Quote from: ShadySue on July 15, 2012, 16:27

Quote from: whimsikewl on July 15, 2012, 15:40

Quote from: ShadySue on July 14, 2012, 20:56

Quote from: whimsikewl on July 14, 2012, 20:29
BTW, both Iwo Jima Memorial and MLK memorial are available as editorial on the main Getty site. Alamy must be making out like a bandit as well, since they have hundreds and hundreds of images of both memorials.

There are loads of images on Getty which are not allowable on iStock. Some of them may even have releases.  

Thank you, that's exactly what I said. Although its extremely unlikely that even a tiny percentage of those shots have releases.

My point was that if it is OK for Getty or Alamy to sell these images as editorial, apparently without any legal risk, why is Istock making out like it is a crime? Its like the IStock IPR lawyers are feeding out of a completely different thinktank.

If iStock don't want them, send them to Alamy. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Hey, I'm not sweating. I don't even have any MLK or IJM pictures. I just threw that out in my post above about the slow editorial queue in an attempt at humor: Gag line: entire IS editorial team approves less than 100 images overnight. Meanwhile, IS editorial deactivation team culls 40 editorial images. Yuk yuk. Sorry my attempt at humor failed. I need to use more smilely faces.

As for Alamy, my portfolio there is pitiful in size and even more so in downloads, so it is hard for me, personally, to get excited about uploading Istock banned subjects to their 30 million plus collection. Others will undoubtedly have different opinions.

Yes I am perfectly aware of this. My post was my own personal anecdotal experience in response to the opening post that asked if E+ files are beneficial.

My own personal experience on this date at this time is that my first 100 files sorted by best match contain almost 75 E+ files, as opposed to a couple months ago when there were only about 10 E+ files on the first page, IIRC. I highly suspect that this is due to the fact that I just added about 200 files to E+. I also highly suspect that this is why I am getting more E+ downloads. So yes, for me, at this time, E+ files appear to be beneficial. Hopefully, when and if these files are mirrored on Getty, they will prove even more beneficial.

Admittedly, my surmise that E+ files are getting a best match boost, was unfounded, as applied to all contributors, since I am only aware of my own circumstances.

I am also aware that my own personal best match sort on this day will have almost no correlation with any best match search on any given keyword to any one else's best match search results.

Quote from: ShadySue on July 15, 2012, 15:55

Quote from: whimsikewl on July 15, 2012, 15:08
I've noticed that the E+ files have been given a definite best match boost. The first two pages of my portfolio best match sort is now loaded with E+ files.

The best match in your own portfolio doesn't necessarily correspond with a sitewide best match.
Also your best match isn't necessarily the same as anyone else's. Within my own port, I'd say recent uploads are weighted high, and the rest is a sprinkling of E+ and files with more than 'my' average of recent sales.
Remember that sitewide best match isn't the same for everybody. There's a debatably-useful geographic bias, and according to KelvinJay, a bias according to your 'previous sales'. There must be other factors as well.

Yes, very strange. I doubt though that they are singling out individual contribs to give or not give best match boosts. Possibly because many of my E+ images have just recently been designated as E+, they get an initial boost. Who knows. BTW, my July sales overall are pretty lousy also.

Quote from: Freedom on July 15, 2012, 15:27
It's interesting you said that. I just looked at my port best match, hardly any E+ in the first page although there seems to be a boost for Vetta. Perhaps it explains why my July is so terrible. If IS is boosting E+ in best match but excluding mine, it only makes sense that my sales are down.

Quote from: whimsikewl on July 15, 2012, 15:08
I am exclusive and probably like many others, I have been moving more and more images to E+ in hopes to profit when these are moved to Getty's Stockbye collection. My E+ downloads have increased quite a bit, although hard to tell if that makes up for potential losses from less sales overall. It is nice to make $15 for a medium download, so that is a definite plus.

I've noticed that the E+ files have been given a definite best match boost. The first two pages of my portfolio best match sort is now loaded with E+ files. This worries me that with so many exclusives having huge portfolios - many with 6 to 20 thousand files - there are going to be tons of E+ files rising in the searches. When one file moves up another one has to move down. This could kill off a lot of my non E+ files that are borderline successful.

Quote from: ShadySue on July 14, 2012, 20:56

Quote from: whimsikewl on July 14, 2012, 20:29
BTW, both Iwo Jima Memorial and MLK memorial are available as editorial on the main Getty site. Alamy must be making out like a bandit as well, since they have hundreds and hundreds of images of both memorials.

There are loads of images on Getty which are not allowable on iStock. Some of them may even have releases. 

Thank you, that's exactly what I said. Although its extremely unlikely that even a tiny percentage of those shots have releases.

