MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: goober on November 20, 2013, 06:23
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This may be old news to you guys but I go to Stats today and all I get is extended license bars, but no regular sales bars.
It makes me worry when they can't get this kind of small issue correct. I really wonder if we're getting the right amount of royalties. Any accountant would call this level of financial reporting a joke.
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5 days for a full month ;D
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5 days for a full month ;D
Why does that make you happy?
don't you think its fun? aren't you happy with it as well? ;D
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5 days for a full month ;D
Why does that make you happy?
Laughing isn't always caused by happiness.
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you don't think its fun? can't be dude, I am just so happy and cannot control it, every iStock action makes me overjoyed and its always too good to be true that I need to celebrate ;D
why don't you follow your road and I follow mine? stop following me ;)
I am free to have my opinion and happiness so please move along if something is bugging you :)
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5 days for a full month ;D
Why does that make you happy?
Laughing isn't always caused by happiness.
That emoticon is called 'grin'
And if you Google: define: grin, one of the synonyms is 'smirk', which again doesn't necessarily equate to 'happiness'.
I'll respond to the fact that they don't want to, or aren't able to, fix the stats after all this time with a ::) if it makes you happier.
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and that means I cannot say we are close to a full month without stats?
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what is going on here? I haven't got anybody in the ignore list and now I see you tickstock in my ignore list? is my account being hacked? this isn't right....
go ahead guys, minus this one too ;)
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There is absolutely no defending Istock's incompetence on this one, so instead, Getty's
hack proxy Tickstock comes in here to get into a stupid semantic debate over the meaning of emoticons. UNF ::) :P KING believable.
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They can't fix the stats, but their half price vectors campaign, which cuts my earnings in half for two days, goes off without a hitch. :'( :-\ :-X :-[ ??? :o :( >:(
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I actually thought Tickstock had a few good points here, I plussed him on the last 4 comments, but they all got cancelled out.
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I actually thought Tickstock had a few good points here, I plussed him on the last 4 comments, but they all got cancelled out.
If you want any +'s don't say you agreed with me, it's all -'s from here on out.
Thats fine, I am used to it now, I get my fair shares of votes down. People dont like me, thats fine. Meet me in real life and they'll find I am a nice chap. It is what it is.
I see loads of time I say something, I get no votes up, someone says they agree with me gets 5. Same as happens to you. Its the only thing we have in common, people dont like us.
:) ;) :D ;D >:( :( :o 8) ??? ::) :P :-[ :-X :-\ :-* :'(
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There is absolutely no defending Istock's incompetence on this one
And I will take that challenge:
It's not as important as making the site better for customers. It should not be a priority when they obviously have so much else on. The site is working much better than it was even a month ago (I hope I don't jinx things saying that). And in general everything seems to be going in the right direction at iStock. Obviously that goes against the mood here - but this place does tend to be over represented by people with an axe to grind. And yet even here, even the indies have had to admit that the evil PP suddenly seems to have come good.
It isn't crucial - we can still see what we have earned, which images have sold etc and we can assume that sooner or later it will be back in some form. Though frankly I would be quite happy with a monthly report updated as a batch FWIW.
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I like both Tickstock and Ron, and often give them hearts. :) :) :)
Anyone else? Heart or minus this post, let's see where we end up. :) :) :)
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I like both Tickstock and Ron, and often give them hearts. :) :) :)
Anyone else? Heart or minus this post, let's see where we end up. :) :) :)
Wow, you are bold!
Agree
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It worries me when simple bugs like this turn up out of the blue. I've have several emails over the years saying we've made a mistake in calculating your royalties, here's XXX$ in your account. I don't see this extra turn up I just have to assume it went in at some point.
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There is absolutely no defending Istock's incompetence on this one
And I will take that challenge:
It's not as important as making the site better for customers. It should not be a priority when they obviously have so much else on. The site is working much better than it was even a month ago (I hope I don't jinx things saying that). And in general everything seems to be going in the right direction at iStock. Obviously that goes against the mood here - but this place does tend to be over represented by people with an axe to grind. And yet even here, even the indies have had to admit that the evil PP suddenly seems to have come good.
It isn't crucial - we can still see what we have earned, which images have sold etc and we can assume that sooner or later it will be back in some form. Though frankly I would be quite happy with a monthly report updated as a batch FWIW.
Wrong. Not good enough. A proper company would take the sales data and make it assessable and searchable line item by line item. Not expect us to search through CSV docs that aren't even up to date. And the reason why so many negative complaints get aired here is because they shut any negative thread down on the istock forums.
I love istock, I’ve done well out of istock but I’m allowed to say when something is not good enough.
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at this point smoke signals would be fine by me! :o
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They can't fix the stats, but their half price vectors campaign, which cuts my earnings in half for two days, goes off without a hitch. :'( :-\ :-X :-[ ??? :o :( >:(
Count yourself lucky Shelma. They only cut your earnings in half for two days. They've cut photographers' earnings in half "*forever".
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I like both Tickstock and Ron, and often give them hearts. :) :) :)
Anyone else? Heart or minus this post, let's see where we end up. :) :) :)
Wow, you are bold!
No, I've seen too many interesting people stop posting due to being shouted down by certain regulars. Don't stop posting! This forum needs different points of view.
This is also addressed to Ron!
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It isn't crucial - we can still see what we have earned, which images have sold etc and we can assume that sooner or later it will be back in some form. Though frankly I would be quite happy with a monthly report updated as a batch FWIW.
While I agree that the bottom line is what counts, not the timeliness of reporting, the repeated problems they have had running the PP batch sales script make me think it could be a serious problem if they try to do that for everything.
Batch reporting is also contrary to the psychology of microstock, which relies on instant gratification to keep the punters supplying pictures. I'd be all in favour of reducing the incentive to supply but iStock wouldn't want to do that.
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I like both Tickstock and Ron, and often give them hearts. :) :) :)
Anyone else? Heart or minus this post, let's see where we end up. :) :) :)
Wow, you are bold!
No, I've seen too many interesting people stop posting due to being shouted down by certain regulars. Don't stop posting! This forum needs different points of view.
This is also addressed to Ron!
Thank you Traveling Light.
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I've been popping in here less and less as my life is busier (moved states, new school, renovating, bank stress, etc) but I haven't seen a thread about this until this morning. Sadly there's a page of arguing and about 5 good posts. I'm showing zero stats too, although I've been keeping track all month thanks to Sean's script, so I know the month is doing ok for me. Whether that will be reflected in the
made up reported earnings is another matter. It's pretty sad that I say "fingers crossed" and mean it. How very unprofessional.
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Which script is that? I never was able to use the stats script by Nullplus, and wasn't aware Sean had one.
Can someone point me to a way to keep accurate track of what I made at IS last month and this month?
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I don't have Sean's script, but I use Livestock for my android smart phone. I still have the same # of downloads since 10/25, but both Livestock and the istock website agree on the finances
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I don't have Sean's script, but I use Livestock for my android smart phone. I still have the same # of downloads since 10/25, but both Livestock and the istock website agree on the finances
Thanks for posting that. Will check into it and see if it works with my phone.
