Poorly - if you mean have any buyers been able to find my fabulous images  

Like most search engines, there are good and bad aspects of it...

as far as I know there is no way to link words in the keywords yet. For example, a picture of the "San Francisco peaks" shows up on a search for "San Francisco".  I think a while ago they said they were going to do this with [ ] but I don't know if that is so. I could be wrong though.

It would be very frustrating to have a name or address that is a common search term.

I do like the fact that it theoretically should discourage spam and lets your images rise or fall on their own merit.

--=Tom

I can see how to get the daily data for a specific month, but I don't see how to get a date range beyond that on the 123rf  download_stats page. It is quite possible I am missing something though.

I agree Gimlet doesn't apply, and retro is a stretch for me, but if someone is searching for an aluminum drill, how else would they find it if it isn't in the keywords.

My biggest complaint w/ the IS keywords is that the keyword mapping is too specific or often doesn't include the meaning I want. They should have an option for allowing the keyword but not mapping it to the CV... and maybe a search for the keyword - not the CV option. Since they didn't do this from the start, it would be a horrible pain to implement now. oh well.

As far as their inspectors, they are the best at finding tiny obscured logos and stuff like that (like zipper pulls and that sort of thing), even when they aren't logos (like strength ratings). I think "artifacts" covers too many things and "pixel discoloration" or "distorted pixels?" They all look square to me.

Oh well. I just send them what I have and hopefully what passes sells. Rarely do I resubmit or send something to scout.

Sometimes I agree with the sentiment that they are like an abusive spouse that you can't quite bring yourself to leave.

--=Tom

images from the 19th were reviewed, but ones after that (23rd) have not been reviewed yet... lots of mass rejections lately too.

--=Tom

Does anyone know what percentage Getty normally pays? I suppose at least they are keywording for their 80 (or 70%), but it seems like Getty is trying to get 80% Getty and 20% artist to become their standard.

--=Tom

I think people mostly complain about the commission percent and its steady creep downwards (except at IS where it was already at the bottom).

Had IS introduced per image exclusivity back in the day, they would be the sole market for all of the images that ever hit the big time there, and probably have almost no competition. If they did the same for Vetta and exclusive+, that would further their control of top selling hard to re-create images. Instead they went with the unsustainable goalposts and thinkstock mess.

I am all for premium content at premium prices. I'd like to see all of the sites move that way.

--=Tom

DT is all over the board for me too, but December was my BME. I always hope a good month means they are starting to perform, but then a bad month comes along there...

DT should be doing fine with their higher % take now (yes, I am still bitter about that, and when they fully implement it, they will be raking a quite large slice out of every sale. The independent contributors may be another story there, but although they aren't steady, they haven't had any systematic changes in DLs like an IS best match change.

I am surprised anyone is putting StockXpert over DT, they dropped off a cliff for me in December and I don't really see much hope for them now.

I don't see anything in there for me, except they specifically stated "Our plans for next year had one goal: make more money for our exclusives" - which is of course a load of $%^&  - Their goal is to make more money for themselves, and if they have to make more for exclusives, that is part of how they get there.
Unfortunately they don't seem to have much concern for the source of a lot of their content - pity.

I fear that the best match will become a BEM. oh well.

opted out of the GI on IS and StockXpert. Now where can I tell them what I think of their insulting offer?

I guess maybe Getty needs to squeeze everyone for their coming battle to destroy SS so they can really squeeze everyone all the time?

Didn't Lee post on Microstock Diaries that November was a slow news month? Well, things have picked up big time.

I think IS stands to gain huge profits from these changes, and maybe lose a few customers to cheaper sites.

Unlike the best match sorts (at least for exclusives) where you get the feeling that they are just moving sales around, sometimes you get them, sometimes someone else gets them. Now they are moving the goalposts. Since too many people getting up to the top tiers is an "unsustainable" situation for them (something I find hard to believe), it looks like they will just move the goalposts again when the group that is almost there now, is almost there again.

an admin (I think) posted something suggesting that they would tweak the best match to insure that the more expensive exclusive content sold more than the cheaper independent content. That is scary.

Maybe they feel they have enough premium submitters and are starting to close the doors for everyone else. Between the suggested best match massacre and the new levels, surely it would now take years for all but the best new shooters to move up the ranks to the point where exclusivity makes financial sense.

Maybe they are making a grab for the non-exclusive diamonds, but they are kicking everyone else in the teeth.

If the buyers can't sort between the regular collection and the exclusive collection, then they are going to be seeing a mix of prices on the images, which I would think they would find very annoying, and if they can sort some way or even tell which is which without zooming, then it could greatly pump up independent sales. Maybe some of them will realize that the cheaper images are available even cheaper elsewhere... Somehow I doubt most IS buyers are that price concious though.

I fear they will tweak the best match even more against independents though, and my slow sales will crawl to a virtual standstill. I can't see how all this monkeying would make me want to become exclusive though, they are just showing how they are fickle and don't respect the contributors.  What next, automatic opt in of all content to Jupiter Unlimited with 10c/ download payout?

Hopefully the price increases will trickle across to all the sites and overall income will go up.

I suppose we shall see what happens, but I get the impression that short term gains are what IS is looking for now.

for SS (and the others too I suppose)- what percentage do you pay to contributors?

for IS - what are the plans for stockxpert?