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Messages - PinkBadger
Pages: [1]
1
« on: July 01, 2016, 10:48 »
Wow, a reply via e-mail!!!
We would like to offer a clarification about yesterdays email regarding the titles of your content. This email was distributed to a broader group of contributors than we intended. We sincerely apologize for the concern caused. We want to reassure you that no further action is required from you.
The vast majority of our community work hard to consistently create powerful and descriptive titles to support their work. Our goal is to create a fair and level playing field for our entire contributor community and we value the time and energy invested into preparing your content for license on Shutterstock.
We have robust compliance standards in place to protect the integrity of your content and we are investing heavily in developing a new platform to improve the contributor experience. You may have seen some of the new pages recently rolled out. Included in this development will be new contributor tools to help with your content submission process.
We are working tirelessly on creating the best contributor experience for our content creators and we apologize for the communication yesterday. You can expect that any further communication from us will be detailed, informative, specific, and actionable.
Thank you,
Jon Oringer
and
The Shutterstock Contributor Support Team
2
« on: July 01, 2016, 10:32 »
I just posted this on Shutterstocks "Contibrutor experience"
Dear Shutterstock,
You have recently offended thousands of your contributors, including myself, with a rude e-mail accusing us of spamming titles and threatening us to suspend our portfolios.
Personally I have wasted a lot of time seaching for spammed titles in my portfolio (more than 5000 files) without finding any. I cannot understand why these spammed titles (if they exist) have not been caught by your approval process. Your explanation seems to be that I have edited the titles after the files were approved. That is not true.
If you are serious at all about this, please show that you care about contributors, re-assure us that it was a mistake and that we donhave to worry. If you dont show us that respect, and keep claiming that all contributors that received the e-mail are spammers that "create poor customer experience", must "edit these titles to bring them back into compliance" and should not "continue to create repetitive or spammy titles" or risk suspension, then tell us so so that we can opt out on all our contents and then leave your site. Since we create such bad customer experience I am sure we will not be missed. Dont bother to suspend our portfolios, we will happily do it for you.
Thank you.
3
« on: July 01, 2016, 08:44 »
Going through my files, out of curiosity..
So, do I belong to jail for titles like this?
qte
Panama City, Panama - August 29, 2015: Panama city skyline is seen at night on August 29, 2015 in Panama, Central America
unqte
That's the word Panama x 4 times and I have a few of those actually 
This is NOT blatant spamming
Blatant spamming is like the examples they gave prange,prange,prange
This is what happens when a code is written to filter certain criteria and no sensible human checks it over
Mass confusion and anger
Usually happens when you try to do things in a quick way without thinking it through
run by ijits
At this rate they may not be a Multi Billiondollar company for very long.
4
« on: July 01, 2016, 08:41 »
Going through my files, out of curiosity..
So, do I belong to jail for titles like this?
qte
Panama City, Panama - August 29, 2015: Panama city skyline is seen at night on August 29, 2015 in Panama, Central America
unqte
That's the word Panama x 4 times and I have a few of those actually
Of course, your total portfolio should be instantly and permanently suspended since you obviously "create a poor customer experience". How dare you???
5
« on: July 01, 2016, 08:15 »
An hypothesis : it's july, they hired or outsourced a new team of inspectors for summer holidays totally new and unaware to the business, and applying the rules with way too much zeal. Maybe in the admin interface of the inspectors, there is an option "mark this contributor as a spammer" and they use it abusely, which is causing the 'automatic email' we all recieved.
But this does'nt explain the files apparently deleted for some contributors portfolio...
I havent uploaded for several weeks and I still got the message. Why are these inspectors going through old stuff? I guess they started a project with some temporary staff to tidy up the portfolios. Nothing wrong with that, except that it went horribly wrong.
6
« on: July 01, 2016, 07:52 »
Maybe we should all cool down, I am sure that someone at SS is having a hard time just now. Give them a day or two to sort this out, fire the person who sent out the rude message and then apologize to all of us. If not, we have the power to seriously damage their business by simply opting out on all our portfolio content, it only takes a minute but will have instant impact on their revenue if enough contributors do it.
But like I said, Im sure that they will sort it out. Cool down, let them sweat for a while, have a rest, eat an orange, orange, orange and keep uploading to other sites.
7
« on: June 30, 2016, 20:23 »
See my response to them below. If it was a mistake and they sent this to all contributors, they certainly managed to piss a lot of people off. If they are serious and they really have found some titles with repetitive words and choose to approach the contributors with such a nasty mail, then they have damaged their business for a long time to come. I will not hesitate to withdraw my portfolio if they dont reply to my mail in an acceptable way. If you own any of their stock, maybe you should sell it now...
I am not aware of any such titles in my portfolio, I have NEVER deliberatly repeated words in my titles and I certainly have NEVER changed titles after aproval in order to do so. If indeed there are any such mistakes in my portfolio, it is because your review process failed to catch them, and not because I have modified the title afterwards.
I have more that 5000 files, and I can not and will not go through all of them in search of single mistakes. Also I will not "continue to create repetitive or spammy titles" for the simple reason that I have never done so, and I REALLY REALLY dont like being accused of it.