Still waiting for Tickstock to contribute his valuable input on the alternatives to Istock stats....
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^^ Woteva.
But it's still grossly embarrassing for iS that the IT team can break it and not fix it, but volunteer contributors can write scripts which do the job in their own time.
Just like they get complaints about the current incarnation of the loupe, which even Lobo admits is horrible, and they don't remove it while they try to fix it, or roll back to an earlier, preferable, version.
iStock: have you even heard about UI testing? It's a great concept: check it out. Look up 'sandbox' while you're at it.
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But it's still grossly embarrassing for iS that the IT team can break it and not fix it, but volunteer contributors can write scripts which do the job in their own time
How do you know that it is grossly embarrassing - unless of course you somehow know why it is not currently working ?
Clearly the site is being gradually re-architected - fixing a big website without taking it down for ages is analogous to trying to replace the engine in a car one part at a time whilst the car is being driven at speed. It's difficult. And perhaps the previous code behind stats was not compatible with new design. Or perhaps it represented a bottleneck which needed to be addressed.
The thing we seem to have here in relationship to iStock is that every single tiny thing is now perceived and expressed in over-dramatised exaggerated superlatives. Everything is the most or the worst etc. That's stupid.
It's not necessarily even slightly embarrassing. It may very well be the only option possible. Most likely they will get to it when the time comes but there is other stuff higher up the list. Actually - why not simply assume that it is the least worst possible solution in the situation which exists.
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They do seem to be pouring money into their website and steering it into something that will be much more useable in the longterm, which is more than can be said for a lot of the other indy sites which have terrible search results and clunky designs.
If they could breath some life into new work going up and scrapping the RC'S they could get themselves back on track.
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They do seem to be pouring money into their website and steering it into something that will be much more useable in the longterm, which is more than can be said for a lot of the other indy sites which have terrible search results and clunky designs.
If they could breath some life into new work going up and scrapping the RC'S they could get themselves back on track.
hope is indeed the last thing contributors can have, just amazing how far that hope can go, even if it is just a "255 pixel" at the end of the tunnel
edited: typo
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But it's still grossly embarrassing for iS that the IT team can break it and not fix it, but volunteer contributors can write scripts which do the job in their own time
How do you know that it is grossly embarrassing - unless of course you somehow know why it is not currently working ?
Clearly the site is being gradually re-architected - fixing a big website without taking it down for ages is analogous to trying to replace the engine in a car one part at a time whilst the car is being driven at speed. It's difficult. And perhaps the previous code behind stats was not compatible with new design. Or perhaps it represented a bottleneck which needed to be addressed.
Maybe, maybe not; but if it were deliberate, in the new 'climate of communication' (sarcastic laugh) they could have said that putting a break on reporting graphs while other work was ongoing was necessary, before it happened.
A side benefit of that would be that we'd get an impression that they might know what they're doing.
Instead, it has been reported and was accepted and listed as a bug.
That's the only evidence we have; all else is surmise.
PS: I do agree that buyer side features should take priority, for the most part, but they don't seem to test them much either: vide the 'similar images' and the current loupe.
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Clearly the site is being gradually re-architected - fixing a big website without taking it down for ages is analogous to trying to replace the engine in a car one part at a time whilst the car is being driven at speed. It's difficult.
It's not just difficult. It's idiotic, dangerous, and impossible -- and no one would, or should, attempt it.
I think it's a perfect analogy; plus from me.
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They do seem to be pouring money into their website and steering it into something that will be much more useable in the longterm, which is more than can be said for a lot of the other indy sites which have terrible search results and clunky designs.
If they could breath some life into new work going up and scrapping the RC'S they could get themselves back on track.
Unfortunately, despite the keywords article, they don't seem to have got inspectors onto checking keywords yet. Sort by recent is dismal in most cases, and you have to wait until the whole page loads before you can switch sorts. The 'Recent' sort should be just that: recent files which pertain to the relevant keyword. It could be useful to the more secure buyers, but not as it is just now.
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Unfortunately, despite the keywords article, they don't seem to have got inspectors onto checking keywords yet.
Yet? They are clearly building a system which they intend to be based on relevancy. A similar but not identical system is in place at Alamy. Nobody inspects keywords ay Alamy either - but bad key wording is counter-productive.
The keyword article is for contributors and not inspectors.
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Never mind myself and may more buyers are quite happy to buy from IS. They still have pictures that no other agency can deliver. Thats what counts. Noting else.
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Never mind myself and may more buyers are quite happy to buy from IS. They still have pictures that no other agency can deliver. Thats what counts. Noting else.
Well I am happy that you are happy, that's what counts.
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Unfortunately, despite the keywords article, they don't seem to have got inspectors onto checking keywords yet.
Yet? They are clearly building a system which they intend to be based on relevancy. A similar but not identical system is in place at Alamy. Nobody inspects keywords ay Alamy either - but bad key wording is counter-productive.
The keyword article is for contributors and not inspectors.
Don't get me started on Alamy search! I did a search on a particular celebrity X Y, where X is the first and Y the surname. Two photos of the actual celeb, then a swathe of images of old pics from the filmset of a 1970s film about X Y, in which he doesn't feature personally (keyword from the caption), a pile of pics from another film starring X A and B Y, then way down more pics actually of X Y. That's relevancy for you. Does anyone imagine that more than 1 in 1000 people searching only on X Y wanted other people on the set of a film about him from the 70s or these other people who share opposite halves of his name?
That's only one example, I could give many more.
However, surely each agency shouldn't be happy just to be 'as good as' the others, they should want to be better. iStock used to have a generally clean search, but now, it's as bad as most and worse than some.
What was the point of the keywording article, then? The old ones were perfectly adequate, and with much more detail. People ignored these, they are ignoring the new article too. It's counter-productive; but also like I said, pointless to have a 'Newest' search which is completely ruined by spam.
Today I had a first-time sale. Four views, top reordered keyword: 'photography (image)', which of course is one of the lowest as I ordered it. I bet most people think that's never searched on. Hope that doesn't mean the main keyword (the actual subject) isn't penalised!
I'm very curious why they stopped inspecting keywording at upload. It could take forever - probably never - for new, mostly unviewed files to gain relevancy, and what if the buyer picks less obvious keywords? True, inspections are much faster now (at least for exclusives), but at a high price.
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Never mind myself and may more buyers are quite happy to buy from IS. They still have pictures that no other agency can deliver. Thats what counts. Noting else.
They do. But then other agencies have images that iStock can't deliver. Swings and roundabouts, really.
By the way, is it accident or strategy that has two of your three posts over the last week attacking shutterstock because you had a problem accessing it (the first time in 10 years, with SS, I think) which makes it "unsustainable" and forces you to go elsewhere, while your third post proclaims the wonders of iStock's exclusive images and ignores the frequent outages it has had for years? It seems a bit odd, though I can see why if you are buying at other agencies you would want to use iS if you couldn't find what you want elsewhere.
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There are many agencies out there that have a lot more localized content than istock has. However, istock has some special older collections, like the Hulton archive etc…from Getty.
But if you want more localized content, I think there are many agencies out there with more choices. But if you are based in North America, they probably have everything you will ever need.
