MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: Freedom on August 02, 2011, 17:42

Title: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Freedom on August 02, 2011, 17:42
Is it a myth or reality when someone claims that iStock turns the DL taps off? Bad best match for a few? Or site wide? I also experienced 500 error when uploading today. When it happens, my sales seems to be affected.

I have seen many people saying "as if the tap was turned off". Personally I have experienced it, such as today. It should be a normal weekday, but hardly any sales.

What makes it happen?
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: RT on August 02, 2011, 17:46
What makes it happen?

Paranoia  :P
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Snufkin on August 02, 2011, 17:48
Mine has been only dripping for the last few months, but it seems they turned it on again last week. Yours will have to remain off for the time being, I'm afraid. It's my turn. :P
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Freedom on August 02, 2011, 17:59
That's possible, but there are a few out there..., don't know what to think.  ::)

What makes it happen?

Paranoia  :P
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: click_click on August 02, 2011, 18:02
What makes it happen?


Paranoia  :P
(http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-laughing024.gif)
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: RT on August 02, 2011, 18:03
That's possible, but there are a few out there..., don't know what to think.  ::)

I'm sure there are, but if you apply Newtons third law.....
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: lisafx on August 02, 2011, 18:55
What makes it happen?

Paranoia  :P

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't really out to get you ;D
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Freedom on August 02, 2011, 19:03
Haha, +1.

I don't think they are out to get me, as I am not that important to them. Just I am not their favorite baby, even though I am exclusive.  :-\

What makes it happen?

Paranoia  :P

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't really out to get you ;D
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: PaulieWalnuts on August 02, 2011, 20:04
Well, it may be reality because sometime in early July my IS tap got turned about half way off. I was having a great year before that.

Is it a coincidence that they decided to start a new banner advertising program and referral program ? They haven't done advertising in a while so I'd either they're losing buyers or a massive number of buyers decided to take a vacation at the same time.

On top of that the last time I checked there were only about 35,000 images waiting to be reviewed so it looks like contributors have been turning down the supply tap.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: lagereek on August 03, 2011, 00:57
Easily done! just by the flick of a switch. A friend of mine living in NY, can at times during their business hours, not see my port, or certain parts of my port.
Might be a bug or glitch but I will find out.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: sharpshot on August 03, 2011, 01:13
I've had my sales drop over 50% with a best match change.  Istock has the most variance, compared to the other big site SS that's about the most stable.  I do think all their technical problems with the website are a factor.

My supply tap has been switched off for almost a year now, apart from one slip when I uploaded a few.  Can't say I miss uploading there but my sales have plummeted.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: PaulieWalnuts on August 03, 2011, 04:13
I've had my sales drop over 50% with a best match change.  Istock has the most variance, compared to the other big site SS that's about the most stable.  I do think all their technical problems with the website are a factor.

My supply tap has been switched off for almost a year now, apart from one slip when I uploaded a few.  Can't say I miss uploading there but my sales have plummeted.

The odd thing is that with this latest best match change a lot of my images actually improved a bit in search placement. I have quite a few images that are showing up on the first page or two of major keywords. And sales still dropped. I don't think people would just stop buying my images.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: lagereek on August 03, 2011, 04:22
I've had my sales drop over 50% with a best match change.  Istock has the most variance, compared to the other big site SS that's about the most stable.  I do think all their technical problems with the website are a factor.

My supply tap has been switched off for almost a year now, apart from one slip when I uploaded a few.  Can't say I miss uploading there but my sales have plummeted.

The odd thing is that with this latest best match change a lot of my images actually improved a bit in search placement. I have quite a few images that are showing up on the first page or two of major keywords. And sales still dropped. I don't think people would just stop buying my images.

