Shutterstock reports images "added daily" and "added weekly" and those numbers have been dropping. They didn't start dropping when the pandemic started. They started dropping after their May 26 announcement of royalty cuts....

as always, correlation is not causation - the pandemic has been a rolling disaster (eg unemployment stats also exploded in May)

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on June 13, 2020, 18:14

Shutterstock reports images "added daily" and "added weekly" and those numbers have been dropping. They didn't start dropping when the pandemic started. They started dropping after their May 26 announcement of royalty cuts....

as always, correlation is not causation - the pandemic has been a rolling disaster (eg unemployment stats also exploded in May)

There's an odd correlation that over 3.3 million fewer images are in Shutterstock's collection now (versus June 1). No clue how that could have happened.

It takes a few days for the images to disappear.

Shutterstock used to win around $5000 monthly thanks to my work as I only get between $1500 and $2000 for myself.
I'm just a small (yet happy until today) fish in that game but think about it one second, if you multiply such amounts by hundred, even dozen, that makes some Big Big sense.
And now think about the numbers if some way bigger fishes are also deactivating...

Would be a good time to start RussianStock. With rents and salaries below the NY rates, the new Russia-based stock company could afford to raise artist commissions and be still quite profitable.

Another brash Russian-government-run agency like RT and Sputnik? Thanks, but no thanks.

My images are diabled too now.

Footage was diabled about a week ago.

I hope it helps.

Someone has highlighted an interesting aspect of slow fading of disabled images :
" I can't buy your image although I can see it. Screenshot attached - an error above of the image is shown...

But this means that the amount of images displayed in the database is far from correct.

It also means that there will be more frustrated buyers who want to buy an image but can't, which is certainly annoying.
Additional to that it means that the communication effort for the staff at the moment could be gigantic if more and more buyers have to contact support because they want to have exactly this image. Or the buyers are fed up at some point and buy somewhere else..."

I guess we could open buyer accounts and keep asking why an image isn't available?

Steve

Seems possible that Shutterstock could re-suck material in from their Big Stock subsidiary.  Unchecking the Big Stock "partner program" box should be considered due diligence. 

Shutterstock has stopped updating the number at the bottom of every page, but based on search-for-nothing numbers, the collection is down over 4.5 million since June 1!

Another odd correlation...

https://twitter.com/joannsnover/status/1272547038190682114

You don't have to read the number at the bottom of the page, which was suspect in the past, sometimes updated, sometimes not.

https://www.shutterstock.com/search  and enter nothing. Search:  321,985,595 stock photos, vectors, and illustrations are available royalty-free.

While bottom of the page says:  Over 324,009,728 royalty-free images with 993,927 new stock images added weekly.

Sorry to add something that doesn't agree with the dropping numbers, assumed that all are caused by people leaving. Phil and I both noticed drops of millions of images, earlier this year. Before the commission change.

Just because no one else was watching or tracking back then, doesn't mean nothing happened. There were big drops.

Quote from: marthamarks on June 15, 2020, 11:58

Quote from: steheap on June 15, 2020, 11:33

I guess we could open buyer accounts and keep asking why an image isn't available?

Steve

Brilliant idea!

And actually, I already have a buyer's account from a decade or so ago. Maybe it's time to go shopping for **exactly the image I planned to download but now can't find!!!** 

So� I just went into my SS Buyer's account and found it entirely in German, which I don't read.

Hmmm. More hanky-panky from SS? Messing with my mind, or something??

I'm sure there's a way to change that, but I have no idea.

Can somebody here tell me how to switch the language I'm seeing there from German to English?

The same thing has been happening to me...first in Russian, then German. Scroll down to the very bottom of their home page and on the right you�ll see �Deutsch.� Click that and it will give you the list of languages to choose from.

Quote from: marthamarks on June 15, 2020, 12:35

Quote from: marthamarks on June 15, 2020, 11:58

Quote from: steheap on June 15, 2020, 11:33

I guess we could open buyer accounts and keep asking why an image isn't available?

Steve

Brilliant idea!

And actually, I already have a buyer's account from a decade or so ago. Maybe it's time to go shopping for **exactly the image I planned to download but now can't find!!!** 

So� I just went into my SS Buyer's account and found it entirely in German, which I don't read.

Hmmm. More hanky-panky from SS? Messing with my mind, or something??

I'm sure there's a way to change that, but I have no idea.

Can somebody here tell me how to switch the language I'm seeing there from German to English?

The same thing has been happening to me...first in Russian, then German. Scroll down to the very bottom of their home page and on the right you�ll see �Deutsch.� Click that and it will give you the list of languages to choose from.

Yep! That worked. And so easy too. Who knew??? 

Thank you, Shelma!