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Author Topic: A new microstock agency - geostockphoto.com  (Read 37392 times)

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Beppe Grillo

« Reply #50 on: April 14, 2013, 06:08 »
0
I don't see how a voting system can work because people will abuse it.  It's been a big failure on other sites that have tried it.
To spell it out:
Photographer A has a photo on the site of famous landmark X.
Photographer X submits a similar viewpoint but with better light.
You have given A a moral dilemma, especially if its a long way away and s/he can't go back and reshoot.

Photographer A is not so fair So he will give a bad vote to the photo of photographer X.
And as he feels that photographer X could be a serious competitor he will give a bad vote to every photographer X's photos


ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #51 on: April 14, 2013, 06:23 »
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And even if photographer X's photo was rejected on other grounds, s/he will notice the other pics on the site and get suspicious and disgruntled.
Sadly, we're dealing with human nature here.

Poncke

« Reply #52 on: April 14, 2013, 06:44 »
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I was getting interested until I read the voting evaluation process. Come on, thats for sure going to be abused. What a pity.

« Reply #53 on: April 14, 2013, 06:55 »
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We have explored all your points which are correct. This is how we deal with them:

1) Geo StockPhoto decides which photos can be rated by each photographer. There is one page on the website which shows you one photo and you can give a vote to that photo (or skip it if you do not want to). It is very rare you will rate photos of some places where you also have taken yours.

2) While you are rating a photo you do not know the author of it.

3) The final rate is given by the average of 2 votes (but we are thinking to increase it) where each vote has a different weight on the basis of the photographer who is rating.

4) If some votes are very different from the average, we will check if someone is abusing the system.

Anyway, we are still monitoring the system and we are still ready to change it if it won't work. So if you believe that something can be improved or you have any further suggestions, please tell us.

Thanks for your help.

mattdixon

« Reply #54 on: April 14, 2013, 07:09 »
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Or only allow positive votes / likes - so ratings can't negatively impact a photo.

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #55 on: April 14, 2013, 08:23 »
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It is very rare you will rate photos of some places where you also have taken yours.
(Is it a fact or) just your opinion (?)

Or only allow positive votes / likes - so ratings can't negatively impact a photo.
Facebook already has geotagging  (or not?)
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 08:30 by Beppe Grillo »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #56 on: April 14, 2013, 08:27 »
0
Facebook already has geotagging
So does Flickr, and many photos there are available CC.
It all depends how technically perfect a user needs their pic to be (and some CC on Flickr are technically excellent).

« Reply #57 on: April 14, 2013, 08:48 »
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It is very rare you will rate photos of some places where you also have taken yours.
(Is it a fact or) just your opinion (?)

You can't choose the photos you vote since our system will do it. So, since there are photos from all over the world to be voted, it is very rare that the system will let you vote photos of places where you also have taken yours. Moreover, in the future we are planning to add a relevant filter aimed at avoiding such overlapping.

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #58 on: April 14, 2013, 08:55 »
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^ okay, i did not understood that.
So it is a good point.

Will the customers have this possibility too?

« Reply #59 on: April 14, 2013, 08:59 »
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Will the customers have this possibility too?

Yes, they will.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #60 on: April 14, 2013, 09:17 »
+1
Hey, Marco ~
You're doing brilliantly here!
In case you didn't know, this forum contains the most wary and critical potential contributors.
Good luck!

« Reply #61 on: April 14, 2013, 09:21 »
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Marco,
What is the payout minimum? Are you using PayPal, Moneybookers and/or bank transfer (for euro countries)?

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #62 on: April 14, 2013, 09:32 »
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Marco, I am trying to connect to the ftp server, I have not answer: no connection, but no refusal of connection too, just *nothing*

« Reply #63 on: April 14, 2013, 09:49 »
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Thanks ShadySue. We were just looking for such critics since, if they are constructive, we can improve.

Firewall, minimum payout is 50 euro and, at the beginning, we are going to use only PayPal (maybe bank transfer too).

Beppe Grillo, our ftp server seems fine to us. Please check that you are using an ACTIVE connection. If you need further help, please contact Gaspare ([email protected]).

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #64 on: April 14, 2013, 09:53 »
0
I probably have missed a feature, and I know your site is particularly all about geotagging, but are the only two searches you can start with location or photographer? What if people want a certain subject, e.g. 'churches' or 'national parks' without specific location?
I ask because I looked up a specific location and found mostly photos which could more or less have been taken anywhere (a female model in front of an out of focus wall and tree). Nothing at all wrong with the photos, but the photo was much more about the model than it was about the location, and the image would have been far more interesting to someone who wanted a photo of a 'specifically-ethnic model in an outdoors setting' rather than someone who wanted a photo of that specific location.