My point was that if it is OK for Getty or Alamy to sell these images as editorial, apparently without any legal risk, why is Istock making out like it is a crime? Its like the IStock IPR lawyers are feeding out of a completely different thinktank.

Quote from: ShadySue on July 15, 2012, 14:09

Quote from: Zerkalo on July 15, 2012, 14:06
I am also interested in this topic, however only E+ since I am exclusive. Maybe exclusives can give their opinion.

Like anything else, someone else's experience won't necessarily be yours, as it depends on portfolio, popularity and opposition on the site and strange, unfathomable factors.

I am exclusive and probably like many others, I have been moving more and more images to E+ in hopes to profit when these are moved to Getty's Stockbye collection. My E+ downloads have increased quite a bit, although hard to tell if that makes up for potential losses from less sales overall. It is nice to make $15 for a medium download, so that is a definite plus.

I've noticed that the E+ files have been given a definite best match boost. The first two pages of my portfolio best match sort is now loaded with E+ files. This worries me that with so many exclusives having huge portfolios - many with 6 to 20 thousand files - there are going to be tons of E+ files rising in the searches. When one file moves up another one has to move down. This could kill off a lot of my non E+ files that are borderline successful.

Quote from: WarrenPrice on July 13, 2012, 19:54
Not submitting editorial to iS but just noticed that my uploads at iS are getting faster reviews than at SS. 
It's all just a big puzzle -- no rhyme nor reason; just a frustrating guessing game.   

Regular exclusive files are being approved between 4 and 24 hours for the past couple months at least. There are no complaints there.

Today's newly approved editorial files were less than a 100 before I saw files from yesterday. Seems the editorial team is already on vacation. Or perhaps they are using them for deactivations. Someone said the Iwo Jima memorial is now banned in addition to the MLK memorial. I searched for it and, sure enough, there are about 40 images that now say - "Image not available for download, please contact CR for info." So they are culling the collection almost as fast as they are adding to it.

BTW, both Iwo Jima Memorial and MLK memorial are available as editorial on the main Getty site. Alamy must be making out like a bandit as well, since they have hundreds and hundreds of images of both memorials.

Quote from: fotoVoyager on July 14, 2012, 14:23
Seems to sell on Alamy judging by some of the diabolically bad photography they accept on there.

Alamy has no QC process to speak of. They just do random spot checks. Also, IIRC, it wasn't too many years ago that they only accepted tiff files that were at least 48 mb files or larger. Back then many people were shooting digital with 4, 6, or 8 megapixel cameras, so they had to upsize just to pass the size requirement. (Alamy is one of few agencies that allows upsizing). So there are millions of files on there that have been upsized, which only accentuates any flaws.

The ironic thing is that many of the old time "pro" shooters on that site look down their noses at microstockers, when in fact some of them couldn't even get accepted at Istock or SS.

Of course there are also a lot of excellent photogs at Alamy who can provide stunning travel, landscape and nature images for the big magazines and art books.

Quote from: ShadySue on July 12, 2012, 14:21

Quote from: whimsikewl on July 12, 2012, 03:47
What is the deal with the Editorial queue at Istock? It is so slow. They said they hired two new full time inspectors but nothing has improved. t

The new guys are still being trained, according to Subman in the editorial forum.

That hiring was announced at the end of May. It can't take more than a few days to train people in the rules and guidelines and another week or so to get up to speed. (I mean there is no lack of material to practice on). Plus, with the old inspectors already trained over the past year, is the best they can do only 100-300 approvals per day? I realize there are an additional x number of rejections, but still it doesn't seem like a good effort.

Quote from: heywoody on July 12, 2012, 21:41

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on July 12, 2012, 07:51
IS has now moved into third position, behind DT, for me. That's a first.

Completely different order of magnitude from you but DT with 420 images is in 5th place so far this month, IS with 28 images is 2nd behind SS

Sorry, I'm not trying to be offensive, but if you only have 28 images on Istock, your stats are pretty much meaningless in any discussion of sales trends on that site. However, they do say a lot about your portfolio on DT, if DT is your 5th place earner with 420 images and IStock still comes in second with only 28.
Like I said, not trying to be offensive, when I had only 28 images on Istock, I don't think I even had any monthly earnings. Of course, I was way past 28 by my second month there. You really can't see any trends until you have at least 300-500 images, IMO. 

What is the deal with the Editorial queue at Istock? It is so slow. They said they hired two new full time inspectors but nothing has improved. My files are almost two weeks in the queue, while the commercial stuff is being inspected in 8 to 48 hours. Even more annoying for me as an exclusive is that the non exclusive stuff appears to be inspected almost as fast as mine. I saw new non exclusive stuff today uploaded on 6-25, while exclusive stuff was coming in uploaded on 6-25 to 6-28.

