Approved images do not show up for me

Only seven of 30 submitted and approved of mine are visible.

Per the "Shutterstock Expert"

If your content still has not appeared, it can be for one of the following reasons:

1. There has been a database error in the system which will be resolved with the next update. Please wait 72 hours.

Just had my video count drop by two suggesting two videos were removed from my port.

ETA: One of the counts has returned.

I have the same problems, a large part of the approved images has disappeared. I will then contact the support.

Did you get any reply?

Quote from: RalfLiebhold on March 14, 2022, 03:35

I have the same problems, a large part of the approved images has disappeared. I will then contact the support.

Did you get any reply?

Yes, within a few hours.
However, I should still send a few picture IDs for processing and am now waiting for the next response.
By the way Diana, I never had any problems with the support lately. It was always very fast.

Quote from: Uncle Pete on March 14, 2022, 11:25

Date approved: 03/12/2022

It may take up to 3 days for your approved content to be viewable elsewhere on the site.

Pete, thanks for pointing that out. But 7 days is clearly more than 3 days according to my calculation.

I was looking at the OP and mine, I didn't see a 7 days. My mistake.

Hey this has never happened before at SSTK has it?

Quote from: SariMe on March 15, 2022, 05:39

Quote from: RalfLiebhold on March 14, 2022, 03:35

I have the same problems, a large part of the approved images has disappeared. I will then contact the support.

Did you get any reply?

Yes, within a few hours.
However, I should still send a few picture IDs for processing and am now waiting for the next response.
By the way Diana, I never had any problems with the support lately. It was always very fast.

Well you  must be special because personally, I have had no reply for many questions, then "experts" who are not SSTK send me some boilerplate answer, which could have come from here as most people on this forum are just as smart or  smarter. But getting a reply from SSTK is slow and often non-existent.

Tell me how you do it Ralf I have a question that gets no answer or nonsense answers. "Always very fast answers" really? Maybe I should ask, do you get good answers or just fast answers?

Pete, I don't think I'm special. 

The last time I contacted support was in January. I had complained that recently batches with 40-50 pictures (different cameras, subjects) were rejected several times completely with the same reason. They agreed with me that there was something wrong and that they would take care of it. Since then, the problem has no longer occurred.

Interestingly, I was also told that the review is done by real people who may have different views on the quality and that there is some leeway in the assessment.
 
So I found this contact helpful.

Regarding the disappeared images, I am still waiting for the final answer and will report then. For me, the images actually always appeared after approval within a few hours, 3 days I never had to wait.

This is the message I got today from a SS expert:

"Numerous contributors are reporting the same problem.  A system fault is causing the publishing delay and Shutterstock technical team have been notified.  This will be fixed as soon as possible and, hopefully, your content will be published within the next couple of days.

It's mostly images from the 10-11th March, but I have several missing that were approved yesterday. It's a pretty widespread issue, which is why it might take a couple of days for all the missing images to populate throughout the database. 

Again, apologies for the inconvenience."

Of course this missing photos thing has happened in the past, but interestingly, this time my only missing photos are the model released ones. One of mine is missing from the 11th of March, the other missing photo is from March 14, both released.

Thanks for the info.
But that probably has nothing to do with MR. I have had about 40 images disappear since March 10, all without model release. This annoys me because there was a lot on current topics here.

Quote from: beanstock on March 15, 2022, 11:33

This is the message I got today from a SS expert:

"Numerous contributors are reporting the same problem.  A system fault is causing the publishing delay and Shutterstock technical team have been notified.  This will be fixed as soon as possible and, hopefully, your content will be published within the next couple of days.

It's mostly images from the 10-11th March, but I have several missing that were approved yesterday. It's a pretty widespread issue, which is why it might take a couple of days for all the missing images to populate throughout the database. 

Again, apologies for the inconvenience."

Of course this missing photos thing has happened in the past, but interestingly, this time my only missing photos are the model released ones. One of mine is missing from the 11th of March, the other missing photo is from March 14, both released.

Thanks for the info.
But that probably has nothing to do with MR. I have had about 40 images disappear since March 10, all without model release. This annoys me because there was a lot on current topics here.