So as a European artist, I am glad I can offer my files now with agencies that cater more strongly to my home markets.
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Never mind myself and may more buyers are quite happy to buy from IS. They still have pictures that no other agency can deliver. Thats what counts. Noting else.
They do. But then other agencies have images that iStock can't deliver. Swings and roundabouts, really.
By the way, is it accident or strategy that has two of your three posts over the last week attacking shutterstock because you had a problem accessing it (the first time in 10 years, with SS, I think) which makes it "unsustainable" and forces you to go elsewhere, while your third post proclaims the wonders of iStock's exclusive images and ignores the frequent outages it has had for years? It seems a bit odd, though I can see why if you are buying at other agencies you would want to use iS if you couldn't find what you want elsewhere.
Grey is our permanently banned friend.
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Why are so many pro istock posters anonymous???
There must be other regular exclusives or buyers who have visible portfolios and are known personally in the industry?
It is really getting very strange with istock. Lobo can´t be that scary.
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Why are so many pro istock posters anonymous???
There must be other regular exclusives or buyers who have visible portfolios and are known personally in the industry?
It is really getting very strange with istock. Lobo can´t be that scary.
I am fairly positive about being banned on IS for what I say here. He just needed a reason to ban me on IS, and took it when I asked questions about a program.
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Never mind myself and may more buyers are quite happy to buy from IS. They still have pictures that no other agency can deliver. Thats what counts. Noting else.
They do. But then other agencies have images that iStock can't deliver. Swings and roundabouts, really.
By the way, is it accident or strategy that has two of your three posts over the last week attacking shutterstock because you had a problem accessing it (the first time in 10 years, with SS, I think) which makes it "unsustainable" and forces you to go elsewhere, while your third post proclaims the wonders of iStock's exclusive images and ignores the frequent outages it has had for years? It seems a bit odd, though I can see why if you are buying at other agencies you would want to use iS if you couldn't find what you want elsewhere.
Grey is our permanently banned friend.
Ah-ha!
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But it's still grossly embarrassing for iS that the IT team can break it and not fix it, but volunteer contributors can write scripts which do the job in their own time
How do you know that it is grossly embarrassing - unless of course you somehow know why it is not currently working ?
Clearly the site is being gradually re-architected - fixing a big website without taking it down for ages is analogous to trying to replace the engine in a car one part at a time whilst the car is being driven at speed. It's difficult. And perhaps the previous code behind stats was not compatible with new design. Or perhaps it represented a bottleneck which needed to be addressed.
The thing we seem to have here in relationship to iStock is that every single tiny thing is now perceived and expressed in over-dramatised exaggerated superlatives. Everything is the most or the worst etc. That's stupid.
It's not necessarily even slightly embarrassing. It may very well be the only option possible. Most likely they will get to it when the time comes but there is other stuff higher up the list. Actually - why not simply assume that it is the least worst possible solution in the situation which exists.
Maybe you're right and IS is not even slightly embarrassed. Liz is probably taking the point of view of how folks in a professional organisation would feel.
Edit, just need to add. That analogy is nonsense. Organisations re-architect / replace much more complex applications all the time without this kind of issue. Can you imagine, "Sorry we're doing some work on our lab system, you mother got a tranfusion of the wrong blood and died, get over it"
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Edit, just need to add. That analogy is nonsense. Organisations re-architect / replace much more complex applications all the time without this kind of issue. Can you imagine, "Sorry we're doing some work on our lab system, you mother got a tranfusion of the wrong blood and died, get over it"
You are completely under-estimating the difficulties in general of re - engineering 24h systems which also typically encapsulate many or all of the rules of a business. The car engine analogy is text book. Amex IIRC - is one of the classic actual case studies with respect to re engineering a system without taking it down - and whilst minimising customer disruption.
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Edit, just need to add. That analogy is nonsense. Organisations re-architect / replace much more complex applications all the time without this kind of issue. Can you imagine, "Sorry we're doing some work on our lab system, you mother got a tranfusion of the wrong blood and died, get over it"
You are completely under-estimating the difficulties in general of re - engineering 24h systems which also typically encapsulate many or all of the rules of a business. The car engine analogy is text book. Amex IIRC - is one of the classic actual case studies with respect to re engineering a system without taking it down - and whilst minimising customer disruption.
I think you are completely underestimating Mike's knowledge.
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Edit, just need to add. That analogy is nonsense. Organisations re-architect / replace much more complex applications all the time without this kind of issue. Can you imagine, "Sorry we're doing some work on our lab system, you mother got a tranfusion of the wrong blood and died, get over it"
You are completely under-estimating the difficulties in general of re - engineering 24h systems which also typically encapsulate many or all of the rules of a business. The car engine analogy is text book. Amex IIRC - is one of the classic actual case studies with respect to re engineering a system without taking it down - and whilst minimising customer disruption.
Bollox I am - I have done this on critical hospital systems tons of times - believe me that is a 24 hour business except people die if you get it wrong.
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Come off it. You are comparing completely different systems with completely different complexities and implications. As you must surely know. And who knows how well the existing system has been documented etc ?
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Come off it. You are comparing completely different systems with completely different complexities and implications. As you must surely know. And who knows how well the existing system has been documented etc ?
A computer system is a computer system is a computer system, whether it's photoshop, an aircraft management system, a hospital system or an ecommerce web site. They all collect data, manipulate date and output data. No professional organisation just tries stuff out on a production system to see what happens, they use test and staging systems and, if after all that, there are problems on a move to production, the changes are backed out. There is no viable excuse for breaking something and leaving it broken for weeks.
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A computer system is a computer system is a computer system, whether it's photoshop, an aircraft management system, a hospital system or an ecommerce web site. They all collect data, manipulate date and output data. No professional organisation just tries stuff out on a production system to see what happens, they use test and staging systems and, if after all that, there are problems on a move to production, the changes are backed out. There is no viable excuse for breaking something and leaving it broken for weeks.
There is always so much more involved than simply the computer system. A computer system typically encapsulates the rules of a business - how the business actually works. No two systems are ever the same because no two businesses are the same.
As you must know, in many cases the only way to see how a system works is to see what happens if you do x, y or z under real world conditions. Stuff like load balancing etc can be almost impossible to calculate and it is absolutely typical in the real world to be surprised or confounded by the results. And then there are all of the implicit problems and surprises involved with systems which have perhaps been added to over time or poorly documented.
Let's agree to differ over the details. But let's also be honest - contributor stats are not and should not be a priority ahead of the customer experience. And, as even the most indignant contributors must be aware, the customer experience is improving dramatically.
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As you must know, in many cases the only way to see how a system works is to see what happens if you do x, y or z under real world conditions. Stuff like load balancing etc can be almost impossible to calculate and it is absolutely typical in the real world to be surprised or confounded by the results. And then there are all of the implicit problems and surprises involved with systems which have perhaps been added to over time or poorly documented.
Sounds like a description of the Obamacare website. Is this why they rolled it out untested?