I normally check the newest editorial uploads everyday just to see what is coming through and how old it is. Usually there are only 100 to 300 new files before I see the stuff from the previous day. Today I think there were about 180 new files. What's the deal? A good inspector should be able to do about that many on their lunch hour and still have the rest of the day to work on their own portfolio. There are two new full time inspectors plus how many of the old ones and they can only do 200 - 300 files a day. That is pitiful.

Also, whenever anyone complains about the slow queue time, they come up with the totally bogus response that they are being overwhelmed by the heavy uploads quantities. There are not that many people uploading editorial because the returns are low, the queue time is slow, the policies are inconsistent and confusing, the captioning process is time consuming, and there are no options for extra income from the partner program or the new Getty E+ sales.  They are just not putting any resources into this program. Like I said before I think they are just happy to have their 120,000 + Edstock files getting new sales and all the rest is window dressing.

Quote from: fotoVoyager on July 11, 2012, 22:09
My iStock sales have crashed catastrophically in the last few days, down to a third of usual levels.

Yes, same for me only its been since the last week of June. Now I am routinely getting single digit download days on most weekdays, and that takes me back to 2008 since it was that bad, even though I have 2000 more files now.

Also, this may sound like paranoia, but I think Getty has found a way to turn off or completely depress the portfolios of segments of the contributor base in order to promote their chosen elite. For example, yesterday my last sale was around 2 in the afternoon and I didnt get another one till about noon today. Then I had about 8 in a three hour period. I am experiencing this type of activity quite often where its like my portfolio is turned off for big chunks of time and then the flood gate will open for a few hours and then get turned off again. I used to get downloads spread over the weekdays from about 10 in the morning till 10 at night. No more. I will get most of my downloads over a two or three hour chunk of time with big gaps in between.

Another thing, ever since they started experimenting with the so called "regional searches" about a year ago, I used to get a nice percentage of my sales overnight. Now those are almost non existent.

Quote from: cmannphoto on February 24, 2012, 22:59
Well it seems as if the Wizards of the best match listen to everyone.
Lobo posted this about an hour ago.
The current sort wasn't exactly what we had in mind this time around so we can expect things to be dialed back over the weekend.

Actually this is even more worrisome. It is an admission that they don't have a clue what they are doing. The whole site seems to be experiencing some major disfunctionality right now. The stats haven't been updated since the 19th. Indexing of files is taking at least three days. The editorial queue is barely crawling while the creative queue is popping them out in three to six hours. (not much good since they won't appear in search till three days later and then be buried deep in best match). No one knows what is going on with the PP program or when we will get January's payout.

Not being a contributor and having no empathy for them, Lobo is very unconcerned that our newest work is DOA. His advice: the best match will change, get used to it. Don't talk about it. We're just fiddling with the dials back here and we couldn't care less if somebody loses a few days sales. If we screwed up, we will fix it in time. Be patient blah blah. 

Another massive dump by Edstock over the Christmas holidays - almost 10,000 additional files and possibly still coming. They are now up to 87,000 plus files. They are also now over 4000 downloads - not much you might say for 87 thousand files, but remember they only came onto the site in April, 2011. And all downloads are E+ premium prices.

Also interesting: CSA_Images now has 5677 Vetta cartoon raster illustrations cluttering up the photograph database. Three hundred plus downloads and they just started in mid September 2011.

Quote from: RapidEye on November 18, 2011, 12:28

Quote from: ShadySue on November 18, 2011, 11:46
That in itself says more than just the words. A couple of years back, when most people were regularly reporting improving sales, people who weren't dointg so well felt inhibited about posting their less than stellar stats.
How things change.

Yup, Sue, you certainly have a point there. But there may be yet another confounding factor, and that is the shabby treatment of contributors starting last year. I might have mentioned that I also feel inhibited under the circumstances about posting anything that might be mistaken for a woo-yay. In fact, I don't post there any more at all.

I think this may account for a big chunk of the lost traffic. Between the LoboNatrix and the Kelvinator, the forums are pretty much a wasteland. There are so many taboo subjects and so many ways to incur the wrath of the moderators that only a few people bother to post at all. The result is a few very bland boring posts and often long intervals where nothing is even posted in many of the forums. Most questions are ignored in forums like Editorial and Partnership and there's always some junior honorary moderator willing to blast anyone who asks a question that has come up before.

Imagine tens of thousands of contributors who used to sign in multiple times a day or stay on continuously that now pretty much completely ignore the site. Istock would do themselves a favor by promoting Lobo to night janitor IMO.