Yup!

Approved
Date approved: 03/12/2022
It may take up to 3 days for your approved content to be viewable elsewhere on the site.

Did you get an answer from SSTK support yet?

The fact that they actually answered a review question, is pretty surprising. Yes there are humans involved. While we don't know who ro to what extent, my suspicion is, the Bots do the intake and computers check for standards, contrast, focus, size, whatever else, oh yeah, similar based on Machine Learning and looking at our own images. Then depending on the type of content it gets sent down a track to different specialists for review. (If it passed)

With that video might take longer than images, that kind of thing.

Also there's apparently something that allows nice easy generic images to fly ahead, without human review. We've all seen the 17 second approvals. 

I don't think there's one easy answer that fits how SSTK does the reviews, but more likely various methods and systems integrated to do the intake. Some computers and some humans.

My latest upload is a macro of a Brachiopod and I don't think it's going to be an overnight sensation or big seller, and I don't really get worried if it takes a week or if it's approved the same day. Realistically for a dime, I'm not going to get very concerned.

693 Brachiopod fossil - slightly better chance than sliced vegetables, but not too special. Good news, over half of those images aren't Braciopods but who cares, this is stock photos where any keyword that comes up, gets added?    Lets hope that some day, a buyer who knows what a fossil and a Brachiopod really is, will stumble upon mine?

Well wish they would fix something. Since I noticed this problem start on Tuesday (Thursday now in my part of the world), I've had six videos accepted, three of them appear on the port, yet the video count is still down by one before I even had any of these videos pass. This translates to a count of four videos missing, so far.

Yes Pete, I received the same answer today in terms of content as beanstock. They do indeed have a problem and are trying to solve it.

How the review works, I do not know of course. About 2 years ago, it has actually partly only seconds or minutes until the images were sighted. That has now changed with a significant delay at the weekend. In this respect, I think that people again play a greater role in the review than artificial intelligence. But that's just speculation, of course.

I wish you good luck for your brachipods. I recently sold this image in the three-digit range at Alamy, which has been lying around unused at the agencies for years.

Don't you love that? Here's an image that could be found all that time and someone did when it's at the right agency at the right time.

I hate to say this but one of the best (highest price license) licensed images at Alamy, was just rejected by Adobe for "exposure". I know that Adobe has people who look and I think they do a great job of doing more than just passing things. I mean seriously, careful evaluation.

While SS is just pretending much of the time, whether it's absurd rejections or sometimes passing things that others will reject.

Latest approved at SSTK have not appeared in my collection or the search, yet.

If it's nice and I'm in the right area, I might go hunt some more fossils. Not because they sell so much, hardly one download that I see, but because I'm working on macro images and using focus stacking. That gives me a good subject to learn more and get the process right.

Don't you love that? Here's an image that could be found all that time and someone did when it's at the right agency at the right time.

I hate to say this but one of the best (highest price license) licensed images at Alamy, was just rejected by Adobe for "exposure". I know that Adobe has people who look and I think they do a great job of doing more than just passing things. I mean seriously, careful evaluation.

While SS is just pretending much of the time, whether it's absurd rejections or sometimes passing things that others will reject.

Latest approved at SSTK have not appeared in my collection or the search, yet.

If it's nice and I'm in the right area, I might go hunt some more fossils. Not because they sell so much, hardly one download that I see, but because I'm working on macro images and using focus stacking. That gives me a good subject to learn more and get the process right.

Pete, I am always very careful with the term love.
But I agree with you. Such surprise sales are for someone like me, who does not have to live from it, the kick to continue with stock photography - despite the adverse conditions.

Macro and focus stacking is also still on my to do list.

I sent another note today because I have more to upload, and here is the response:

"We currently don't have a timescale for how long this will take to fix, but your content will be published as soon as possible.

However, this appears to be affecting images approved between 10-40th, so there is no reason to stop uploading. However, as with any fault, I can't guarantee that it won't affect later submissions, but most people are suggesting that these are displaying OK."