Exactly the same here. Placement improved drastically but sales dropped?  I know traffic has dropped a lot,  still, it doesnt make sense, unless the best match, is engineered to favor certain contributors.
All the same, with the overall poor performance of the site, what does it really matter.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: ShadySue on August 03, 2011, 04:29
On Monday night I happened to think that an old slow-but-steady image hadn't sold for a while, so I wondered what supadupa photo had usurped it. So I did a search on the main keyword (the very specific location). There are two DAs, and my file is correctly keyworded with both DAs. So I chose one, and the search threw up: 0 results. Hmmm, I have a few for that search and I know of several others. So I tried the other DA: 0 results. Logged out and tried both DAs when logged out - 0 results. Fired up IE and tried again, logged out then logged in, each DA in turn: 0 results. Other random searches were throwing up the selection you would expect.
As it was late at night, and I'm banned, I wrote it on my to-do list for yesterday, and as usual didn't consult my to-do list until bedtime (!). Checked again and my file, and all the others, are showing up. I don't think there's a usurper, mine is still top by downloads, but low-ish by best match.
I wonder how often files just 'disappear', and for how long. As that is a specific location search, a buyer would obviously start looking elsewhere - there is no substitute.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: lagereek on August 03, 2011, 04:39
On Monday night I happened to think that an old slow-but-steady image hadn't sold for a while, so I wondered what supadupa photo had usurped it. So I did a search on the main keyword (the very specific location). There are two DAs, and my file is correctly keyworded with both DAs. So I chose one, and the search threw up: 0 results. Hmmm, I have a few for that search and I know of several others. So I tried the other DA: 0 results. Logged out and tried both DAs when logged out - 0 results. Fired up IE and tried again, logged out then logged in, each DA in turn: 0 results. Other random searches were throwing up the selection you would expect.
As it was late at night, and I'm banned, I wrote it on my to-do list for yesterday, and as usual didn't consult my to-do list until bedtime (!). Checked again and my file, and all the others, are showing up. I don't think there's a usurper, mine is still top by downloads, but low-ish by best match.
I wonder how often files just 'disappear', and for how long. As that is a specific location search, a buyer would obviously start looking elsewhere - there is no substitute.

You are banned?!  heck I didnt know that. Anyhow, files are always dissapearing and especially in the US and during business hours, when night-time in Europe. Nights with dark secrets and mysteries.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: ShadySue on August 03, 2011, 05:58
...at night, and I'm banned, ...
You are banned?!  heck I didnt know that.
Since November. Where have you been?
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: lagereek on August 03, 2011, 06:32
...at night, and I'm banned, ...
You are banned?!  heck I didnt know that.
Since November. Where have you been?

HI!

What on earth did you do?  I mean you seem to be a very pleasant person ;)
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: ShadySue on August 03, 2011, 07:11
...at night, and I'm banned, ...
You are banned?!  heck I didnt know that.
Since November. Where have you been?

HI!

What on earth did you do?  I mean you seem to be a very pleasant person ;)
LOL, that must be the first time anyone's ever said that, even with a winky.

Apparently, Lobo doesn't like the truth being delivered in one-liners.

Last warning: At the time of the Tokyolypse, someone asked who paid for the 'lypse. That was the one where participants didn't have to pay for tickets, so I answered, "Participants pay for their own flights and accommodation/food, we pay for the rest", which was deleted. Truth hurts.
Final straw: Someone asked how you could do something (forget what) which you 'used to could' do on the site. I replied that you couldn't, it was one of the 'improvements' of F5.
Now actually that turned out not to be strictly 'true', as apparently Sean had written a script to enable that functionality, but it wasn't exactly 'untrue', as it had been stopped with the F5 change, and you couldn't do it natively inside the site.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Freedom on August 03, 2011, 07:31
Now I remember. I also searched for a certain image which stopped selling, and it did not show up in the search at all. Ahhh, now I know that the tap was likely turned off.

On Monday night I happened to think that an old slow-but-steady image hadn't sold for a while, so I wondered what supadupa photo had usurped it. So I did a search on the main keyword (the very specific location). There are two DAs, and my file is correctly keyworded with both DAs. So I chose one, and the search threw up: 0 results. Hmmm, I have a few for that search and I know of several others. So I tried the other DA: 0 results. Logged out and tried both DAs when logged out - 0 results. Fired up IE and tried again, logged out then logged in, each DA in turn: 0 results. Other random searches were throwing up the selection you would expect.
As it was late at night, and I'm banned, I wrote it on my to-do list for yesterday, and as usual didn't consult my to-do list until bedtime (!). Checked again and my file, and all the others, are showing up. I don't think there's a usurper, mine is still top by downloads, but low-ish by best match.
I wonder how often files just 'disappear', and for how long. As that is a specific location search, a buyer would obviously start looking elsewhere - there is no substitute.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: fotografer on August 03, 2011, 10:14

LOL, that must be the first time anyone's ever said that, even with a winky.