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A computer system is a computer system is a computer system, whether it's photoshop, an aircraft management system, a hospital system or an ecommerce web site. They all collect data, manipulate date and output data. No professional organisation just tries stuff out on a production system to see what happens, they use test and staging systems and, if after all that, there are problems on a move to production, the changes are backed out. There is no viable excuse for breaking something and leaving it broken for weeks.
There is always so much more involved than simply the computer system. A computer system typically encapsulates the rules of a business - how the business actually works. No two systems are ever the same because no two businesses are the same.
As you must know, in many cases the only way to see how a system works is to see what happens if you do x, y or z under real world conditions. Stuff like load balancing etc can be almost impossible to calculate and it is absolutely typical in the real world to be surprised or confounded by the results. And then there are all of the implicit problems and surprises involved with systems which have perhaps been added to over time or poorly documented.
Let's agree to differ over the details. But let's also be honest - contributor stats are not and should not be a priority ahead of the customer experience. And, as even the most indignant contributors must be aware, the customer experience is improving dramatically.
The only reason the customer experience might have improved is because the pricing got slashed in half. Other than that, the site still sucks, and everytime they make 'improvements' as you call them, they break another part of the live site. As Mike said, it seems they are just throwing upgrades out there, and hope for the best.
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A computer system is a computer system is a computer system, whether it's photoshop, an aircraft management system, a hospital system or an ecommerce web site. They all collect data, manipulate date and output data. No professional organisation just tries stuff out on a production system to see what happens, they use test and staging systems and, if after all that, there are problems on a move to production, the changes are backed out. There is no viable excuse for breaking something and leaving it broken for weeks.
There is always so much more involved than simply the computer system. A computer system typically encapsulates the rules of a business - how the business actually works. No two systems are ever the same because no two businesses are the same.
As you must know, in many cases the only way to see how a system works is to see what happens if you do x, y or z under real world conditions. Stuff like load balancing etc can be almost impossible to calculate and it is absolutely typical in the real world to be surprised or confounded by the results. And then there are all of the implicit problems and surprises involved with systems which have perhaps been added to over time or poorly documented.
Let's agree to differ over the details. But let's also be honest - contributor stats are not and should not be a priority ahead of the customer experience. And, as even the most indignant contributors must be aware, the customer experience is improving dramatically.
What urgent things are they doing on the buyer side that preclude them from repairing the seller side?
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the site still sucks, and everytime they make 'improvements' as you call them, they break another part of the live site. As Mike said, it seems they are just throwing upgrades out there, and hope for the best.
Well let's agree to differ. In terms of the customer experience, the speed of the site has much improved over the past month. And over the past year the quality of search results has dramatically improved. The larger thumbs are a good thing (though - personally I would be in favor of even bigger thumbs and would make the watermark much more faint). Yes they need to sort out the loupe. I hope that is higher up the list than contributor stats.
I certainly think they have much more to do but I believe it would be deliberately obtuse to dismiss the progress.
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What was this post about? ???
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What urgent things are they doing on the buyer side that preclude them from repairing the seller side?
Making the site faster.
1. Losing contributor stats makes the site faster? If so, then was removing that feature purposeful?
2. The site is faster (after zillions of complaints from contributors, which they refused to take seriously at first and blamed everything but the site—the country they were in, the browser they were using, etc.). So now what's the excuse?
3. Other sites manage to be even faster while simultaneously offering a much richer seller experience. What's up with that?
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I struggle to see how stats that are not updated in real time could have the remotest impact on performance :-\
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What urgent things are they doing on the buyer side that preclude them from repairing the seller side?
Making the site faster.
The only reason the site is faster is because the bandwidth is now only shared with a handful of buyers. ;D
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I really want the stats fixed especially October could be my BMY so I am curious how it turned out.
However, it's so important to us, partly because we are used to it and somwhat addicted to it. On the other hand, Getty should prove its technical competence by restoring the stats ASAP.
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Then I guess you picked a good time close your account.
OK. So why did Tickstock get a minus for this ? Ron says he is quitting iStock when he finally reaches a payout.
When I reach payout, I will take the cash, and delete my account. 40 dollars to go.
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Two things: BHR, I think you need to get out more if you remember everything I said and then also go out and dig through thousands of comments to find what I said to quote me.
Second: The problem with this forum is that you cant have any banter without getting down votes. Many people here would have a very hard time living in Ireland where banter is part of the daily routine. I would say its culture.
To add: After the PP results of October I changed my strategy. I made 90 dollar with 32 images. I doubled my portfolio to see what it does to my PP in the coming months.
Bring on the down votes ;)
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Two things: BHR, I think you need to get out more if you remember everything I said and then also go out and dig through thousands of comments to find what I said to quote me.
Definitely right about me needing to get out more. But it is not that I am deliberately remembering everything that you say - just that I am following the conversation - respectfully taking in what people say etc. It's a measure of my respect for the forum that I follow its vicissitudes.
Most people deliver relatively measured and considered opinions. So the grand all or nothing stuff inevitably stands out much more and is much easier to remember almost word for word. You made a big rallying statement with your commitment to quit -> & hey you got 7 plus votes. You would make a great politician !
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Sorry for the late reply, I was out for the weekend at a friends place. I photographed them while they were making music. :)
I think I can change my business strategy, if the situation calls for that, without having to justify that to the forum. By the way, I am always sharing my thoughts here. I say this and then change my mind and say that. But at least I tell you what I am doing. I am not being sneaky or dishonest, I am an open book. I was going to close my account if the PP earnings of October hadnt sky rocketed. After all, I am in it to make money. It would be dumb to give up on 1200 dollar per year, if it means I just have to let 100 images sit there.
I recorded a loss last year, and I am going to make a profit this year, after 19 months of being in business. All the cost of my equipment, travels and apartment rent, etc included. Its all about what number is going to appear at the very end of the balance sheet.
By the way, difficult words are wasted on me, I dont know what vicissitudes means. No need to impress me, I am positive you are a lot smarter then me. :)
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Just in case you're wondering what 'Vicissitudes' means (see definition below)- For me my last divorce was a very unpleasant experience thus Vicissitudes hit me right between the eyes!
a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.
"her husband's sharp vicissitudes of fortune"
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I guess bhr is the one who would make a great politician then. They also use big words to give out statements that dont explain anything :D
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I guess bhr is the one who would make a great politician then. They also use big words to give out statements that dont explain anything :D
'Vicissitudes of life' is a common phrase, which I use a lot; but like many, I keep forgetting that a lot of people on here aren't native English speakers, mostly because you are mostly so fluent (certainly, you are, Ron). I couldn't possibly understand anything on e.g. a French forum, even though I've got a 'certificate' in French - probably even if it were a forum for five year old French children.
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Kerouac uses the word vicissitudes particularly beautifully in his fantastic History Of Bebop:
Bepop (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1TqmvcAq20#)
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Call me a pedant but, based on that dictionary definition, bhr's usage seems incorrect. I guess that if you take it as meaning "variability" it fits - but not quite so well as "variability". ;)
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Call me a pedant but, based on that dictionary definition, bhr's usage seems incorrect. I guess that if you take it as meaning "variability" it fits - but not quite so well as "variability". ;)
Thats why I didnt get it. I looked it up even before Spray posted it, and couldnt place it in the context of the comment.