I did not understand what "images approved between 10-40th" meant, so I asked for clarification and am still waiting.

Quote from: Schadenfreude on March 18, 2022, 10:08

I sent another note today because I have more to upload, and here is the response:

"We currently don't have a timescale for how long this will take to fix, but your content will be published as soon as possible.

However, this appears to be affecting images approved between 10-40th, so there is no reason to stop uploading. However, as with any fault, I can't guarantee that it won't affect later submissions, but most people are suggesting that these are displaying OK."

I did not understand what "images approved between 10-40th" meant, so I asked for clarification and am still waiting.

I suppose it was meant to be "10-14th", but I can tell you that it is still affecting images apporved as of today. Nothing showes up. Single images approve during the past week will randomly start showing up, but not in order they were approved. Even within the same batch approved at the same time one image can show up, but not the others. Images approved yesterday or today still don't show up.

Same experience here, Firn. The images trickle in one at a time completely irregularly regardless of the upload date.

Day number six, nothing going live.

Dear Ralf,

I sincerely apologize for the delay in the investigation results. At the moment, our dedicated IT experts are still working closely on this specific case. Shutterstock realizes this situation has impacted you and your wonderful work. [/1]

See I was right, you are a favorite who gets special treatment.   

There's a whole world out there just waiting for my Brachiopod macro to be published. At their peak in the Paleozoic Era, the brachiopods were among the most abundant filter-feeders and reef-builders. So this little "it" has been waiting over 250 Million Years to make it's Red Carpet appearance on SSTK. What's a few more days?

I can feel the tension in the air and the excitement building as buyers line up to see a 2mm impression left in a sedimentary rock possibly 300 Million years ago, photographed full frame, digitally.

Then I'll have to find another or do a better focus stack, more images, because this one is nice but not as perfect as I'd like it to be. I'd also like to find a better subject that's more attractive and photogenic. 

Yeah, OK back on topic. Six days and still waiting.

Quote from: RalfLiebhold on March 18, 2022, 10:32

Quote from: Firn on March 18, 2022, 10:20

Quote from: Schadenfreude on March 18, 2022, 10:08

I sent another note today because I have more to upload, and here is the response:

"We currently don't have a timescale for how long this will take to fix, but your content will be published as soon as possible.

However, this appears to be affecting images approved between 10-40th, so there is no reason to stop uploading. However, as with any fault, I can't guarantee that it won't affect later submissions, but most people are suggesting that these are displaying OK."

I did not understand what "images approved between 10-40th" meant, so I asked for clarification and am still waiting.

I suppose it was meant to be "10-14th", but I can tell you that it is still affecting images apporved as of today. Nothing showes up. Single images approve during the past week will randomly start showing up, but not in order they were approved. Even within the same batch approved at the same time one image can show up, but not the others. Images approved yesterday or today still don't show up.

Same experience here, Firn. The images trickle in one at a time completely irregularly regardless of the upload date.

Same with videos with random movements. The count went up by two and then dropped by one, with no new videos approved during this time. There remains at least five videos not accounted for. 

And now from downtown New York City, day seven of the mysterious missing images on Shutterstock. 

Approvals and rejections are working. Older approved images are still in limbo.

Same here,.. still missing images from the 11th.  Here is the response I got from another expert on the case:

 "It's a known problem and I'm really sorry about your frustration! Please rest assured that your contents are safe, but they just don't show online temporarily! Having the files deleted and reapproved, wont help with the bug and they may never get approved again. Please kindly wait till the issue is resolved. You can continue your work as usual. Thanks. Please do not delete them as it will not help. "

I responded "deleting them will help me, as long as I can get them accepted"

I'm so glad to know my missing images are "safe"

I'm still having issues too. Pics that were approved 4 days ago are still not showing in my Catalog Manager

A whopping six new approved images.