Apparently, Lobo doesn't like the truth being delivered in one-liners.

Last warning: At the time of the Tokyolypse, someone asked who paid for the 'lypse. That was the one where participants didn't have to pay for tickets, so I answered, "Participants pay for their own flights and accommodation/food, we pay for the rest", which was deleted. Truth hurts.
Final straw: Someone asked how you could do something (forget what) which you 'used to could' do on the site. I replied that you couldn't, it was one of the 'improvements' of F5.
Now actually that turned out not to be strictly 'true', as apparently Sean had written a script to enable that functionality, but it wasn't exactly 'untrue', as it had been stopped with the F5 change, and you couldn't do it natively inside the site.
Wow that's a bit harsh.  I've seen far worse things written without any ban!!
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: ShadySue on August 03, 2011, 10:50

LOL, that must be the first time anyone's ever said that, even with a winky.

Apparently, Lobo doesn't like the truth being delivered in one-liners.

Last warning: At the time of the Tokyolypse, someone asked who paid for the 'lypse. That was the one where participants didn't have to pay for tickets, so I answered, "Participants pay for their own flights and accommodation/food, we pay for the rest", which was deleted. Truth hurts.
Final straw: Someone asked how you could do something (forget what) which you 'used to could' do on the site. I replied that you couldn't, it was one of the 'improvements' of F5.
Now actually that turned out not to be strictly 'true', as apparently Sean had written a script to enable that functionality, but it wasn't exactly 'untrue', as it had been stopped with the F5 change, and you couldn't do it natively inside the site.
Wow that's a bit harsh.  I've seen far worse things written without any ban!!
Apparently, it wasn't what I said, but the fact that I said them in such a 'short' manner. H*ck, usually people would have the right to complain that I rabbit on too much, so I thought that hilariously ironic.
He'd had me on his radar since years earlier when there was some sort of thread about Kew Gardens and he made some categorial statement that all photos taken in Kew Gardens would be removed. At that time there were many photos with iconic Kew Gardens buildings, many with the keyword 'Kew Gardens' in the collection. However, I did wonder how someone would know that a particular tree or plant had been taken in Kew Gardens in order to remove it and posted my 'wonder'. Lobo somehow decided I was trolling and reiterated that 'all' photos taken in Kew Gardens would be removed. True, the 'obvious' ones which were actually keyworded 'Kew Gardens' were removed about 15 months or so later.
As of now, there are 91 photos keyworded "Kew Gardens", only one of them editorial. So, who was telling the truth back then?
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Freedom on August 03, 2011, 13:25
In other words, does best match make certain images disappear for a certain period of time?

I don't think it targets anyone in particular, if it is true. It may cause some seasonal images unsellable in that season, or a bad day during a high volumn weekday. Possible?
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: ShadySue on August 03, 2011, 14:18
In other words, does best match make certain images disappear for a certain period of time?
I don't think it targets anyone in particular, if it is true. It may cause some seasonal images unsellable in that season, or a bad day during a high volumn weekday. Possible?
I'd surely hope it isn't deliberate. A few months back, I happened to notice that none of my six or so pics with a certain keyword weren't seen in a search on that keyword, which was in the CV. I SMd Kelvin after a couple of weeks, and he, Ducksandwich and Keywords checked it out and couldn't work out what was going wrong. They passed it on to the techie guys and after some time, I noticed they were in the search again. It wasn't so much these files, which are low demand, which worried me, but the thought that that could be happening on and off all the time, and we wouldn't know about it unless we 'happened' to look. (Sometimes I check to see if low-selling files are just low demand, or to see what more popular pics people have in that search. In that case, it was just 'low demand'.)
I'm pretty sure it's a bug rather than a policy. It wouldn't be serving anyone, especially the buyers, to rotate pics out. But what do I know?
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: PaulieWalnuts on August 03, 2011, 14:57
How about a conspiracy theory to play with. It's in their best interest to not have people reach the next level. Could the best match be configured to throttle people back in the search who are on target to hit the next level?

