newer ones.  As a result people like you and I, who have lots of older images are doing well in January, whereas people like Stacey whose portfolios are mostly newer are being hit hard.  

I have a lot of newer stuff and it is hardly selling at all on IS lately.  Hopefully in time they will settle on a best match that showcases the best of old and new work, exclusive and non-exclusive work.  

Hey, I can dream, can't I? :)

abimages

« Reply #71 on: January 27, 2009, 14:56 »
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Well I have a very small sample size but I do have duration working for me.  In 4 years of IStock, this will be my BME by 1.5x with absolutely 0 new images in at least 3-5 months.



Regardless of your sample size I think you are making a very relevant point.  This best match is favoring older images much more than newer ones.  As a result people like you and I, who have lots of older images are doing well in January, whereas people like Stacey whose portfolios are mostly newer are being hit hard.  

I have a lot of newer stuff and it is hardly selling at all on IS lately.  Hopefully in time they will settle on a best match that showcases the best of old and new work, exclusive and non-exclusive work.  

Hey, I can dream, can't I? :)


Hey Lisa we can all dream about that!

But like you I see a lot of my old timers returning to see some downloads again. :)

« Reply #72 on: January 27, 2009, 15:39 »
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Regardless of your sample size I think you are making a very relevant point.  This best match is favoring older images much more than newer ones.  As a result people like you and I, who have lots of older images are doing well in January, whereas people like Stacey whose portfolios are mostly newer are being hit hard.  

Given that I have a very small port (< 100) and want to start uploading regularly, I'm all for favoring newer images...after this month. ;)

shank_ali

« Reply #73 on: January 27, 2009, 15:59 »
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I think ALL new  files need to mature in the library.What i am expierancing is alot of files uploaded over 3/6 months ago are beginning to attract small but regular sales now.
You do all realise the new best match 2.0 won't work.Honestly can you really believe istockphoto have developed a perfect formula for best match.
It will change on a regular basis like before for the benifit of more revenue for istockphoto not for the buyers and certaintly not for us the  contributors. and the excuse will be the data has changed ,the buyers are keywording differently,we tweaked this and that...

shank_ali

« Reply #74 on: January 27, 2009, 16:46 »
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just looked closely at yesterday 8 sales and todays nine and nearly everyone has had one or more review,hmmmm

« Reply #75 on: January 27, 2009, 17:23 »
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I mentioned it in the "totalitarian" thread, but I'll agree here, that sales at istock are not down across the board.  Just shifted. 

The people who got a HUGE bonus of sales from mid October through December are no longer so heavily favored, and those of us who lost thousands of $ in sales during that time are recovering to the sales levels we had before that massive best match shakeup in October. 

I don't agree that sales at iStock are not down across the board;  I've been monitoring total downloads as reported on the multimedia.de site since November, and average total downloads over the first two weeks of January were as low as 30% of the figures during November.

They've recovered somewhat since, but are still only about 60% or so of the November figure, though rising again.  But isn't that what you'd expect over the holiday season?

That's not to say the best match changes had no effect - obviously they caused a shift, as you say - but a drop in downloads of up to 40% compared to November can be accounted for by this fall in overall sales, it's not just the best match.

Unfortunately I don't have anything to compare with previous years, so I can't even guess if this is a normal seasonal thing or not.  My own downloads didn't show any radical changes (I guess I was one of the lucky ones) and seem comparable to last year in terms of being good in Oct/Nov, dropping down in December, back up in January but not all the way.

lisafx

« Reply #76 on: January 27, 2009, 19:23 »
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I don't agree that sales at iStock are not down across the board;  I've been monitoring total downloads as reported on the multimedia.de site since November, and average total downloads over the first two weeks of January were as low as 30% of the figures during November.


You are right, I should not assume sales are not down across the board.  I don't track istock's overall sales.  Just my own and the trends reported in the best match threads. 

Judging from my Nov. sales I would never in a million years have guessed istock's sales were good - mine were tragic!

Whatever amount of sales there are, you are right that they have mostly shifted to different contributors. 

I am just so relieved to be having sales again there.  Getting b*tch slapped by the best match was really NOT fun.

yecatsdoherty

« Reply #77 on: January 27, 2009, 20:00 »
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I'm the kind of person who rarely jumps on a band wagon. I can be a bit of a contrarian at times, not because I like to stir the pot, but because I am not going to just accept something I am told until I figure it out for myself.

I was told by many that I should channel my enthusiasm for IS the company into my own work and not to treat it like an elite club. now in my third year, I see what people were talking about. I think IS is a great company, and I continue to believe that exclusivity is the right decision for me, however, I also see the culture they promote and I am not a fan. it is freaky at times, I often expect them to start passing out koolaid to the loudest nay-sayers first.....gulp.

« Reply #78 on: January 27, 2009, 20:14 »
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I mentioned it in the "totalitarian" thread, but I'll agree here, that sales at istock are not down across the board.  Just shifted. 

The people who got a HUGE bonus of sales from mid October through December are no longer so heavily favored, and those of us who lost thousands of $ in sales during that time are recovering to the sales levels we had before that massive best match shakeup in October. 
I'm definitely in that first category - Brilliant November and December for photos, but my vectors disappeared. Now the photos have dies, and the small vector sales haven't made up for the fall. I learned early on  not to rely on continuing patterns of sales form istock - I got hit by the Great Upheaval in best match in October 2006 - my sales have never got back to that level again, despite a big increase in portfolio!

But right now is pretty sad - I've had zero sales today on what is typically my best day of the week. But at least vectors are back up in the search now (maybe a bit too much if my portfolio is anything to go by) so given they pay a lot more at least my $s should recover a bit if people start buying what they can now find.

I'm a bit puzzled by people saying that new files aren't favoured -  the only two files I've uploaded this year are right near the top of the obvious searches for them (not that they are great stock, and they won't sell much) And my best seller - an older file - has dropped right down the best match- (it was number one in the search for violin for a while which did my downloads the world of good, but it's now barely in the first 100 - as it was carrying my photo sales, it's hardly suprising I'm seeing a big fall off)) and has been overtaken by the vector version of the same thing in position - a much newer file.

« Reply #79 on: January 27, 2009, 20:20 »
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It's like a switch went on around the 20th. I've had anemic sales for about 3 months and now I'm almost back to where I was a few months ago... I almost was ready to stop uploading to IS, but now I'm very happy... I hope it lasts for a while!


 

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