Just today realized that something's missing in my SS portfolio, started checking. Around 20 accepted video clips uploaded between 18th to 26th of February are missing. Could not find them by general keyword search or in My Catalog. Might be more, maybe older. Contacted Support and received this reply:

Sorry if this has affected you, many people have reported this problem to us.
Shutterstock are aware of this bug and are working very hard to find a fix for it, we have not been given a timeframe of when it can be expected to be working.
If you could wait a few days it is possible that the problem will have been resolved.
Shutterstock apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Clips uploaded during last week already went through Immigration Control and are available for public, no delays in review.

Three further video numbers / counts vanished today. Beginning to think if this is indeed a "technical bug' or some other database downsizing.

I have videos approved this year, with sales, that have vanished since last week. In the stats I see a "play" button icon instead of a thumbnail which leads to a 404 error page. Got a standard answer from support "...we're aware of the problem and working on it..." In the past I had several images with thousands of sales between them disappear from my portfolio and despite my very persistent demands for an explanation from support I never got one, nor was the case resolved. They only try to diffuse and are always very sorry but it usually leads to nowhere

I've still got pics missing after 8 days. I emailed them and they sent me this message. Clearly a templated respose and rather OTT on the apology front.

Thank you for writing to Shutterstock Contributor Care today! I hope you�re doing well. I really appreciate that you have brought this to our attention, I truly realize that artists like you work tirelessly, investing time, passion, and resources into producing high-quality content. After verifying your profile, I can confirm that the content mentioned is not visible on the Shutterstock site or your catalog manager. I really appreciate that you have brought this to our attention and I'm sorry about this. I absolutely understand how frustrating it is to face tech issues with our site. We are working daily to make sure our site is constantly improving and I have submitted your case to our higher-tech department for investigation.

Again, I�m deeply sorry this has happened to you. It�s not the experience we wish to create for any of our contributors. Thank you for bringing it to our attention and allowing us to address it.

Which email did you use to contact them?I tried the "Contact Us" at the bottom of the page and the chat always give me that same "copy and past" answer to this question.
 

Is this warning new?

No.

Shutterstock contributors can submit up to 500 images and up to 100 video clips during any 7 day period. The 7-day timeframe is a rolling window, so if you submit 100 images on a Monday, 200 on Wednesday, and another 200 on Friday of the same week, you will not be able to submit more content until the following Monday. If you exceed the submission limit, you will receive a pop-up message on the dashboard of your account page, that will remain until the limit window expires.

This limit is a clear suppression of all small contributors... meanwhile Blackbox can spam footage with no limit and get better exposure, higher level royalties and probably more sales.

I have images reviewed as far back as 15 days now that still haven't shown up in my port. 
I start to doubt that this issue will really be fixed.

They added a catalog tool for buyers, Try before you purchase with downloadable comps. Add a new tool, break the old.

Quote from: Firn on March 28, 2022, 02:20

I have images reviewed as far back as 15 days now that still haven't shown up in my port. 
I start to doubt that this issue will really be fixed.

I got an email from SS today saying: "I've investigated this with our higher IT Division and they reported that currently, we are investigating a massive delay glitch in the recently approved content since we have several affected contributors. We apologize for this inconvenience and we are working with our dedicated tech teams to correct this issue to ensure that all the approved content can be published as soon as possible."

That's pretty much the same just rephrased answer  that Shutterstock 'experts' have been giving out for 2 weeks, but nothing changes. I gave up today and deleted and re-submitted the rest of the images that didn't show up. Now they have already been reviewed and are up in my port. Problem solved.

Another 6 videos just vanished in the past hour or so. What is going on? Can't be merely a tech glitch at this point. No more uploads.

Quote from: Firn on March 28, 2022, 10:14

Quote from: Contemporary Dave on March 28, 2022, 09:47

Quote from: Firn on March 28, 2022, 02:20

I have images reviewed as far back as 15 days now that still haven't shown up in my port. 
I start to doubt that this issue will really be fixed.

I got an email from SS today saying: "I've investigated this with our higher IT Division and they reported that currently, we are investigating a massive delay glitch in the recently approved content since we have several affected contributors. We apologize for this inconvenience and we are working with our dedicated tech teams to correct this issue to ensure that all the approved content can be published as soon as possible."