Jan through June were strong for me and I was on track to hit the 35% level by the end of 2011. July dropped almost 40% in revenue for me and so far the first few days of August have been down over half of a normal day for me. Coincidence?
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Graffoto on August 03, 2011, 21:57
They have definitely turned off the tap for me this month. Three days in and not a single DL.
Call it a summer slump it you want, but August 2010 was my BME.  :-\
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: sharpshot on August 04, 2011, 01:25
How about a conspiracy theory to play with. It's in their best interest to not have people reach the next level. Could the best match be configured to throttle people back in the search who are on target to hit the next level?

Jan through June were strong for me and I was on track to hit the 35% level by the end of 2011. July dropped almost 40% in revenue for me and so far the first few days of August have been down over half of a normal day for me. Coincidence?
It probably is just a coincidence because it was quite common to get a 40% drop in revenue in the days before the commission cuts.  It had stabilised a bit for me in recent years but I'm not surprised by anything that happens there any more.  It must be horrible to get a 40% drop as an exclusive.  If they're doing this on purpose, it's just going to make more people give up the crown and bolster their rival sites.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: ShadySue on August 04, 2011, 06:39
There's some sort of problem with ELs, at least within my port, that I'm trying to sort out. i.e. files going to the bottom of the search showing as ELs not available, yet when I go into them an try to tick them, the tick is already there, also in DM.
So I was just checking as a few days ago some of my very recent Dublin acceptances were near the bottom of a search on Dublin. So I searched 'Dublin' and got 0 results:
(http://www.lizworld.com/Dublin0.jpg)
In this case, refreshing brought the images to view (which the other search I mentioned above didn't), but really, should someone know to have to 'refresh' to see results?

ADDED: I just went back and tried again and got 0 results after 5 refreshes. I guess they'd say, "Clear your cookies and cache", but honestly, should we have to do that? (More often than not, when doing that, it hasn't solved the problem.) What if we want to keep our cookies and caches for whatever reason? I don't visit the other micros often enough to know if that's a problem there, but Alamy is an image-rich site and I've never had to 'clear cookies and cache' to get search results there.
ADDED (2): the Dublin thing might be a Firefox problem - I just tried in IE, logged out, and it worked fine. Still refreshing and re-searching isn't bringing up the images in FF 5.0.1/Win7.
Added (3):  However, I searched 'horse' and got the usual gazillions of images, then searched Dublin and got pics.
Interesting best match mix. Some of my pics on the first page, one accepted so recently it wasn't in my port three hours ago is well down on page 10 (EL is ticked).
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Freedom on August 04, 2011, 09:38
Yes, I noticed the same problem in search too.

The question remains, does it affect the DL performance of the entire portfolio?
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: WarrenPrice on August 04, 2011, 10:09
I'm too new to know anything about procedures at iS, but ... I'm buying in to the conspiracy theory (always have)   ;D

It seems to be "event driven."  Get close to a payout and it kicks in to delay paying. That is at many sites.  
Closing in on an upgrade (raise in commission) ... yep, you get "slowed down."  
Yep.. I'm paranoid.  But that doesn't mean they are not out to get me.   ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Snufkin on August 04, 2011, 11:27
How about a conspiracy theory to play with. It's in their best interest to not have people reach the next level. Could the best match be configured to throttle people back in the search who are on target to hit the next level?

Why bother with the best match when theoretically they might not report the sales correctly?
A "bug", a "glitch" or "turning off the tap", why not? Money is not what will make the contributors happy after all.
We won't find out until somebody tests them or there is an audit.
I don't have any confidence in their integrity, but that's just me.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: RacePhoto on August 04, 2011, 14:23
Strange that yours says Dublin - Ireland and more, when I did the same search it just says Dublin and I came up with 39 pages at 50 per page (1946 results). FF also by the way. So why does your Keywords box look different than mine? Did the same search with Google Chrome, same results.

Something strange going on here? Why does yours have "Dublin - Ireland (County Dublin)" whatever else in there?