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I've always understood it to mean "ups and downs" in a figurative rather than literal way.
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Do you all still uploading there!?
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Do you all still uploading there!?
I stopped for six or seven months but I've resumed. The bottom line says it doesn't make much sense to cut iS and keep feeding canstock.
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You still can still feed canstock as well 8)
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Do you all still uploading there!?
I stopped for six or seven months but I've resumed. The bottom line says it doesn't make much sense to cut iS and keep feeding canstock.
I only resumed this month, after not uploading for nearly a year. The reason, in my case, was an unexpected windfall in PP earnings for October. As much as I am dissatisfied with Istock on many issues, the Istock income combined with PP places them near the top of my earnings list.
I have quite a large backlog to upload there, but I'm doing it slowly to see how much of a difference it will make in earnings, if any. Uploading to Istock is still a fairly tortured process, so only worthwhile to me if new images sell, either through Istock proper or through the PP.
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Do you all still uploading there!?
I stopped for six or seven months but I've resumed. The bottom line says it doesn't make much sense to cut iS and keep feeding canstock.
I only resumed this month, after not uploading for nearly a year. The reason, in my case, was an unexpected windfall in PP earnings for October. As much as I am dissatisfied with Istock on many issues, the Istock income combined with PP places them near the top of my earnings list.
I have quite a large backlog to upload there, but I'm doing it slowly to see how much of a difference it will make in earnings, if any. Uploading to Istock is still a fairly tortured process, so only worthwhile to me if new images sell, either through Istock proper or through the PP.
What I'm finding is that new images don't sell and those that do make it over to the PP take a long time to do so. Your mileage may vary.
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To add: I've started uploading a small number of images again just to test the PP....I've certainly seen a big jump in PP earnings recently and it may be the only reason to upload to iStock any longer....we'll see if the earnings bump continues.
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Bhr = bunhill?
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Bhr = bunhill?
Is that okay with you ? It was always there if you clicked my profile anyhow. Right back to 2010 or whenever.
Bunhill Row btw
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Yeah thats fine with me, thanks for checking in. As you were.
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I guess bhr is the one who would make a great politician then. They also use big words to give out statements that dont explain anything :D
'Vicissitudes of life' is a common phrase, which I use a lot; but like many, I keep forgetting that a lot of people on here aren't native English speakers, mostly because you are mostly so fluent (certainly, you are, Ron). I couldn't possibly understand anything on e.g. a French forum, even though I've got a 'certificate' in French - probably even if it were a forum for five year old French children.
I agree that english is not always so easy to write for foreign people.
But don’t think that written english is so difficult to understand, in particular for people from latin origins, as Italian, French or Spanish.
In fact more than half of the words used in the today English language are from Latin and French (itself from latin, greek and many dialects composing the Langue d'Oïl) origin! Most of the english words not from Latin and French origin are verbs, articles, conjunctions.
According the Oxford dictionary we have:
28.3% of French origin words
28.24 % of Latin origin words
5.32% of Greek origin words
Germanic origin words are “only” 25%
(http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7634/nd6z.png) (http://img20.imageshack.us/i/nd6z.png/)
Wikipedia says:
A survey by Joseph M. Williams in Origins of the English Language of 10,000 words taken from several thousand business letters gave this set of statistics:
• French (langue d'oïl): 41%
• "Native" English: 33%
• Latin: 15%
• Old Norse: 2%
• Dutch: 1%
• Other: 10%
With this the syntax is very more similar to modern latin origin languages than to germanic origin languages.
_____
Vicissitude is a french origin word, from latin origin (vicissitude, vicissim, vicis)
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Thats great Beppe, I am not French, Greek or Latin either. Dutch is more derived from the Germanic languages, and so is English. Maybe thats why I didnt get it since the word seems to be less Germanic and more Latin. I will read up on the history of the word vicissitude, as it seems I have no excuse of not knowing what the word meant.
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C is for Contrafibularity:
C is for Contrafibularity - Blackadder - BBC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOSYiT2iG08#)
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According to Michel Thomas (late language guru), the reason why the English language is so rich (presumbably ="difficult to learn" is that we often have two totally different words meaning more or less the same thing is because of the multiplicity of influences on the language, particularly Latin and Saxon. Add into that the fact that far more of my formal writing vocubularly (as opposed to my casual spoken vocabulary) than I thought turns out to be Standard Scots English, I must be particularly obscure. (SSE was what they tried to drum out of us at school, whereas nowadays it's encouraged.)
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I don’t think that English is so difficult to learn.
I think that it is exactly the contrary.
It is one of the reasons why english has became *the* international language, the reason why more and more people learn and speak it today >> it is relatively easy to learn basic english.
But I am far to be Michel Thomas :)
Of course you and Michel Thomas are speaking about the perfect english language as only English probably speak. And I am speaking about the English language spoken by most of the people on the planet today.
I have a personal consideration about english language: it is a dying language. :(
No really dying, I hope not. Surely english language will not disappear, but it will be spoken (badly and basically) by more and more people (billions) and will go through a huge transformation, a kind of livellement from below.
At last perfect english speakers will be less and less, and less in proportion too, and basic english speakers will become more and more (and I think that even today they are more than perfect english speakers).
So the english as spoken today in UK will tend to disappear slowly to let place to a new simplified and poor english. This will be reenforced by the immigration to the english language countries.
I don’t know the situation in UK or in Australia, but for example in USA you have more and more non english speaking people, more and more illiterate people, and among the english speaking people you have more and more people coming from immigration using a basic english (like mine).
I see what is the situation with the evolution of language in some other countries, in France for example you have more and more people unable to speak french (or something similar), and what is very sad, you have less and less good french speakers able to write their own language correctly.
ShadySue I think that if you have problems to understand on french forums it is not because you don’t understand french enough well, but because what it is written is not french.
I myself, French and Italian bilingual, I have great problems to understand what they write sometimes. It happened to me to find up to 25 - 30 errors of orthography/grammar in a simple sentence [!!].
I have never seen this in the other languages that I know.
–––––––
But we are completely off topic, aren't we?
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So it seems that is for sure a small difference between love and late...
Upload from "main divison of public iStock enemies" is again alive and kicking!
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So it seems that is for sure a small difference between love and late...
Upload from "main divison of public iStock enemies" is again alive and kicking!
“It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.”
― Alfred Adler
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So it seems that is for sure a small difference between love and late...
Upload from "main divison of public iStock enemies" is again alive and kicking!
“It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.”
― Alfred Adler
Did anyone declare its against there principles to submit to IS for whatever reason?
I think we are all making business decisions which is different from having a principle about it. I dont have principles at all when it comes to stock.
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Interests (read money) is main part of all principles...
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That doesnt make sense to me.
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aka expediency.
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Getty sales are showing up in the stats ;D
Oh :'(
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aka expediency.
the quality of being convenient and practical despite possibly being improper or immoral; convenience.
Really? Are we now all immoral?
I really dont get all these big words and I also dont think they apply to the situation at hand.
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I think it does, to an extent.
Most of us don't like some of the things Getty/iS has done, are doing, and might do in the future; yet it still suits us to remain there in varying degrees.
