MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: louoates on September 23, 2008, 16:08

Title: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: louoates on September 23, 2008, 16:08
Can anyone make sense of this keyword rejection with this image of a lone football goal post? I can't. I've had several goofy keyword rejections lately but none to top this one.


We regret to inform you that we cannot accept your submission, entitled Football goal post ( http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/7226776/2/istockphoto_7226776-football-goal-post.jpg) for addition to the iStockphoto library for the following reasons:

The following keywords used for this file do not appear to be fully relevant to the subject.

{[ American Football (Team Sport),  Sport,  Competition,  Competition,  Sport]}



The keywords used for this file do not appear to be fully relevant to the subject.

 Under the new controlled vocabulary system that we now use, images need fewer keywords to do well in searches. The site handles translations and synonyms, so you do not have to.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: Sean Locke Photography on September 23, 2008, 16:14
Maybe it wasn't clear what it was.  Most goalposts I've seen look thicker (?) than that, with padding and stuff.  That just sort of looks like a metal shape.  You should have punted a ball over it.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: louoates on September 23, 2008, 16:30
This is just a typical goalpost in the Chicago area.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: a.k.a.-tom on September 23, 2008, 16:50
What has bothered me with the same IS emails I'm getting....  is the words they are objecting to...
          I never uploaded!!   Heck,  some of them aren't even in my vocabulary! So,where'd they come from?   I mailed back those sentiments several days ago but have not gotten a reply. 8)=tom

p.s.  I agreed with their observations, the words weren't applicable,  but the fact remains,  those words aren't in my data base, I didn't upload them.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: PaulieWalnuts on September 23, 2008, 16:51
I've had a couple of odd ones too. I had shoes inside of a shoe storage bin and they tagged "inside" as irrelevant. Not sure why that's not relevant.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: CofkoCof on September 23, 2008, 17:23
I've had some strange keyword rejections also. I remember an image of a sunset with nicely colored clouds rejected for keyword cloud (the only keyword that was listed as inappropriate).
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: louoates on September 23, 2008, 18:55
What has bothered me with the same IS emails I'm getting....  is the words they are objecting to...
          I never uploaded!!   Heck,  some of them aren't even in my vocabulary! So,where'd they come from?   I mailed back those sentiments several days ago but have not gotten a reply. 8)=tom

p.s.  I agreed with their observations, the words weren't applicable,  but the fact remains,  those words aren't in my data base, I didn't upload them.


Now that you mentioned it, I too had some strange rejected keywords a few weeks ago that I would never had used. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time because there was another rejection reason with it.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: madelaide on September 23, 2008, 21:17
p.s.  I agreed with their observations, the words weren't applicable,  but the fact remains,  those words aren't in my data base, I didn't upload them.

Weren't they added by CV and you did not uncheck them during submission?

Regards,
Adelaide
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: leaf on September 24, 2008, 02:16

p.s.  I agreed with their observations, the words weren't applicable,  but the fact remains,  those words aren't in my data base, I didn't upload them.

what, how can you say football isn´t applicable.  How does a search for ´football goal´go then without the word football.
And if you have the word football, istock will make you pick ´american football´
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: Xalanx on September 24, 2008, 02:22
That's bloody stupid. So I'm on my way to get mass of rejections for keywords, I assume. I have 15 in queue waiting. After months of not uploading anything because of their horrendous upload system.
I hope I'll get another reviewer than this one obsessed with keywords.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: Nemo1024 on September 24, 2008, 03:26
Hmm... I've been down that road as well. This image (http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/transportation/6324486-old-maltese-bus-1952.php?id=6324486) was initially rejected due to keywords "clear sky", "car", "vintage" :(
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: thesentinel on September 24, 2008, 03:50
I don't know why the OP was surprised, as people are always complaining about istock moving the goalposts.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: Microbius on September 24, 2008, 04:56
It's pretty clear that the reviewer must not have realized what the photo was of. Out of context it could be an aerial or something.
You'd think that the keywords would have given it away though, I suppose if you're reviewing loads of images it's possible to jump to a conclusion about what a photo is of and not think it "backwards" after seeing the keywords.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: Caz on September 24, 2008, 05:10
What has bothered me with the same IS emails I'm getting....  is the words they are objecting to...
          I never uploaded!!   Heck,  some of them aren't even in my vocabulary! So,where'd they come from?   I mailed back those sentiments several days ago but have not gotten a reply. 8)=tom

p.s.  I agreed with their observations, the words weren't applicable,  but the fact remains,  those words aren't in my data base, I didn't upload them.

It's up to you to make sure the cv has mapped correctly to each of your keywords. For example, if you had the word orange, it's up to you to check or uncheck the drop down boxes asking if you mean orange colour or the fruit, or both. If you ignore the options, then it's likely that some alternative (irrelevant) meaning will be selected. People might say it's a time consuming process, but that it the process and it's your responsibility to check everything you submit is correct.
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: tomsailor on September 24, 2008, 06:50
I don't know why the OP was surprised, as people are always complaining about istock moving the goalposts.

lol - although the issue of keywords is a serious one, this topic deserved a goalposts pun!
Title: Re: Keyword craziness at iStock?
Post by: lisafx on September 24, 2008, 12:02
It's pretty clear that the reviewer must not have realized what the photo was of. Out of context it could be an aerial or something.
You'd think that the keywords would have given it away though, I suppose if you're reviewing loads of images it's possible to jump to a conclusion about what a photo is of and not think it "backwards" after seeing the keywords.

I would certainly hope that reviewers take titles and descriptions into account when they are deciding whether keywords are relevant. 

Judging by the link Lou provided, the title of the image was "football goal post".