Here's the page result I get "http://www.istockphoto.com/search/text/dublin/source/basic#153eb223"

Might answer why you get no results and I get over 1900?
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Slovenian on August 04, 2011, 14:44
I've had my sales drop over 50% with a best match change.  Istock has the most variance, compared to the other big site SS that's about the most stable.  I do think all their technical problems with the website are a factor.

My supply tap has been switched off for almost a year now, apart from one slip when I uploaded a few.  Can't say I miss uploading there but my sales have plummeted.

The odd thing is that with this latest best match change a lot of my images actually improved a bit in search placement. I have quite a few images that are showing up on the first page or two of major keywords. And sales still dropped. I don't think people would just stop buying my images.

I was just checking where my top 2 images are placed using best match, one was in the first, the second in the 3rd row. I've no idea, why nobody bought them for a week or so.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Gannet77 on August 04, 2011, 15:00
Strange that yours says Dublin - Ireland and more, when I did the same search it just says Dublin and I came up with 39 pages at 50 per page (1946 results). FF also by the way. So why does your Keywords box look different than mine? Did the same search with Google Chrome, same results.

Something strange going on here? Why does yours have "Dublin - Ireland (County Dublin)" whatever else in there?

Here's the page result I get "[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/search/text/dublin/source/basic#153eb223[/url]"

Might answer why you get no results and I get over 1900?


If you just enter "dublin" it doesn't disambiguate, so you get "Dublin (Texas)" and "Dublin (California)" too - although in this case it doesn't appear to make any difference, as either all the pics are of Dublin (Ireland), or they all have that as a keyword, wherever they are.

ShadySue probably entered "dublin", then clciked on the "Dublin (Ireland)" option from the pull down rather than just clicking search.

But it works for me anyway, I have no idea why it failed for her.  Maybe it was just a glitch...
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: lagereek on August 04, 2011, 15:10
Its weird!  after all whats the cream of exclusives at IS?  50-100 contributors at the top, thats it. Sure they needs looking after. Why would they steer any best match, towards middle of the road exclusives, especially when they earn MUCH more percentage from the cream of independants.
If this is the case, they need acute brain-surgery.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: RacePhoto on August 04, 2011, 15:12
Strange that yours says Dublin - Ireland and more, when I did the same search it just says Dublin and I came up with 39 pages at 50 per page (1946 results). FF also by the way. So why does your Keywords box look different than mine? Did the same search with Google Chrome, same results.

Something strange going on here? Why does yours have "Dublin - Ireland (County Dublin)" whatever else in there?

Here's the page result I get "[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/search/text/dublin/source/basic#153eb223[/url]"

Might answer why you get no results and I get over 1900?


If you just enter "dublin" it doesn't disambiguate, so you get "Dublin (Texas)" and "Dublin (California)" too - although in this case it doesn't appear to make any difference, as either all the pics are of Dublin (Ireland), or they all have that as a keyword, wherever they are.

ShadySue probably entered "dublin", then clciked on the "Dublin (Ireland)" option from the pull down rather than just clicking search.

But it works for me anyway, I have no idea why it failed for her.  Maybe it was just a glitch...


Obvious points, I don't know how to use the search and don't sit and look for my own pictures. ;) I'm not sure if looking to see where they are helps anything or increases sales. LOL

But thanks for explaining, I might need to go look and learn better how the site works. (or doesn't work!)

Edit: Oh yes, odd I ticked off the other two and had the same 1946 results. Strange.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: ShadySue on August 04, 2011, 16:05
Strange that yours says Dublin - Ireland and more, when I did the same search it just says Dublin and I came up with 39 pages at 50 per page (1946 results). FF also by the way. So why does your Keywords box look different than mine? Did the same search with Google Chrome, same results.

Something strange going on here? Why does yours have "Dublin - Ireland (County Dublin)" whatever else in there?

Here's the page result I get "[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/search/text/dublin/source/basic#153eb223[/url]"

Might answer why you get no results and I get over 1900?


Contributor: dublinmark
If you just enter "dublin" it doesn't disambiguate, so you get "Dublin (Texas)" and "Dublin (California)" too - although in this case it doesn't appear to make any difference, as either all the pics are of Dublin (Ireland), or they all have that as a keyword, wherever they are.

