Ours is not to reason why....

Quote from: patrick1958 on April 02, 2011, 12:41

I'm with them from the beginning....

Patrick H.

I thought your complaint was about your overall decline in earnings there.  My comment was only referring to the people complaining about this set of price increases. 

Are you also upset with the new price changes?  If so, can you tell me what the down side is, because it looks good from my perspective. 

Interesting to me that, as far as I can tell from reading this thread, the only people NOT happy about the changes at Dreamstime are the ones that don't contribute there. 

Hi folks,

Responses to your most recent questions below. I think I've addressed everything, but please let me know if I missed something.

Why isn�t my name showing up under my images on Snapfish? Why aren�t all of my images on Veer showing up on Snapfish? Why are some images missing watermarks?

I�ve bundled these questions together because the quick answer to all of them is, �We�re looking into it.� I wish I could give you a more specific answer than that, but since I�m not the person who�s in direct contact with Snapfish (or any of our partners) regarding the API, I�ve passed these questions on to the Veer team that handles the partner program, and am waiting for further information. I�ll post an update here as soon as I have some more details for you. With respect to the watermarks�we know how important it is that your images are protected, and agree that it�s unacceptable that some are missing. We�re working particularly hard to get that issue addressed immediately.


(luissantos94--Please send an email to [email protected] and we can check into your account specifically regarding the discrepancy with the Photogenica numbers.)

Is the opt-out still being considered?

Yes. We hope you�ll see the program as a positive opportunity to increase your revenue, but also understand there are reasons you may not want to participate. The partner program is still very new, so we�re continuing to monitor feedback from contributors, and haven�t ruled out offering an opt-out option.  

What�s being done about the incorrect SnapVillage descriptions and keywords? And, are we going to be able to edit our own images post-publish?

Nothing�s changed here since my responses to these questions on the previous page�we still consider fixing the SnapVillage errors a high priority, and are still listening to your feedback about the desire to be able to edit your own content. As we fix the SnapVillage keywords (and this is on our agenda for the immediate future), we will ensure the changes are pushed over to the partner sites as well.      

What�s being done about lengthy review times?

Pixart�no intentional dodging going on here; that�s not our style. My first priority in this thread has been to respond to the questions specific to the API. Review times are obviously higher than both you and I would like to see right now, and we are working hard to reduce them. These past few months, we�ve been trying out a few different kinds of workflows to see which method will allow us to get your images live fastest and most efficiently. As a result of that, some of you may have been seeing faster than normal review times, and some slower�or somewhat of a combination, as MikLav experienced when a large batch of his images that had been waiting went through all at once. The workflow tweaks we�ve made have increased production levels significantly, but we�ve also seen a large upswing in submissions in general as more and more contributors hear about Veer and hop on board. Increases in submission levels is always something we plan for, but as the interest in Veer has continued to exceed our expectations, we�re continuing to work on strategies to get your content live as fast as we can�to do so benefits everyone.

Thanks again for your feedback about the API, and your general comments. We do genuinely appreciate your engagement (even when it comes to the tough questions) so that we can keep working to improve your experience with Veer.

Further questions and comments welcome here or via [email protected].

Cheers,

Chelsey  

Quote from: traveler1116 on March 15, 2011, 08:52

Quote from: digitalexpressionimages on March 15, 2011, 08:43

While it is very true that the editors should monitor relevant keywords considering their cut of the money but does it make sense just to say "it's not my problem so don't worry about it" if the result is fewer users because of frustration over bad search results mostly due to crappy keywords?

I have flagged keywords before because I have spent hours looking for relevant images and I have to wade through BS page after page. I routinely see images tagged with upwards of 40 keywords consisting of things clearly designed to get into as many search results as possible. Some people think that will actually help them make sales. It won't. I damages Dreamstime as frustrated buyers will go elsewhere for stock, as I have on many occasions.

I agree but Dreamstime's policy of showing who flagged your keywords so they can write you a nasty sitemail does make it less likely I will report anyone.  

If that's happened to you then I sympathize. Those of us that flag keywords do so to improve the overall search efficiency to make it more productive for users. That in turn results in more users, more sales and greater success for all contributors.

I'm both a buyer and a contributor and as an exclusive contributor nothing would make me happier than to have dreamstime be the #1 microstock agency on the web and the way to do that is with quality images and especially a very efficient search engine. Buyers are different than photographers. Buyers don't care who took a photo, what their story is, what their portfolio looks like or contacting them to let them know where the photo is being used. As a buyer, a graphic designer for going on 2 decades I am always under deadlines. For that reason, I go to stock agencies to get images and I do not want to spend a lot of time finding one. Seeing so many images that have nothing to do literally, figuratively or conceptually with my search terms really gets me pissed because I am under a deadline all....the....time.

if I got a nasty message from a member because I flagged his spam (that's never happened to me) I would let him have it with both barrels.

I just received this email:

Quote

Recently you asked us why you have your images with Pixmac.com. We had contracts with Dreamstime and Fotolia, but those contracts are no longer in operation. However, if you would like to to profit from Pixmac sales anyway, then now is the best time to upload your portfolio to Pixmac!

We guarantee a fast review of your images and if you are uploading the same portfolio as you have at Fotolia or Dreamstime (and let us know), this will make the approval process even faster. Premium support will be included we promise.

Good luck with your images!