Author Topic: Shutterstock search algorithm just changed. (Read 25396 times)

Minsc · « **on:** April 30, 2016, 17:59 »

On the popular tab. What was on page 2 is now on page 1. And what was on page 1 is now on page 2.

I think it happened within the last hour. I hope this is a temporary glitch as the new results are of lower quality.

Anyway, just be prepared for the storm.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 30, 2016, 19:20 »

OMG...unbelieveable. They just killed my sales for the coming week, at least.

dbvirago · « **Reply #2 on:** April 30, 2016, 19:25 »

I just did a search on several terms for which I have very high placement and they haven't changed. Was this on your personal port or in a general search?

Shelma1 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 30, 2016, 19:28 »

My most popular images are now moved from the top of page 1 to the middle of page 2 in most popular search on the site...not in my portfolio. My portfolio most popular looks the same.

Minsc · « **Reply #4 on:** April 30, 2016, 19:38 »

Quote from: dbvirago on April 30, 2016, 19:25

I just did a search on several terms for which I have very high placement and they haven't changed. Was this on your personal port or in a general search?

General search. Tried it with different browsers and in private browsing mode.

It doesn't seem like it has affected everything yet, but take a look at this search for pets:

http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?autocomplete_id=&language=en&lang=en&search_source=&safesearch=1&version=llv1&searchterm=pets&media_type=images

If the first 3 results are 3 sets of icons, then it has changed. I searched this category often and I clearly remember page 2 results on the first page.

Rinderart · « **Reply #5 on:** April 30, 2016, 19:59 »

Mar 12th 2012 is when the end started, My most popular. some with 5/6,000 DL's and deserved to be Most Popular Disappeared that accounted for the bulk of income. They went to page 50 or something and never returned. This and taking away My "VERY HEFTY" referral Money after swearing it was Permanent was Basically what Killed my Motivation.

Dumc · « **Reply #6 on:** April 30, 2016, 21:31 »

My 2 images that were on top of the first page among popular and relevant searches are still there.

Chichikov · « **Reply #7 on:** May 01, 2016, 00:59 »

My most popular images are not under the "Popular" tag, but under the "Relevant" one

I don't know what means po-pu-lar for Shutterstock

But my personal knowledge of the meaning of this word corresponds to the one given by the Oxford dictionary:

popular
Pronunciation: /ˈpɒpjʊlə/
ADJECTIVE
1
Liked or admired by many people or by a particular person or group:
she was one of the most popular girls in the school
these cheeses are very popular in Europe

2
[ATTRIBUTIVE] (Of cultural activities or products) intended for or suited to the taste, understanding, or means of the general public rather than specialists or intellectuals:
editorials accusing the government of wanting to gag the popular press
2.1
(Of a belief or attitude) held by the majority of the general public:
many adult cats, contrary to popular opinion, dislike milk

3
[ATTRIBUTIVE] (Of political activity) carried on by the people as a whole rather than restricted to politicians or political parties:
a popular revolt against colonial rule

Dumc · « **Reply #8 on:** May 01, 2016, 01:30 »

So, your images are not popular. Where seems to be the problem?

MircoV · « **Reply #9 on:** May 01, 2016, 01:45 »

I just think there is no place for everyone on page 1. Or we need to have million images per page. I think it is good that others can also have a chance to be at first page. Mirco

gbalex · « **Reply #10 on:** May 01, 2016, 11:12 »

Quote from: Rinderart on April 30, 2016, 19:59

Mar 12th 2012 is when the end started, My most popular. some with 5/6,000 DL's and deserved to be Most Popular Disappeared that accounted for the bulk of income. They went to page 50 or something and never returned. This and taking away My "VERY HEFTY" referral Money after swearing it was Permanent was Basically what Killed my Motivation.

Have you noticed that some of the harshest critics of the "conspiracy theory" have fallen silent or added their voices to those who have been hit by these demotions?

Pauws99 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 01, 2016, 12:01 »

Quote from: gbalex on May 01, 2016, 11:12

Quote from: Rinderart on April 30, 2016, 19:59
Mar 12th 2012 is when the end started, My most popular. some with 5/6,000 DL's and deserved to be Most Popular Disappeared that accounted for the bulk of income. They went to page 50 or something and never returned. This and taking away My "VERY HEFTY" referral Money after swearing it was Permanent was Basically what Killed my Motivation.

Have you noticed that some of the harshest critics of the "conspiracy theory" have fallen silent or added their voices to those who have been hit by these demotions?

er no

Minsc · « **Reply #12 on:** May 01, 2016, 12:27 »

Quote from: Dumc on April 30, 2016, 21:31

My 2 images that were on top of the first page among popular and relevant searches are still there.

I did a search on my phone and iPad earlier and everything seems to be normal. On the desktop, the results are different.

On the upside, this will give my images that were on page 2 a chance to get some sales. We'll see how the change affect sales in the upcoming week. Maybe I'll see a drop, maybe I won't. If the ranking engine hasn't change, whatever is popular on page 2 will eventually make its way back to page 1 in time.

Rinderart · « **Reply #13 on:** May 01, 2016, 12:29 »

Quote from: gbalex on May 01, 2016, 11:12

Quote from: Rinderart on April 30, 2016, 19:59
Mar 12th 2012 is when the end started, My most popular. some with 5/6,000 DL's and deserved to be Most Popular Disappeared that accounted for the bulk of income. They went to page 50 or something and never returned. This and taking away My "VERY HEFTY" referral Money after swearing it was Permanent was Basically what Killed my Motivation.

