My number of downloads at IS is only about 4% lower this month than it was in October.

However, $/download dropped from 1.01 to 0.89 -> 11% drop. Much more XS ans S downloads!

Perhaps, the economy is more important here than the IS search algorithm ...

I did search for "Fort Collins". It brought 13 of my images. The search is identical (including picture order) as one performed at 123RF ...

IS - overall more or less like in October, i.e., somewhat better than in the end of October.
SS - fewer downloads than in Oct, but I have a higher rate now
BigStock - great (for BigStock level)
everything else (DT, FT, StockXpert, 123RF) pretty low

There is one missing element in the above analysis: expenses related to shooting and submitting pictures ...
 

I just posted my regular monthly earnings report with some graphs in Pixels Away blog.

12% increase in comparison to September, mostly due to reaching $500 total earnings from SS and a good performance of DT.
SS+IS+DT provide almost 80% of my microstock income.

I am getting close to one year in microstock. I will have a few more graphs to present.

http://www.stockxpert.com/browse.phtml?f=view&id=21148891

What the heck happened in July. SS ran up to the top and IS had a big drop.

I got 1 EL from SS in July. It makes a huge difference for a small portfolio.

My earnings distribution  shifted a little bit in September in comparison to previous months:
http://www.pixelsaway.com/C911796005/E20081001062254/index.html

IS and SS combined provided only 63% of my income in comparison to ~76% in July and earlier. It means that smaller players improved their performance. Each of them  (DT, StockXpert, 123RF, FT and FP)  provided 6-7% of income. So, at this time I am not ready to drop anything.

I posted  the September microstock earnings report in my blog:
http://www.pixelsaway.com/C911796005/E20081001062254/index.html

my two major earners:
IS - the same as in August
SS - went up

IS+SS contributed 69% to my earnings while during previous months it was about 76%. It means that smaller players were doing better: BME in DT, StockXpert and 123RF.

In my recent Pixels Away blog post I reviewed earnings and best selling pictures during my 9 months with iStock:
http://www.pixelsaway.com/C911796005/E20080909084854/index.html

Here is a graph showing number of files in my portfolio, downloads and earnings:




I am uploading new pictures within iStock weekly limit with the acceptance rate about 70%, but I see a clear plateau in the number of downloads starting in May. September doesn't look better than August.

I wonder if it is a general trend or I really need to think about some changes in my portfolio.

I am going to do a similar analysis for SS and DT.

My total earning split after 9 month of microstock (6 months in SS, 3 months in StockXpert):
IS      40.1%
SS     35.5%
DT       8.2%
FT       6.7%
BigStock     4.4%
123     3.0 %
StockXpert     1.9%

I sold one small picture on Featurepics months ago, then nothing for a long time, and few days ago these two pictures at $10 each (my standard pricing there):

http://photokayaker.fit2paddle.com/C1666358270/E20080907100602/index.html

I have started to link pictures used in my blogs and websites to my Featurepics portfolio, but the recent sale was not the result of that promotion yet.

after 9 months in microstock except SS (6 months) and StockXpert (3 months)

IS    40.1
SS   35.5
DT     8.2
FT     6.7
BigStock   4.4
123   3.0
StockXpert   1.9

my monthly earning reports: http://pixelsaway.com/C911796005/index.html