I don't understand the map thing. What do I care in which country my stuff gets sold? It's ever changing so it doesn't do anything statistically, it's not useful for any market research...at best it's just a visual gimmick used as dashboard filler.

For those of us who live in countries which don't have an income tax treaty with the USA, having the map AND the last 20 sales listed showing where they were sold around the world is very useful.

For every image/clip sold outside the USA I don't have to pay 30% withholdings to the IRS, so it's a great resource to know how much I will likely receive at the end of the month as SS doesn't keep any info regarding sales in/out of USA in the earnings tabs.

Yes, Baldricks Trousers  - exactly that.

I have contacted VB/SB about this issue as I live in a non treaty country and SB charges me 30% witholdings on ALL sales.

I have advised  them the following (initially 2 years ago and again last week):-

1) The IRS guidelines state that royalty payments are subject to 30% withholding if they originate from a US source (and no tax treaty exists).  All sales from entities outside the USA should be treated as foreign source and NOT subject to witholdings.
2) I also advised them that Shutterstock/Adobe/Deposit Photos adhere to this way of processing withholdings.

I was told on both occasions that their Tax Team would be informed, and "the team is audited by a top firm to make sure we are following within guidelines. We want to operate being as helpful as we can to contributors and will do everything we can to improve every area of the experience. However, financial and tax operations are more defined, despite how other companies may approach them, so this is an area which may not be as flexible."

The open ticket was then closed and nothing more was done.

As we do not receive any details on the sales, we have no idea how much witholding is valid and how much could be potentially challenged (sales outside US), so I don't if this would be worth doing.

I've had the same problem as the OP.
I live in a non treaty country and VB/SB tax EVERY sale at 30% EVEN though it is ONLY US based client sales that should be taxed (I checked this on the IRS website).

I had an email conversation with Mike from VB a couple of years ago and explained that Shutterstock/Adobe/Depositphotos etc all charge only on US based clients, but he said there was nothing they could do! I imagine doing nothing now is all they can do or someone would be liable for a large refund to all the non treaty contributors who are being charged (and have been charged for years) this 30% in error.

So, no, it's not only you!

Pablito - I was wondering the exact same thing recently.

I have sold 224 footage clips on Fotolia and still have to sell another 776 to move to silver rank !
I cannot believe that a Full HD or 4k footage clip download is the same as a photo download! (In the ranking terms)

It is absurdly unfair to footage contributors.

It is similar on Shutterstock - 30% flat fee for clips and NO increase in royalties no matter how many you sell.

$108 for me....