That's pretty much the same just rephrased answer  that Shutterstock 'experts' have been giving out for 2 weeks, but nothing changes. I gave up today and deleted and re-submitted the rest of the images that didn't show up. Now they have already been reviewed and are up in my port. Problem solved.

How to delete those approved but never show up images? They can't be found in catalog manager......

Go to your "reviewed" tab and look up the image ID. Then go to your catalog manager, open a random image and exchange the ID in the URL.

re-submitted the images that didn't show up. Now they have already been reviewed and are up in my port. Problem solved.

Did the same

Quote from: yanjf on March 28, 2022, 23:22

Quote from: Firn on March 28, 2022, 10:14

Quote from: Contemporary Dave on March 28, 2022, 09:47

Quote from: Firn on March 28, 2022, 02:20

I have images reviewed as far back as 15 days now that still haven't shown up in my port. 
I start to doubt that this issue will really be fixed.

I got an email from SS today saying: "I've investigated this with our higher IT Division and they reported that currently, we are investigating a massive delay glitch in the recently approved content since we have several affected contributors. We apologize for this inconvenience and we are working with our dedicated tech teams to correct this issue to ensure that all the approved content can be published as soon as possible."

That's pretty much the same just rephrased answer  that Shutterstock 'experts' have been giving out for 2 weeks, but nothing changes. I gave up today and deleted and re-submitted the rest of the images that didn't show up. Now they have already been reviewed and are up in my port. Problem solved.

How to delete those approved but never show up images? They can't be found in catalog manager......

Go to your "reviewed" tab and look up the image ID. Then go to your catalog manager, open a random image and exchange the ID in the URL.

SMART！！！

My 14+ videos are still missing. Not uploading until this is fixed because each time I'd upload and new vids published fine, the count would drop back down again in a matter of days and not from the newly published content so I don't know which ones were removed.

Looks like something is happening with videos today.

All the ones i've submitted this morning have vanished from the "to submit" list but the pending shows 0.

Yes, about a dozen videos I submitted just now have disappeared and are not appearing in the Pending Approval section.

I waited for a month before reuploading the missing videos and lo and behold, they came back couple of days after that so I ended with 2 copies of each. I deleted the old ones since they've been buried in the search at this point. It's like a lottery nowadays - you upload and pray to the algorithm god to spare your portfolio

Just uploaded 3 videos for review today - all 3 videos appeared in the pending area and 4 hours later the videos are gone without a review.

And this is the answer from the support (if you want to call this a support):
"Thanks for reaching out to Shutterstock, I�m sorry the website is not working as expected. To get things working again, the first step I recommend is to see if the problem persists while using a different browser to access your account.
If you are not able to change internet browsers, the next step I recommend is that you clear your initial browser�s cache and cookies, and then try to access Shutterstock again. If these two simple steps do not resolve the issue, please check out this article for more detailed resolution ideas:
Troubleshooting Downloading and Internet Connection Issues

If you have any other questions, please let me know. I'm here to help."

I mean ... really... "Use another browser and clear your cookies?!" - they must be kidding...

The conversation went on and the last support response was:

"Hope your day so far has been pleasant. Thanks for alerting us about this, I realize that this situation is difficult and frustrating, but rest assured we will find a solution for you. I have reported this to the higher IT division and currently, we are investigating a delay/glitch in the upload/Pending process since we have several affected contributors again. I'll get back to you as soon as more information is provided.

I�m deeply sorry this has happened to you. It�s not the experience we wish to create for any of our contributors. Thank you for bringing it to our attention and allowing us to address it."

Btw. just 5 minutes ago again 5 videos disappeared from the pending queue ;-)

Some clips that disappeared have now reappeared after they have approved, but I still have a number of editorial clips that I submitted around Thursday that are still missing.

Might want to wait before uploading - in my case videos that disappeared after submitting and never appeared in pending did actually get reviewed and approved despite that a bit later.

I had the same experience, all 8 videos (first uploaded 3, then 5 which both disappeared when submitting) are online now and in the reviewed and portfolio section.
(It took about 5 days for the videos to become visible and reviewed)

Seems to be safe to upload, you just don't see them in the "to review" section.