« Reply #65 on: April 14, 2013, 10:29 »
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Beppe - ftp isn't working for me either, not sure if it's my isp or not but if I do a traceroute the ftp it just times out.


Some bugs:
The 'save these as your personal sale options' doesn't save in IE or Firefox and the form below it stretches to the right off of the page.
The title & description doesn't match IPTC meta - description comes out as title and title doesn't import.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 10:36 by flotsom »

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #66 on: April 14, 2013, 11:07 »
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flotsom
I have done a traceroute too
It connects to the first IP (my ISP) and then I get a lot of ****
I will mail to Gaspare.

our ftp server seems fine to us. Please check that you are using an ACTIVE connection. If you need further help, please contact Gaspare ([email protected]).

I have sent him the result of my traceroute and of a ping (100% packet loss)
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 11:19 by Beppe Grillo »

« Reply #67 on: April 14, 2013, 13:22 »
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ShadySue, right now you can search by location and filter the result by photographer, category, rate, dimension and license. We are planning to add filters for price and keywords.

We've just restarted our FTP server and doubled its units. Please check if it is not working yet.

Thanks flotsom for reporting us the bugs. We will check them.

If you want to send us some other bugs please use our "Send feedback" button on the bottom of any page (right side).
Thank you.

« Reply #68 on: April 14, 2013, 13:33 »
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well I guess that explains why my best seller on SS got rejected - It doesn't take much insight to see how this acceptance/rejection system based on the views of your competitors on the sight can easily have a biased rating.
I would much prefer rating by trained reviewers who have 'no skin in the game' - in other words , they are not your direct competitors. You can keep the voting from fellow submitters , but as something seperate and not directly affecting something so vitally important as acceptance/rejection.
Already for me, I think I got dinged unfairly, so I doubt I will upload anything else unless I see changes.

just my $0.02

« Reply #69 on: April 14, 2013, 13:56 »
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noodle, our business model (and so the 50-85% revenue to photographers) is based also on the fact that we are not in charge of the evaluation process. Anyway I understand your point so I want to ask you: would you pay a fee (let's say 10 eurocents per photo) in order to have your photos evaluated by a trained reviewer? We can think about this or any other solution (such as to lower your revenue).

Also, you should consider that even an expert reviewer can evaluate a photo in different ways on the basis of the policy of the agency. We also have some experience in other microstock as photographers and we know that the best seller photo in one competitor may be rejected in another. I really believe (but I may be wrong) that our users do not give negative votes because they are your competitors but because they may be too selective.

« Reply #70 on: April 14, 2013, 14:30 »
0
Still can't access ftp getting this error with ftp client :

The server cannot open connection in active mode. If the problem persists, consider switching to passive mode.
Could not retrieve directory listing
Unable to establish the data connection

« Reply #71 on: April 14, 2013, 21:09 »
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I suggest that the main page need to include  the detail information concerned by the photographer, like:
how many dl ( total, monthly etc )
how may online
(how many reviews by others )....

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #72 on: April 15, 2013, 00:21 »
0
Still can't access ftp too. No sign of "life"

« Reply #73 on: April 15, 2013, 02:27 »
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noodle, our business model (and so the 50-85% revenue to photographers) is based also on the fact that we are not in charge of the evaluation process. Anyway I understand your point so I want to ask you: would you pay a fee (let's say 10 eurocents per photo) in order to have your photos evaluated by a trained reviewer? We can think about this or any other solution (such as to lower your revenue).

Also, you should consider that even an expert reviewer can evaluate a photo in different ways on the basis of the policy of the agency. We also have some experience in other microstock as photographers and we know that the best seller photo in one competitor may be rejected in another. I really believe (but I may be wrong) that our users do not give negative votes because they are your competitors but because they may be too selective.
85% of nothing isn't worth having.  The voting system will put people off uploading.  I'd much rather let buyers decide what they want.  A good search should order the photos well, without having to ask people to waste their time rating photos.  Rating photos is highly subjective and has been abused on other sites lots of times.  I doubt any system is going to be able to prevent that 100%.  I don't like uploading a photo that sells very well on other sites only to find someone that obviously doesn't have much knowledge about microstock has given it a low rating.  The best microstock contributors wont waste their time rating photos, those that aren't that good probably will.  That's what happens on another site and they sell very little.

I think as a new site, you should just have a flat 50% commission.  If you get buyers buying out photos, your site will be a success.  If you don't, the 85% commission isn't going to help.  It's all about bringing buyers to the site and keeping them there.

« Reply #74 on: April 15, 2013, 02:37 »
0
Personally I'd prefer a % of say 50%   If and only if

1) paid competent reviewers
2) the additional money went to improving the site, advertising etc.

I'd prefer to have 50% of more sales than 85% of none.

Others will have different views.


 

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