Author Topic: Lobo trying to block bad news...... again..... (Read 11842 times)

Cogent Marketing · « **on:** August 23, 2011, 16:24 »

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=333388&page=1

Graffoto · « **Reply #1 on:** August 23, 2011, 16:35 »

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.

ShadySue · « **Reply #2 on:** August 23, 2011, 16:47 »

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.

gclk · « **Reply #3 on:** August 23, 2011, 16:57 »

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.

lisafx · « **Reply #4 on:** August 23, 2011, 17:07 »

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.

nruboc · « **Reply #5 on:** August 23, 2011, 17:10 »

Quote from: lisafx on August 23, 2011, 17:07

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/

lisafx · « **Reply #6 on:** August 23, 2011, 17:15 »

Ahh. Thank you nruboc. Wow! Striking numbers!

Alexa (last week when I could access it), and Google trends both show what I described above.

Blammo · « **Reply #7 on:** August 23, 2011, 17:18 »

Looks like the stats from http://www.compete.com

nruboc · « **Reply #8 on:** August 23, 2011, 17:39 »

For some real fun try comparing Thinkstock with just about anything....lol

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstock.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/

michaeldb · « **Reply #9 on:** August 23, 2011, 17:58 »

Quote from: nruboc on August 23, 2011, 17:10

Compete?
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/

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?

gostwyck · « **Reply #10 on:** August 23, 2011, 18:05 »

Quote from: nruboc on August 23, 2011, 17:10

Compete?

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/

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.

traveler1116 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 23, 2011, 18:14 »

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/
Maybe thinkstockphotos.com would give better results?

Snufkin · « **Reply #12 on:** August 23, 2011, 18:28 »

Quote from: traveler1116 on August 23, 2011, 18:14

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/
Maybe thinkstockphotos.com would give better results?

Yay! Way to go Yay

lisafx · « **Reply #13 on:** August 23, 2011, 18:36 »

Quote from: traveler1116 on August 23, 2011, 18:14

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstockphotos.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/
Maybe thinkstockphotos.com would give better results?

Nope

RacePhoto · « **Reply #14 on:** August 23, 2011, 21:55 »

Quote from: nruboc on August 23, 2011, 17:39

For some real fun try comparing Thinkstock with just about anything....lol

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstock.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/

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.

zager · « **Reply #15 on:** August 24, 2011, 01:33 »

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

Microstock Posts · « **Reply #16 on:** August 24, 2011, 02:14 »

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 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.

ShadySue · « **Reply #17 on:** August 24, 2011, 03:10 »

Quote from: michaeldb on August 23, 2011, 17:58

Quote from: nruboc on August 23, 2011, 17:10
Compete?
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/

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.

Gannet77 · « **Reply #19 on:** August 24, 2011, 05:01 »

Quote from: ShadySue on August 24, 2011, 03:10

Quote from: michaeldb on August 23, 2011, 17:58
Quote from: nruboc on August 23, 2011, 17:10
Compete?
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/istockphoto.com+shutterstock.com+dreamstime.com/

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.

Zephyr · « **Reply #20 on:** August 24, 2011, 14:54 »

Quote from: nruboc on August 23, 2011, 17:39

For some real fun try comparing Thinkstock with just about anything....lol

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/thinkstock.com+yaymicro.com+crestock.com/

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/

iclick · « **Reply #21 on:** August 26, 2011, 03:52 »

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

bunhill · « **Reply #22 on:** August 26, 2011, 06:43 »

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 ?

Zephyr · « **Reply #23 on:** August 26, 2011, 12:20 »

Quote from: bunhill on August 26, 2011, 06:43

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/

Mantis · « **Reply #24 on:** August 26, 2011, 18:12 »

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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Author Topic: Lobo trying to block bad news...... again..... (Read 11842 times)

Cogent Marketing

Graffoto

ShadySue

gclk

lisafx

nruboc

lisafx

Blammo

nruboc

michaeldb

gostwyck

traveler1116

Snufkin

lisafx

RacePhoto

zager

Microstock Posts

ShadySue

zager

Gannet77

Zephyr

iclick

bunhill

Zephyr

Mantis

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