That's expediency.
(Some people have felt strongly enough to leave altogether.)
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Getty sales are showing up in the stats ;D
Oh :'(
Just started, it usually takes a couple hours to complete.
:)
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...I only resumed this month, after not uploading for nearly a year. The reason, in my case, was an unexpected windfall in PP earnings for October. As much as I am dissatisfied with Istock on many issues, the Istock income combined with PP places them near the top of my earnings list...
Same here. I don't know what happened in October but wow did the PP sales kick into high gear. istock went from a low earner to #2 in October for me. Pretty amazing.
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Getty sales are showing up in the stats ;D
It is not plural for my GI's.
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1 month
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only 1 sale.
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1 month
Shame on iStock!
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aka expediency.
the quality of being convenient and practical despite possibly being improper or immoral; convenience.
Really? Are we now all immoral?
I really dont get all these big words and I also dont think they apply to the situation at hand.
Not arguing with either Ron, or Liz, but just to generally comment on the "morality" of continuing to upload to a site you have some complaints about: It is impossible to classify that as either moral or immoral. Too many variables.
For some people, it might be considered quite immoral to continue doing business with an agency whose conduct they find objectionable.
For others, it might be considered immoral to close their account and deprive their family of a significant and needed source of income.
What's moral is all a matter of perspective.
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I couldn't agree more with Lisa's post above.
And in addition to that, I would invite everyone to calculate their RPD in October - calculated as total earnings / no. of downloads including both regular sales and subscriptions, and pp where available.
In my case, it is surprisingly similar for the 3 major sites (SS, IS, FT); and actually lower for many of the smaller sites. And RPD seems like a quite objective index to me, not subject to easy manipulation as RPI.
So it's neither moral nor immoral, it's simply irrelevant - for me at least - to continue to hate or love any particular site based on what we repeat over and over to ourselves on forums: a reality check - updated at regular intervals, as things change over time - is needed if we wish to make sound business decisions instead of keep quarreling with fellow photographers.
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aka expediency.
the quality of being convenient and practical despite possibly being improper or immoral; convenience.
Really? Are we now all immoral?
I really dont get all these big words and I also dont think they apply to the situation at hand.
Not arguing with either Ron, or Liz, but just to generally comment on the "morality" of continuing to upload to a site you have some complaints about: It is impossible to classify that as either moral or immoral. Too many variables.
For some people, it might be considered quite immoral to continue doing business with an agency whose conduct they find objectionable.
For others, it might be considered immoral to close their account and deprive their family of a significant and needed source of income.
What's moral is all a matter of perspective.
I agree with that completely, but in several comments it was determined to be immoral, etc.
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I couldn't agree more with Lisa's post above.
And in addition to that, I would invite everyone to calculate their RPD in October - calculated as total earnings / no. of downloads including both regular sales and subscriptions, and pp where available.
In my case, it is surprisingly similar for the 3 major sites (SS, IS, FT); and actually lower for many of the smaller sites. And RPD seems like a quite objective index to me, not subject to easy manipulation as RPI.
So it's neither moral nor immoral, it's simply irrelevant - for me at least - to continue to hate or love any particular site based on what we repeat over and over to ourselves on forums: a reality check - updated at regular intervals, as things change over time - is needed if we wish to make sound business decisions instead of keep quarreling with fellow photographers.
Completely agree!
Morality has nothing with your or my business,especially in microstock, we are not taking someone's land to build there our own business...
But the attitude that we present here is something quite different...
Attitude with interest on first place is visible today in many aspects of society... That is main cause of crisis...
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It had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with morality. It was always about self-interest. There have really only ever been two considerations: can I (or we) put sufficient pressure on iStock to persuade them to stop doing things that we consider are against our interests; and does making our work available to iStock risk destroying the value of that work (e.g. if it is effectively orphaned on Google Drive, devalued by price changes or whatever).
It is perfectly rational to decide to try to protect your interests by not uploading if you conclude the effort is not worth the return, and it is rational to resume uploading if the apparent rate of return changes. Similarly, if you calculate that any loss you might suffer from Google Drive is less than the profit from remaining with iStock, it is rational to stay on.
I think people are confusing morality with indignation. There's been a lot of anger and indignation over perceived injustices towards suppliers, such as cutting commissions or forcing images into one collection or another, but that's purely the reaction of people who feel they are being exploited. Nobody is making sacrifices for the sake of others, though a few may be sacrificing potential earnings because they feel insulted and abused, and have other income so they can afford to tell GI where to shove it.
For most of us, I'm pretty sure it's not love or hate, it's just about the money.
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It had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with morality. It was always about self-interest. There have really only ever been two considerations: can I (or we) put sufficient pressure on iStock to persuade them to stop doing things that we consider are against our interests; and does making our work available to iStock risk destroying the value of that work (e.g. if it is effectively orphaned on Google Drive, devalued by price changes or whatever).
It is perfectly rational to decide to try to protect your interests by not uploading if you conclude the effort is not worth the return, and it is rational to resume uploading if the apparent rate of return changes. Similarly, if you calculate that any loss you might suffer from Google Drive is less than the profit from remaining with iStock, it is rational to stay on.
I think people are confusing morality with indignation. There's been a lot of anger and indignation over perceived injustices towards suppliers, such as cutting commissions or forcing images into one collection or another, but that's purely the reaction of people who feel they are being exploited. Nobody is making sacrifices for the sake of others, though a few may be sacrificing potential earnings because they feel insulted and abused, and have other income so they can afford to tell GI where to shove it.
I agree, I remember you saying that they weren't worth your time etc you even reported very low sales on those newest files, are you back resuming because of ThinkStock?
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I agree, I remember you saying that they weren't worth your time etc you even reported very low sales on those newest files, are you back resuming because of ThinkStock?
Yes.
There's also the unknowable: if things change and recent files start to sell, then I'd miss the boat if I didn't have them there (that's been the rationale for some minor sites down the year... not that it's really paid off).
With TS performing, it looks as if the return on uploading effort should at least be tolerable.
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I couldn't agree more with Lisa's post above.
And in addition to that, I would invite everyone to calculate their RPD in October - calculated as total earnings / no. of downloads including both regular sales and subscriptions, and pp where available.
In my case, it is surprisingly similar for the 3 major sites (SS, IS, FT); and actually lower for many of the smaller sites. And RPD seems like a quite objective index to me, not subject to easy manipulation as RPI.
So it's neither moral nor immoral, it's simply irrelevant - for me at least - to continue to hate or love any particular site based on what we repeat over and over to ourselves on forums: a reality check - updated at regular intervals, as things change over time - is needed if we wish to make sound business decisions instead of keep quarreling with fellow photographers.
Completely agree!
Morality has nothing with your or my business,especially in microstock, we are not taking someone's land to build there our own business...
But the attitude that we present here is something quite different...
Attitude with interest on first place is visible today in many aspects of society... That is main cause of crisis...
You were one of several people to link uploading with ignoring our principles !