ShadySue probably entered "dublin", then clciked on the "Dublin (Ireland)" option from the pull down rather than just clicking search.

But it works for me anyway, I have no idea why it failed for her.  Maybe it was just a glitch...


When I put Dublin in the search box, I get these choices:
Dublin Castle
Dublin - Texas (Erath County)
Dublin - California (Alameda County)
Dublin - Ireland (County Dublin)
dublin port ..Port Of Dublin

However, when uploading, I only get these options:
Did you mean...
   Dublin - Ireland (County Dublin)
   Dublin - California (Alameda County)
   Dublin - Texas (Erath County)
I'm not sure why Dublin Castle, which is right in the city centre, or Port of Dublin, which is within the city boundaries, about 40 mins walk from the centre, are listed separately. I'm guessing they should be children of 'Dublin'.

It presumably was a glitch, as neither Dublin not disambiguated nor Dublin - Ireland (County Dublin) gave any results at the time, and as I reported, after I'd searched on another word, then come back to search Dublin, I got the results.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Gannet77 on August 04, 2011, 17:31
"Dublin Castle" and "Port of Dublin" are in fact both sub-categories of "Dublin - Ireland (County Dublin)" - along with quite a few other places - if you enter "Dublin" when uploading, you'll get the three options of Ireland, California and Texas - click on the "+" beside Ireland and you'll get the others.

Unfortunately it doesn't show these in DeepMeta, you have to use the web interface, or enter them in full.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: lisafx on August 04, 2011, 17:37
Liz, I noticed the same problem with EL's not showing up on a large part of my port, even though I am opted in across the board.  In fact, I didn't so much notice it, as get a sitemail from a buyer who wanted an EL and couldn't get one!!

I called contributor support and they told me it was a known issue they are working on.  They also managed to get the image turned on so the customer could buy it.  Unfortunately, it may have been too late.  They haven't come back to buy it, even though I wrote them.  Hopefully they found it somewhere else.  Either that, or I just lost the sale to someone whose port was turned on. 
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: Gannet77 on August 04, 2011, 17:41

Obvious points, I don't know how to use the search and don't sit and look for my own pictures. ;) I'm not sure if looking to see where they are helps anything or increases sales. LOL

But thanks for explaining, I might need to go look and learn better how the site works. (or doesn't work!)

Edit: Oh yes, odd I ticked off the other two and had the same 1946 results. Strange.

Just looking to see where they are obviously doesn't help, but finding other keywords that might be used by a buyer could!  It's worth learning how the search works so you can keyword your images effectively.  Buyers don't necessarily use the same keywords (or even language) that you do.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: ShadySue on August 05, 2011, 03:32
"Dublin Castle" and "Port of Dublin" are in fact both sub-categories of "Dublin - Ireland (County Dublin)" - along with quite a few other places - if you enter "Dublin" when uploading, you'll get the three options of Ireland, California and Texas - click on the "+" beside Ireland and you'll get the others.
Indeed they are, but they are separate when searching.
Title: Re: When they tun off the tap?
Post by: ShadySue on August 05, 2011, 03:40
Liz, I noticed the same problem with EL's not showing up on a large part of my port, even though I am opted in across the board.  In fact, I didn't so much notice it, as get a sitemail from a buyer who wanted an EL and couldn't get one!!

I called contributor support and they told me it was a known issue they are working on.  They also managed to get the image turned on so the customer could buy it.  Unfortunately, it may have been too late.  They haven't come back to buy it, even though I wrote them.  Hopefully they found it somewhere else.  Either that, or I just lost the sale to someone whose port was turned on. 
I happened to notice last night when I was really * up when uploading that the EL unticks itself if you have a braindrain, e.g. if you forget to DA a word and you have to go back in to do it or have repeated words in the title, for example I had a photo which, inter alia, had a sculpture called Sphere Within Sphere. (since that is clearly non-negotiable, you can do it by titling Sphere_within_sphere, which gets it through at iStock and the _s don't' muck up in Google). So if you have an error message and go in to correct it, EL unticks. I hadn't noticed that before, and have no idea whether it's inevitable.
However, if you go in and add a keyword, EL doesn't untick (I just tried).