You cannot require me to "edit these titles to bring them back into compliance" without telling me which titles tou are referring to. Since you imply that I have done this systematically, it should be easy for you to provide at least a few photo ids or links as examples. If you fail to do that and still claim that I have systematically spammed my titles, then by all means suspend my portfolio, there are plenty of other Microstock sites.
I will not waste my time trying to fix a problem that in my view does not exist, and my advice to you is to improve your review process so you catch the mistakes already at that point instead of pissing your contributors off afterwards.
Until this is resolved, I will of course cease any further uploads to your site, and I will seriously consider removing all my files from you site, to save you the trouble of suspending my portfolio.
8
« on: July 18, 2013, 00:00 »
for the global search engines to attract customers, sym site members need to link to and promote those engines
how many pages & iMages from your site has google iNdexed? without doing some seo work, your site isn't going to get noticed. and if you're not being noticed, other members are less likely to include you in their network list. symbiosis means it works both ways
Hey, if it comes to it, I will do my part to get traffic into the network, don't misunderstand me, but what I fail to understand is how linking to fifteen other sites will boost my sales?? Isn't the potential 1000 times bigger with a global search where potential customers can choose between (hopefully) millions of photos based on keywords rather than klicking away in an endless network where you find 10-15 sites at the time? Isn't the vision to compete with the big agencies like that? I think you have made a great start with your search engine, that is the way forward, and that is the main reason why I am here. More options like "recent", most popular" etc, would be great. I would like to promote Symbiostock as such, and the search engine, rather than spending time on making my few pics visible in Google, or competing with others to get into peoples network lists. Personally, I think the global list should be default in the sense that every search should show hits a) on your own site and b) in the global network. Adding the result from specific network members would be optional, e.g. to promote a friend or a site you like particularly. In that way we all promote each other, on equal terms, the only thing we compete with is good kewording, maybe price and, obviously, good photos. In the long term, this is something we all would benefit from. For the time being, I would like to see at least some traffic to my site, based on my current portfolio, before uploading the remaining photos. If not 1100 photos generate any traffic, I dont think 5000 will either. And I expect to see traffic both from Google and from the Symbistock search engine. I will do my best to promote Symbiostock, but I will not pay anyone to generate fake traffic to my site.
9
« on: July 17, 2013, 22:21 »
My portfolio is much smaller but I have had similar results. But, I have read here and other places as well, that sales percentages of incoming traffic is very small. 200- 300 visits is closer to zero than to where we want to be before we will see consistant sales.
Something else to consider is google and SEO likes change and new. you shouldn't just build a site and forget about it, you should makes changes, add images, add links to blog posts to keep the crawlers coming back to check your site.
But that is exactly what I do not have time and energy to do. I don't expect to get massive traffic directly via Google, that will not happen, ever, unless I use the services that some of those spam posts offer - to generate fake traffic at a "small" monthly fee. No thanks. Like I said, my hope is that the traffic will come from the Symbiostock global search engine, just as people find my pics via the search engines of the agencies. Hopefully the search engine will have enough visibility and become a factor in the microstock world. That is the big potential I see in Symbiostock. Maybe naive? If you tell me that will not happen, I will instantly forget about Symbisostock and about selling my pics directly. Should I? If I only wanted traffic via Google, there are other ways of doing it, but I would not be interested. My vision is that Symbiostock becomes a real factor in the microstock world, and that I can be a small part of it.
10
« on: July 17, 2013, 18:46 »
first, of course, you CAN opt-out of the network so far no one has stated they've done that (and we'd never know about them).
but part of the point of sym is that each artist doesn't have to spend all their time promoting their site - others in the network are doing it for them too! right now google tells me there are over 35,000 links to my site from outside sources, along with 44 sites directly linked
there are several prpjects underway that will better quantitate this traffic
My reason for not starting my own site earlier was the promotion issue. I don't have the skills or the time to promote my site and create traffic. That is exactly why I liked the vision of SYS. Although the tools for building the site are really useful, the only real long time benefit is the idea of the network generating traffic, in fact doing all the promotion for me. So let me share my fantasy with you: In the (not too distant) future, the global search engine for Symbiostock is a viable alternative to the existing agencies, known and used by the customers. I don't know if there is a specific category of customers that is more likely to use it, but since this is a fantasy, I would say all categories, from big corporations to bloggers. In my dream, this is the aspect that skilled developers such as Cascoly will spend time on in future. It would be good if other, more passive members like myself somehow could make it worth wile for them, but I don't know exactly how that would work.
Linking to ten or fifteen other members in the network is not part of my fantasy, that would never generate the kind of traffic I am looking for.Meanwhile, back in the real world. I have now uploaded 1100+ pics, and I hold my horses in order to see some real activity before I continue uploading the rest of my 5000-6000 files. So far there has been none. Not one serious registration, certainly no sales, only spam comments. Google analytics shows 200-300 visits in total, but none from a serious customer. So I guess patience is required, I will spend my efforts on the traditional agencies for a while, until something happens here. That does not mean I am giving up, I just realise it is going to be a long journey that may even change the whole industry. It would be interesting to know if some other members share my experience.