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It had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with morality. It was always about self-interest. There have really only ever been two considerations: can I (or we) put sufficient pressure on iStock to persuade them to stop doing things that we consider are against our interests; and does making our work available to iStock risk destroying the value of that work (e.g. if it is effectively orphaned on Google Drive, devalued by price changes or whatever).
It is perfectly rational to decide to try to protect your interests by not uploading if you conclude the effort is not worth the return, and it is rational to resume uploading if the apparent rate of return changes. Similarly, if you calculate that any loss you might suffer from Google Drive is less than the profit from remaining with iStock, it is rational to stay on.
I think people are confusing morality with indignation. There's been a lot of anger and indignation over perceived injustices towards suppliers, such as cutting commissions or forcing images into one collection or another, but that's purely the reaction of people who feel they are being exploited. Nobody is making sacrifices for the sake of others, though a few may be sacrificing potential earnings because they feel insulted and abused, and have other income so they can afford to tell GI where to shove it.
For most of us, I'm pretty sure it's not love or hate, it's just about the money.
Well said, thank you.
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I couldn't agree more with Lisa's post above.
And in addition to that, I would invite everyone to calculate their RPD in October - calculated as total earnings / no. of downloads including both regular sales and subscriptions, and pp where available.
In my case, it is surprisingly similar for the 3 major sites (SS, IS, FT); and actually lower for many of the smaller sites. And RPD seems like a quite objective index to me, not subject to easy manipulation as RPI.
So it's neither moral nor immoral, it's simply irrelevant - for me at least - to continue to hate or love any particular site based on what we repeat over and over to ourselves on forums: a reality check - updated at regular intervals, as things change over time - is needed if we wish to make sound business decisions instead of keep quarreling with fellow photographers.
Completely agree!
Morality has nothing with your or my business,especially in microstock, we are not taking someone's land to build there our own business...
But the attitude that we present here is something quite different...
Attitude with interest on first place is visible today in many aspects of society... That is main cause of crisis...
You were one of several people to link uploading with ignoring our principles !
Who is ignoring those principles today, me or people who claimed that they had stopped upload ...?
My facts:
1. I've stopped upload to iStock this July. My plan was to upload eventually old pictures to them, one year later.
2. I was against deleting of iStock's portfolios because I think it is not effective and won't harm iStock, my portfolio is my effort and even without uploading of new images will bring me some money, it is my passive work.
3. My idea was to promote stronger other "friendly agencies" with better deals for us, and on some indirect way a possibility how to redirect buyers from iStock, so some kind of "positive antimarketing" for IS... If we act together it could be some results...
So, how could I be a traitor to your principles, that was not even my principles, and who is resuming these days upload again to iStock,? Is it me or some big iStock enemies who supposedly were deleted their portfolios?
Good old cynicism maybe would kill each good debate here in the future ...
But surely, every action together!
P.S.
I don't blame anyone for resuming upload to IS... Only attacks full of cynicism on others...
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No, you are missing the point or not understanding me. It has nothing to do with principles or morals, but you made it sound it was. I said it was about making money, you said money was related to principle. You made it about morals, not me.
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It had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with morality. It was always about self-interest. There have really only ever been two considerations: can I (or we) put sufficient pressure on iStock to persuade them to stop doing things that we consider are against our interests; and does making our work available to iStock risk destroying the value of that work (e.g. if it is effectively orphaned on Google Drive, devalued by price changes or whatever).
It is perfectly rational to decide to try to protect your interests by not uploading if you conclude the effort is not worth the return, and it is rational to resume uploading if the apparent rate of return changes. Similarly, if you calculate that any loss you might suffer from Google Drive is less than the profit from remaining with iStock, it is rational to stay on.
I think people are confusing morality with indignation. There's been a lot of anger and indignation over perceived injustices towards suppliers, such as cutting commissions or forcing images into one collection or another, but that's purely the reaction of people who feel they are being exploited. Nobody is making sacrifices for the sake of others, though a few may be sacrificing potential earnings because they feel insulted and abused, and have other income so they can afford to tell GI where to shove it.
For most of us, I'm pretty sure it's not love or hate, it's just about the money.
Excellent summation! I agree 100%
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No, you are missing the point or not understanding me. It has nothing to do with principles or morals, but you made it sound it was. I said it was about making money, you said money was related to principle. You made it about morals, not me.
Ok! Thank you for clarification...
I remember only several attacks on my opinion when "iStock problem" was actual... Now many of those people who blamed me, are again close to iStock, "just because of money"...
So we can agree that money could not be related with principle but in this case I feel that is more related with personal guilt, and money comes just a comfort or an good explanation...
Fortunately this is a business where your or my decision won't harm others... We can lose only confidence among us...
P.S.
Many times in my job I've seen how greed can find justification in term "caring for the family"!
Hopefully in this business there is no directly enough space for such undercover "dark side" of people!
True danger is that MSG forum might be good only for topics such as "How was your last month"!?
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No, you are missing the point or not understanding me. It has nothing to do with principles or morals, but you made it sound it was. I said it was about making money, you said money was related to principle. You made it about morals, not me.
Ok! Thank you for clarification...
I remember only several attacks on my opinion when "iStock problem" was actual... Now many of those people who blamed me, are again close to iStock, "just because of money"...
So we can agree that money is not related with principle but in this case I feel that is more related with personal guilt, and money is just a comfort or good explanation someone, because of that...
Fortunately this is a business where your or my decision won't harm others... We can lose only confidence among us...
Many times on my job I've seen how thievery or greed can find justification in term "caring for the family"!
Hopefully in this business there is no directly enough space for such undercover "dark side" of people!
Borg, I am really confused by your posts. Ron suggested you were making this about morals, or principles, and you claimed you weren't. Now you post the above highlighted opinion. Terms like "dark side of people" along with "thievery" and "greed" are very loaded terms. They certainly sound judgmental.
You are entitled to your opinion, but if you are going to keep handing down moral judgments on the actions of others, then why keep denying that's what you're doing?
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Lisa I don't blame anyone but I don't like double standards...
P.S.
Sorry on extreme terms, that was just as an example how far it can go... We all feel greed of agencies as an other example...
I just don't want to be like them...
I don't judge anyone, it's your business, so please forget this all...
In future I will talk only about "practical" information... :-\
Now I'm glad that I did not, because solidarity, wipe my iStock portfolio ...
I will avoid every collective action here...
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Now I'm glad that I did not, because solidarity, wipe my iStock portfolio ...
I will avoid every collective action here...
I'm glad you didn't "wipe" your Istock portfolio because of solidarity too. A good reason to take any action, collective or otherwise, is if you are strongly in favor of it and/or think you can affect some change that you will ultimately benefit from.
Baldrickstrousers expressed it perfectly a couple of posts up.
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Have to agree with Ron et al. If some element of the site produces a return it would be nuts not to put your stuff up there. Why does it have to be such a complete pain though? Even with full IPTC and deep meta it is such a chore that I haven't got around to recent material or the very small number of images that actually sell well, never mind about the rest...
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I agree, I remember you saying that they weren't worth your time etc you even reported very low sales on those newest files, are you back resuming because of ThinkStock?
Yes.
There's also the unknowable: if things change and recent files start to sell, then I'd miss the boat if I didn't have them there (that's been the rationale for some minor sites down the year... not that it's really paid off).