Have you noticed that some of the harshest critics of the "conspiracy theory" have fallen silent or added their voices to those who have been hit by these demotions?

Dont pay to much attention But what I have noticed "BIG TIME" is a whole bunch of People 1/2 years ago that were going On and on about How great they were doing are dead Now. Ya don'rt hear a word. I do Love newbies with 50 Images saying how good it is....LOL

I did have some of my Old Best sellers and most Popular that went from #1 to page 50 come back after 6 mos or so , They worked there way back to Popular.

Dumc · « **Reply #14 on:** May 01, 2016, 13:01 »

Quote from: Minsc on May 01, 2016, 12:27

Quote from: Dumc on April 30, 2016, 21:31
My 2 images that were on top of the first page among popular and relevant searches are still there.

I did a search on my phone and iPad earlier and everything seems to be normal. On the desktop, the results are different.

On the upside, this will give my images that were on page 2 a chance to get some sales. We'll see how the change affect sales in the upcoming week. Maybe I'll see a drop, maybe I won't. If the ranking engine hasn't change, whatever is popular on page 2 will eventually make its way back to page 1 in time.

I searched through my PC not iPad or phone...

masterlu · « **Reply #15 on:** May 01, 2016, 13:10 »

Everything back to normal here after two days... now popular are in the right place

Minsc · « **Reply #16 on:** May 01, 2016, 13:22 »

Quote from: Dumc on May 01, 2016, 13:01

Quote from: Minsc on May 01, 2016, 12:27
Quote from: Dumc on April 30, 2016, 21:31
My 2 images that were on top of the first page among popular and relevant searches are still there.

I did a search on my phone and iPad earlier and everything seems to be normal. On the desktop, the results are different.

On the upside, this will give my images that were on page 2 a chance to get some sales. We'll see how the change affect sales in the upcoming week. Maybe I'll see a drop, maybe I won't. If the ranking engine hasn't change, whatever is popular on page 2 will eventually make its way back to page 1 in time.

I searched through my PC not iPad or phone...

It seems like things are going back to normal again. I did a private search and it returned the correct results. My non-private search still show the other set of results. Both Shelma1 and I saw the different search results, so it probably affect a small number of searches.

As you can see in the screenshots, the odd results showed one extra page (12140), so it must have been a glitch.

Zero Talent · « **Reply #17 on:** May 01, 2016, 13:41 »

No it's not really fixed, I can still see the old first page swapped with the second one, on a least 2 important keywords relevant to me.

Minsc · « **Reply #18 on:** May 01, 2016, 22:04 »

Quote from: Zero Talent on May 01, 2016, 13:41

No it's not really fixed, I can still see the old first page swapped with the second one, on a least 2 important keywords relevant to me.

Yup. Still not fixed.

I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens.

Chichikov · « **Reply #19 on:** May 02, 2016, 06:56 »

Quote from: Dumc on May 01, 2016, 01:30

So, your images are not popular. Where seems to be the problem?

Yes, you are right, images selling more than 1000 times are not popular while other selling less than 100 times are……
But now it seems that all turned normal.

Zero Talent · « **Reply #20 on:** May 02, 2016, 11:00 »

Quote from: Chichikov on May 02, 2016, 06:56

Quote from: Dumc on May 01, 2016, 01:30
So, your images are not popular. Where seems to be the problem?

Yes, you are right, images selling more than 1000 times are not popular while other selling less than 100 times are……
But now it seems that all turned normal.

Those photos sold "only" 100 times might be in high demand right now and that's what make them "popular" right now

"Popular" doesn't mean all time popular, that's more like "relevant" in Shutterstock language.

BTW, the glitch seems to be fixed, indeed. Today my tests return the similar "popular" pages as 3-4 days ago.

Microstockphoto · « **Reply #21 on:** May 02, 2016, 11:02 »

popularity of files changes over time, no one can claim their image is the most popular in perpetuity

Shelma1 · « **Reply #22 on:** May 02, 2016, 11:17 »

I don't see anyone claiming their images are popular in perpetuity. I've had some of my most popular knocked out of first place by better images and vice versa. This is simply switching the entire page 1 for the entire page 2. And it's still the same for the search term I'm looking at right now...all my most popular images (I have the top three in this category) are now at the top of page 2 instead of page 1. And all the other popular page 1 images from other contributors have moved right along with mine.

Minsc · « **Reply #23 on:** May 02, 2016, 11:20 »

Quote from: Zero Talent on May 02, 2016, 11:00

BTW, the glitch seems to be fixed, indeed. Today my tests return the similar "popular" pages as 3-4 days ago.

It doesn't seem to be fixed yet. If it has, it hasn't propagated to all searches.

Sales are down a bit this morning, like 30%. Maybe it's one of those type of Mondays, but I doubt it.

ShadySue · « **Reply #24 on:** May 02, 2016, 12:32 »

Today is a major holiday in the UK and much of Europe.

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Author Topic: Shutterstock search algorithm just changed. (Read 25396 times)

Minsc

Shelma1

dbvirago

Shelma1

Minsc

Rinderart

Dumc

Chichikov

Dumc

MircoV

gbalex

Pauws99

Minsc

Rinderart

Dumc

masterlu

Minsc

Zero Talent

Minsc

Chichikov

Zero Talent

Microstockphoto

Shelma1

Minsc

ShadySue

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