MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: Cogent Marketing on August 23, 2011, 16:24
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http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=333388&page=1 (http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=333388&page=1)
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I don't get why these things are locked but not deleted ??? If they really want to stifle the truth, why not delete the post entirely?
I understand that they don't want to acknowledge that they are losing business, yet any of us that submit to IS can tell from our sales that something is wrong.
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I saw that, but when I tried to take his advice and try for myself, I found a chart for iStock which dropped in mid-April and didn't recover, but for some reason I couldn't do my usual comparative search with fotolia, dreamstime and shutterstock.
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Suppose that using a company's forums to point out that the company has gone from being the most successful in its class to position number three in just 8 months is unlikely to be popular with management.
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I can't seem to get Alexa to work right now, but I ran this comparison a week or so and didn't get the same result. Istock and SS were neck and neck, but FT and DT were further down. I wish there was a link to where those analytics were done.
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I can't seem to get Alexa to work right now, but I ran this comparison a week or so and didn't get the same result. Istock and SS were neck and neck, but FT and DT were further down. I wish there was a link to where those analytics were done.
Compete?
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/ (http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/)
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Ahh. Thank you nruboc. Wow! Striking numbers!
Alexa (last week when I could access it), and Google trends both show what I described above.
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Looks like the stats from http://www.compete.com (http://www.compete.com)
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For some real fun try comparing Thinkstock with just about anything....lol
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstock.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/ (http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstock.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/)
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Compete?
[url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/[/url] ([url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/[/url])
Amazin chart, for IS. People always criticize the validity of these traffic charts, but if I tilt the chart a few degrees counterclockwise, the DT and SS lines match very well with my sales stats at those sites. Probably not a coincidence. Are the IS exclusives trapped on the deck of a sinking ship?
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Compete?
[url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/[/url] ([url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/[/url])
Ouch! Over 57% down in relative terms during a year. No surprise that Kelly got 'promoted' then. As others have said that graph fairly accurately reflects my own stat's over the same period. Istock's greed has truly blown up in their face.
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http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/ (http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/)
Maybe thinkstockphotos.com would give better results?
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[url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/[/url] ([url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/[/url])
Maybe thinkstockphotos.com would give better results?
Yay! Way to go Yay :)
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[url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/[/url] ([url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/[/url])
Maybe thinkstockphotos.com would give better results?
Nope
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For some real fun try comparing Thinkstock with just about anything....lol
[url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstock.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/[/url] ([url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstock.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/[/url])
Not that I disagree with the concept but the numbers there are horribly flawed. I checked a site that I know has followers and links and it shows as 2 refering sites. I have more sites than that myself that refer to the subject site!
But it was fun looking at Crestock and Yay ranking way higher. :)
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Alexa of TOP4 agencies in last 12 months. It's based on users that have Alexa toolbar in their browsers. The number means actual position of the site in complete internet. So currently iStock is 320th most visited site.
iStock Photo 232 226 219 211 219 226 242 226 257 283 312 320
Shutterstock 601 565 519 487 498 467 447 430 434 433 436 445
Fotolia 512 499 468 447 446 449 465 461 498 513 542 530
Dreamstime 687 725 731 700 732 752 763 723 713 707 719 712
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People always like to use Alexa as a reference, I know I do it too sometimes. But it is based on the traffic of people who have installed Alexa, so the stats although they give an idea are not representing entire website traffic. As to whether the other stat companies are reliable, considering their entire business is based on giving statistical information, I would hope they do their research in getting accurate information, but who knows. I posted in June about iStock's tumbling traffic (http://www.microstockposts.com/istocks-loss-is-shutterstocks-gain/) in comparison to a similarly paced rise for Shutterstock. Traffic doesn't always represent earnings, but generally lots of traffic isn't a bad thing.
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Compete?
[url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/[/url] ([url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/[/url])
Amazin chart, for IS. People always criticize the validity of these traffic charts, but if I tilt the chart a few degrees counterclockwise, the DT and SS lines match very well with my sales stats at those sites. Probably not a coincidence. Are the IS exclusives trapped on the deck of a sinking ship?
Funny thing is that my stats don't match the iStock graph. Just me being weird, as usual, I suppose.
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People always like to use Alexa as a reference, I know I do it too sometimes. But it is based on the traffic of people who have installed Alexa.
True. It's good to combine resources. And read between the lines. I mainly use stats like Alexa, Compete, Quantacast, Blogsearch, Twitter, AdPlannner, Yahoo to give me an idea of the trends, because in the relative world, trend and actual market position is just fine.
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Compete?
[url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/[/url] ([url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/[/url])
Amazin chart, for IS. People always criticize the validity of these traffic charts, but if I tilt the chart a few degrees counterclockwise, the DT and SS lines match very well with my sales stats at those sites. Probably not a coincidence. Are the IS exclusives trapped on the deck of a sinking ship?
Funny thing is that my stats don't match the iStock graph. Just me being weird, as usual, I suppose.
And if I tilt the chart till it's upside down, my stats are a much better match to the iStock graph. Maybe I'm weird too.
ETA: Actually that doesn't work does it, the graph still goes down! Oh well, guess I should say "If I invert the chart around the x axis"... but that's not as pithy.
Whatever, I don't feel like I'm on a sinking ship.
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For some real fun try comparing Thinkstock with just about anything....lol
[url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstock.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/[/url] ([url]http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstock.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/[/url])
Just to clarify things. The url for Thinkstock is thinkstockphotos.com. Thinkstock.com is just a pointer now.
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/ (http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/)
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Interesting..... yet not surprising, and in a sense comforting to know that it's not my Portfolio which is lacking at IS resulting in it going from leader of the pack in earnings to just about bottom of the pile in the top tier Agencies for me.
The old ethos/mantra often used over there "The cream floats to the top" and "Build it and they will come" ?
Well we all know that cream can turn sour very quickly and buildings turn to ruins without the right maintenance !
I still have not totally given up on IS but I'm getting there ;)
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I wonder how much traffic is affected by the "i sold a picture" links which infest some people's Twitter and Facebook feeds. And I wonder how much that traffic costs to manage vs what it generates in new business.
I know that 3rd party rankings can affect the resale price of a site or domain if it is being sold - but does anyone here really believe in Alexa, Compete etc ? For example, has anyone ever known anyone who had the Alexa toolbar installed ?
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I know that 3rd party rankings can affect the resale price of a site or domain if it is being sold - but does anyone here really believe in Alexa, Compete etc ? For example, has anyone ever known anyone who had the Alexa toolbar installed ?
I don't believe in the exactness of these websites but I do feel that trends seen over time are reflective of what's happening. If you look at the compete.com chart, Istock peaked this year in March and have been on a slide since then. My personal sales reflect that same trend. In addition, independents have been saying for several months that Shutterstock sales are on the rise which is also the trend in this graph.
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/ (http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/)
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I am no fan of Lobo and have been vocal about his rude forum moderation. But I think, being fair, that this was an appropriate 'lock' given the way they run their forums at IS. He'd certainly done WAY WORSE in terms of locking threads and making snide comments.
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FWIW, I think they got rid of major part of the problem and found hopefully a better replacement.