With TS performing, it looks as if the return on uploading effort should at least be tolerable.
One of the key questions that needs answering is can we expect the same boost in sales each month or was this an isolated deal....Getty 360 that is.
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^^ Getty 360 is an ongoing deal, which has been operational since August at least (that's when I got my first and only G360 sale).
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And it's a terrible, terrible deal for contributors.
Well, if you're being serious rather than sarcastic, I actually agree with you.
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And it's a terrible, terrible deal for contributors.
Well, if you're being serious rather than sarcastic, I actually agree with you.
If you are making 15% at iStock then it seems like a good deal, if you're making 20% maybe it's not so great a deal?
Maybe that could be a "syndrome of kidnapping", known as the Stockholm Syndrome ...
The kidnapper took everything to the abducted individual, from freedom to food, but after some time kidnapper give him a crust of bread for example, but still in captivity ...
After that act the hijacked person began to love his kidnappers strongly...
Sorry on sarcasm and tough comparison!
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I might just be a hobbyist at best but, I'm not sure why we'd be arguing about the policies of istock. We're all in the same boat are some people naive?
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The loupe is back just as annoying as before (e.g. popping up when I'm trying to do something else, making it difficult to click on a file if you want to, etc).
I hope buyers know they can switch it off.
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Stats due to come back later, but in phases. Seems they're going to be updating totals for all years over the next few days ???:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357892&page=1#post6962956 (http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357892&page=1#post6962956)
A bit scary, but I'll hope for the best. :-\
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Stats due to come back later, but in phases. Seems they're going to be updating totals for all years over the next few days ???:
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357892&page=1#post6962956[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357892&page=1#post6962956[/url])
A bit scary, but I'll hope for the best. :-\
Does that mean there is something wrong with what is reported before Oct 2013?
It will be nice to have things working properly if/when that is the case.
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I hope there's nothing wrong with earlier stats, because they are talking about going back right to the start. My wild and unfounded guess is that they have rewritten some code and want the whole data set to be organised in the same way. Mind you, I wouldn't mind if they decide to stick a few thousand dollars in missed sales into my account.
I'm waiting with bated breath...
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When is "afternoon" at iStock?
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I think now :) Sales posted till November 27th
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wow ... it's happened. The stats are almost up to date now!
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And so far, so good, AFAICS. :)
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480 downloads? not very accurate...
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2013 matches about what I had previously recorded. Prior to Nov 2012 they don't have any regular IS sales reported. At least my balance isn't negative to reflect that. I suspect it will be a while before everything is all sorted out, but the 2013 ones seemed to go fairly quickly.
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So happy stats are back! A sincere (and not sarcastic) Woo Yay from me! :D
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Stats are back!!
Shame on iStock anyway!
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....
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I've had only 25% of my usual number of downloads, and the worst month of the year. This can't be right.
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Yes, November stats are visible now, however, did you check your profile page? Mine says 56 downloads since 2006, however it should be 1492.
???
Worrying.
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Yes, November stats are visible now, however, did you check your profile page? Mine says 56 downloads since 2006, however it should be 1492.
???
Worrying.
If you read Lobo's OP, that is Stage 3, which they haven't completed yet.
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Yes, November stats are visible now, however, did you check your profile page? Mine says 56 downloads since 2006, however it should be 1492.
???
Worrying.
:-[
Same here. Says I have 3000 when I have almost 20000. Gee whiz i will never make diamond at this rate :-X :-X. (That was a joke)
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Yes, November stats are visible now, however, did you check your profile page? Mine says 56 downloads since 2006, however it should be 1492.
???
Worrying.
If you read Lobo's OP, that is Stage 3, which they haven't completed yet.
Shew!,,,,
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So now we are waiting for 15th for Partner Program sales to appear, right ? ;)
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Oh my! Can it be true? Stats bars with only two days delay are back!
It would be great if we could get a reporting system like paypal or ebay or like my bank where every single line item is detailed by date and time. To know what sort of credit the item was purchased with and what royalty rate was used. To sort by date inputs and have printable PDFs of the results.
Maybe one day when the debt is paid off they'll be able to do such things.
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Oh my! Can it be true? Stats bars with only two days delay are back!
It would be great if we could get a reporting system like paypal or ebay or like my bank where every single line item is detailed by date and time. To know what sort of credit the item was purchased with and what royalty rate was used. To sort by date inputs and have printable PDFs of the results.
Maybe one day when the debt is paid off they'll be able to do such things.
These might be nice, but far more important is making sure the site stays stable for buyers and making sure buyers know they can turn off the still-annoying loupe. (Is this the 'improved' version?). I'd be nervous in case they made these welcome stats available for us and the whole selling side collapsed.
But in fact, you know your royalty rate anyway, so that's not needed; every line item has date and time (in My Uploads), (although that peculiar and eternal EL bug still applies, AFACS) and you can check the credit value with Sean's app (and anyway, there's nothing we can do about it, so why do we need to know? I only check if a sale seems abnormally low just to see how low credits are going for.)
And that bottom line is even with all that info in place, you're just taking their word for it, so if you're suspicious now, all of that wouldn't really help.
I miss seeing if files are going into private lightboxes (or not, in the case of new files). And I'm now realising that I would like to know what keywords files are being sold by.
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Looks like stage 3 may have progressed back to 2009 processing. I don't see anything in 2008 yet.
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Oh my! Can it be true? Stats bars with only two days delay are back!
It would be great if we could get a reporting system like paypal or ebay or like my bank where every single line item is detailed by date and time. To know what sort of credit the item was purchased with and what royalty rate was used. To sort by date inputs and have printable PDFs of the results.
Maybe one day when the debt is paid off they'll be able to do such things.
These might be nice, but far more important is making sure the site stays stable for buyers and making sure buyers know they can turn off the still-annoying loupe. (Is this the 'improved' version?). I'd be nervous in case they made these welcome stats available for us and the whole selling side collapsed.
But in fact, you know your royalty rate anyway, so that's not needed; every line item has date and time (in My Uploads), (although that peculiar and eternal EL bug still applies, AFACS) and you can check the credit value with Sean's app (and anyway, there's nothing we can do about it, so why do we need to know? I only check if a sale seems abnormally low just to see how low credits are going for.)
And that bottom line is even with all that info in place, you're just taking their word for it, so if you're suspicious now, all of that wouldn't really help.
I miss seeing if files are going into private lightboxes (or not, in the case of new files). And I'm now realising that I would like to know what keywords files are being sold by.
Well, they have all this information in a database. I don't understand why they can't make it more flexible. Why do I have to use an app Sean made to find out what credit was used? Going through every image one by one in my uploads is impractical because you only see the total royalties but not the amount for that sale. Digging through every image to see what the last payment was is just too time consuming. They could also provide us with graphs for image views compared with sales.
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You're right, of course. If you've got lots of sales each day, it would be a PITA to click into each one to see individual sales values.
Still, although all these things would be quite nice, if not very useful, they wouldn't be on my top of the list for site improvements, and I'd rather see them spending the money on more/more effective marketing, and making well thought-out, joined-up plans.