11
« on: June 28, 2013, 11:53 »
Tax laws are complicated stuff. I tried to find out what the rules are here in Sweden, and my conclusion is that you must charge VAT to a private person within EU, but not to companies if they can show that they have a VAT number. For sales outside EU you don't have to charge VAT.
So my thought was this: It should be possible to customise the registration form so that the buyers must state a) whether they are EU or non EU residents and b) ( if EU resident) whether they are private persons or represent a company. If a company within EU, they should also enter the VAT number. Based on this information you chose one of two price lists, one without VAT, one with. A bit complicated, but at least the customer has to do it just once, after that he correct pricelist will be picked automatically.
I am not sure what the legal situation would be if e.g. a private person claimed to be a company and entered a fake VAT number to avoid VAT, but if it is not possible to do something like that, I think this kind of direct sales really is impossible in countries like Sweden, at least if you want to do it legally. Of course you in the more "liberal" countries wouldn't have to worry about this option for the registration.
Any thoughts, anyone?
12
« on: June 28, 2013, 11:20 »
Mark's didn't return until after he had put the address into Paypal this morning and it sounds like Pink Badger's does not return either so she might have to, it should take you to the download page automatically when someone has finished paying in PP
Like I said, it did return, but only by clicking on my mail address. The problem is that I have personal PP at the moment, and I can't customize it. 
personal pp account is not the right way to go.. that is the reason.. I have a "premier" account and that's the least you should have..
Yes I guess I have to change. Thanks.
13
« on: June 28, 2013, 11:12 »
Mark's didn't return until after he had put the address into Paypal this morning and it sounds like Pink Badger's does not return either so she might have to, it should take you to the download page automatically when someone has finished paying in PP
Like I said, it did return, but only by clicking on my mail address. The problem is that I have personal PP at the moment, and I can't customize it.
14
« on: June 28, 2013, 10:00 »
Well, return works for me as well, but the text on the return link is confusing, since it shows the email address I used for my PP account. (at least that is what I understand, I did not try it myself).
15
« on: June 28, 2013, 06:13 »
Hmm, I think the purchasing process needs some improvements. I asked a friend to purchase a photo, here are some observations:
1) As a first time customer, he selected an image, clicked "pay now" and registered. After that, the picture had disappeared and could not be put back in the shopping cart. The only way to solve this was to log out, log in again and repeat the process, now as a returning customer. Then it works.
This must be fixed, I don't think you often get a second chance if the transaction fails the first time. Lost customer, lost business.
2) After having payed at Paypal it was not obvious how to get back to the site, apparently you had to click on the mail address connected to the Paypal account.
3) The confirmation:
- "Thank you for your purchase ...." looks like a link but leads nowhere.
- The link "Licensing and downloads" leads to the purchased photo. Not very logical.
-The information is not so well aligned, looks a bit messy. The options information is not aligned with the header (see attachment). The number of the photo mixes with the options.
16
« on: June 25, 2013, 17:23 »
MSG name: PinkBadger
website: www.pinkbadgerphoto.com
My photo topics: Scandinavia, Stockholm, China, nature, wilderness, backgrounds, studio shots, flowers, office buildings, urban views... and many more.
what I am looking for: To skip the middle man and sell my photos directly, what else? I am with more than ten microstock agencies but want to try this network, it might be the future...
I have thousands of pics to upload, but want to try everithing out in a controlled manner first. It would be a good start if my site would show in the Network Directory.
Was just visiting your site! Great work!
Thanks Leo! Needless to say you have done a great job as well! This may be the beginning of something big... or not, at least it is exciting to be part of it.
17
« on: June 25, 2013, 15:55 »
Ha ha, but at least it IS a retriever, one out of five is not so bad  . Proves my point, though.
18
« on: June 25, 2013, 13:45 »
It makes sense I guess.
But I have this vision that the network will contribute to traffic on my site, Why would we have a network if that was not the case?
I think the global search is a very good idea, everyone should have it on top in their network directory. Connecting to ten other sites is very limited, but if everyone offered global search, and if it could show more hits, maybe 50 or so, we would really have a good start. Maybe it should even be in the template to encourage everyone to use it.
19
« on: June 25, 2013, 12:57 »
I have found by accident that the search doesnt pick up expressions, only single words without space. In most cases that is ok, but how about common expressions like "New York", which should be very common?
Now I must edit the pics and enter all such expressions as single words, "new" and "york". It is tedious sice I have thousands of pics to upload, and it will also create many unnecessary hits for people who are looking for pictures of York. Maybe a stupid example, but you understand what I mean. Any chance of fixing this, or should I go through all my pics to modify my expressions?
20
« on: June 24, 2013, 17:10 »
MSG name: PinkBadger website: www.pinkbadgerphoto.comMy photo topics: Scandinavia, Stockholm, China, nature, wilderness, backgrounds, studio shots, flowers, office buildings, urban views... and many more. what I am looking for: To skip the middle man and sell my photos directly, what else? I am with more than ten microstock agencies but want to try this network, it might be the future... I have thousands of pics to upload, but want to try everithing out in a controlled manner first. It would be a good start if my site would show in the Network Directory.
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