As for Istock however, they are probably pretty happy with their site. Like Kelly said, it is a well oiled machine. With the extra revenue form Agency and Edstock files, the Vetta collection and plus pricing, they are probably doing quite well. For example: the Agency collection has only been online for just over a year. One contributor, Rubberball has over 8400 dl's at prices from 50 to 250 dollars a crack. Considering EL's as well that is probably close to a million in gross revenue from a single Getty contributor in one year, with Getty collecting 80% of the take. I imagine what's her name in charge of Istock is probably looking for a nice Christmas bonus for her stellar performance.

Quote from: Karen on November 20, 2011, 14:08
This one passed throw the inspection directly into Vetta Collection   
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-18319139-business-meeting.php

Yes. Just like the previous 993 images from that contributor. Obviously another Getty dump of outside agency files. How else can you be exclusive with only 8 downloads and have almost 1000 Vetta files in only two months as a contributor.

It is this kind of blatant breaking of the rules, bias and favoritism that sours so many contributors on Istock.

That company says they have 100's of designers working for them, so I am sure they have a huge library of content they can dump into the Vetta collection to further clog and dilute the content there.

Quote from: KB on October 20, 2011, 16:14

Quote from: whimsikewl on October 20, 2011, 15:26
Not likely anyone at Istock has anything to do with the submission process for Edstock. Edstock has pretty much killed any incentive to do any type of travel or big city editorial in the USA. Look at best match for cities like Washington, Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Edstock owns all but a few of the top slots. Its not just celebrity and politician headshots anymore. There are tons of cityscapes, gas station signs, street scenes etc.

Its pretty obvious now that the only reason IStock was allowed to start an editorial collection was so that Getty could dump their old editorial junk on the site and take advantage of Istock's traffic.

I am still not sure if the omission of the year from the Edstock captions is intentional to deceive customers and make them think the content is current. It forces buyers to click on the image if they want to dig out the actual full date of the image. I just can't imagine why any agency would show only the month and day of an image and hide the year in the description which is not even visible. Woe to any regular Istock contributor who tries a trick like that.

I was with you until your last paragraph.

The Edstock caption format happens to be exactly the same format as that used at SS. So perhaps it's an industry wide standard, or perhaps Edstock is filled with photos that were originally submitted on SS (now that would be funny!).

Sorry, I wasn't aware of SS's policy of only month, date. I guess that blows my conspiracy theory. Although some of the SS's editorial that I just randomly checked seems to follow the Alamy standard where you can put as much or as little as you want.

On Istock the caption requirements are so rigid and restrictive that they cause contributors endless hardship. The first line of the caption is also visible when you hover over the thumbnail and get the preview. So on the edstock images you only see the month, date while on the Istock images you see the entire date and immediately know how old the picture is. Probably not a big thing in retrospect. Just annoying that the istock amateurs are held to higher standards than the Getty pros.

Quote from: ShadySue on October 20, 2011, 12:54

Quote from: Michael Lancaster on October 20, 2011, 12:39
Already 75624 files. Keeping the inspectors busy and customers away from our files.

I'm pretty certain they're not keeping the inspectors busy. Many of them would/should have been rejected for poor lighting.
The captions are not as required, and the keywording is often wrong or inadequate.
They are, however, enjoying a boost in the best match. The queleas are still 23 and 24 on a best match search for 'African Elephant' (with no AE in either of them).

Not likely anyone at Istock has anything to do with the submission process for Edstock. Edstock has pretty much killed any incentive to do any type of travel or big city editorial in the USA. Look at best match for cities like Washington, Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Edstock owns all but a few of the top slots. Its not just celebrity and politician headshots anymore. There are tons of cityscapes, gas station signs, street scenes etc.

Its pretty obvious now that the only reason IStock was allowed to start an editorial collection was so that Getty could dump their old editorial junk on the site and take advantage of Istock's traffic.

I am still not sure if the omission of the year from the Edstock captions is intentional to deceive customers and make them think the content is current. It forces buyers to click on the image if they want to dig out the actual full date of the image. I just can't imagine why any agency would show only the month and day of an image and hide the year in the description which is not even visible. Woe to any regular Istock contributor who tries a trick like that.

Edstock now up to 72,000 files. Seems they are now uploading lots more general news shots and less celebrity headshots. with many generic outdoors type shots that compete with istock contributors.

Meanwhile it appears the regular editorial inspection system may have been shut down to retrain inspectors over new policies. Appears nothing approved since about 10/5/2011. Also appears admins now have privilege of uploading same day self inspected editorial. Edstock and a few admin shots seem to be the only images coming thru.