MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Shutterstock.com => Topic started by: chrisroll on October 18, 2011, 08:17
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Last week I had several pictures which appeared in first pages (sort by popular) after search, and today nothing (somes are visible in page 20 to 30 :(.
Did you experiment the same issue ?
It seems SS changed their sorting algorythm .
It's take long time and many sales to view our image in the very first pages and it's a shame we'll have to start all over again...
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holy frijoles... there's been a big change indeed ... the ones i had on top of the searches are nowhere to be found on the first 10 pages... :(
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Yep, well spotted. It looks like newer images (with downloads) have received a big boost. Probably a good thing as it was getting very difficult for new images to rise up the default sort order.
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WOW. The one image I had at or near the top of the search order is gone (well at least as far as page 25). Curiously another image with 2 orders of magnitude less downloads was on page 13. I hope this didn't permanently kill my one reliable image. It almost seems like an IS best match shift.
A slight boost to newer images would be nice though.
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I have had two (similar) keyboard images hovering at the bottom of page 1 and mid-way on page 2 (I should mention my default page view is 100/per page) for a couple of months. I checked earlier today (Tuesday 18 Oct) and I noticed one of my images is in rank position 8 on the first line on page 1 and the other is ranked 94 (on the last line) of page 1. This is under the sort of POPULAR. Both the images have been downloaded two or three times everyday for about three months so I guess now that is beginning to show benefits in ranking. It is a big jump but I'm delighted! Edit. Forgot to mention these are on the search page Customer or Customers.
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Not only a boost for newer images, that's for sure. I had two (similar) images of Australia on the first row in popular sort order. One stayed there, the other moved pages away. Same with a shot from Amsterdam. It was on the first rows of Holland and Amsterdam search. I now stopped looking for it on page 15! Other popular shots seem to got a boost though.
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I think it is a bug. I had 4 images on the first page of a popular search. They are gone from that search and most of my neighbours from the 1st page seem to be gone too.
Images that used to be on pages 4-10 seem to have moved up but I haven't been tracking them so closely.
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Wow, this works great for my photos, tens of my photos on first page, even on first place. It's about time, new contributors get a chance, instead of favouring only old, established photos. Equal chances and I love it! ;D
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My image that disappeared is 4 years old, but the one that I found on page 13 is less than 4 years (by about a month), so I wonder if they booted images older than 4 years? Another possibility is that it is just over 4 MP I think so maybe a penalty for smaller images? I am just speculating here. Hopefully this is just a short term hiccup. It does still appear in position 9 for "relevant" search which is about where it was before. Since the default is "most popular" I am guessing that is where most buyers leave it though.
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The real question that matters to me is whether it will impact my sales.
Is anyone seeing bigger sales today because of it?
Me, I'm seeing a normal sales day today. I haven't checked how well my images are ranking in search, but I was looking at my sales before seeing this thread and wondering why my newer images don't seem to be selling like new images used to. So whatever shift just happened doesn't seem to be impacting me.
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My image that disappeared is 4 years old, but the one that I found on page 13 is less than 4 years (by about a month), so I wonder if they booted images older than 4 years? Another possibility is that it is just over 4 MP I think so maybe a penalty for smaller images? I am just speculating here.
This is not the case. One of my images is from May, downsized to 9 MP, downloaded almost 500 times since May.
Gone from the popular sort.
It must appear in other searches though, because it was downloaded today nevertheless.
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Mine haven't changed at all??
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Will be interesting to see what it does to my sales!
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Strange is that order of popular images in my portfolio is different from overall order in Shutterstock.
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I recant. Mine just changed to 180 degrees Opposite. first is last. were on this at SS. everyones writing support.Suggest everyone do it.
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provide it doesn't last forever and things return to normal soon, a random shake once in a while - be it a glitch or deliberate - seems like a great way to give lost pictures a second chance
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On the bright side...
We are all probably (temporarily) enjoying sales on pictures that would never normally sell because they are normally buried.
Assuming search is restored to what it was yesterday, and our best sellers are back on top, now our low sellers could enjoy a bit of a boost moving forward thanks to the sales they're getting today. Not that they'll be back near the top again, but if they have a few downloads thanks to today's change (mistake?), maybe they won't be at the bottom anymore?
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GOOD!
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On the bright side...
We are all probably (temporarily) enjoying sales on pictures that would never normally sell because they are normally buried.
Assuming search is restored to what it was yesterday, and our best sellers are back on top, now our low sellers could enjoy a bit of a boost moving forward thanks to the sales they're getting today. Not that they'll be back near the top again, but if they have a few downloads thanks to today's change (mistake?), maybe they won't be at the bottom anymore?
yes sir.
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I had three number one positions and now have dropped out of site...hope its temp.
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Wow, what a bad move! I also took a hit and I only hope it's temporary. Search for "woman fitness" for example, you'll get on the first page irrelevant glamour shots, nudes, lingerie, a girl sitting on a beach...
Looks like Jon's nephew dropped his Lego toys between SS server's cog wheels.
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Wow, what a bad move! I also took a hit and I only hope it's temporary. Search for "woman fitness" for example, you'll get on the first page irrelevant glamour shots, nudes, lingerie, a girl sitting on a beach...
Looks like Jon's nephew dropped his Lego toys between SS server's cog wheels.
Wow! are you in every thread?
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Best sellers lost, real most popular in gallery in search show up way behind some images with few downloads.
Dont like it at all , sales more than 2X less than same days last week .
Adding the fact and that the images that were approved 24 hours ago are still not in my gallery nor in search
makes my SS day everything but perfect.
I hope they will change it to normal...
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On the SS Forum an SS person said that it is a bug they are working on.
forumguru said
"Hi all,
Thanks for your feedback. This is related to a bug that we are working on correcting."
Glad to hear it is a bug and not a new IS style best match shake.
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Glad to see an SS representative actively answering concerns in the forums after all this time. I wonder why they let so many questions run on unanswered for so long. I love SS, but have found their lack of forum presence very odd.
The bug's caused a sales drop for me too today. :(
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I love SS, but have found their lack of forum presence very odd. :(
For me it's still better than continuously present LoboTomy closing hundred threads a day.
All these SS bugs started after launch of "Relevant Search"
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Oh no, now SS caught best match disease?
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This explains my lower numbers for the last couple days. I haven't seen any increase in my newer or less popular files, but the files I had towards the top of the list haven't been selling like usual.
Hope it gets fixed soon.
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I'm sorry to be what appears to be the only dissenting voice on this thread regarding this transient issue - but having had two (very similar) images hovering around the bottom of page one (search: Customer, Popular) for weeks, I now have a first line position on page one for one image and bottom line position on page one for the other image (100 per page display) and today I had my first ever EL download worth $28 for the image ranked no 8. If that's a result of the 'bug' I'm all in favor of this 'bug' thing continuing. I know that sounds a little selfish and for that I truly apologize - but hey, it's dog eat dog out there at the moment.
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Some day I hope to sell an 'EL'...
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In any shift there are winners (files at the front of the search) and losers (files that aren't near the front). The fact that SS says this is a bug they are trying to fix and that it took good sellers and put them far behind relatively weak sellers (at least in the case of the one search I am familiar with) suggests that they will try to return this to some semblance of how it was. Hopefully for me my best seller doesn't completely lose it's place near the front of the search.
Personally I would love to see any of my images that get to the top of the search to stay there, but realistically I realize that a compromise of stability and mobility with the ability of good images to rise based on their merits is probably the best policy - maybe a tiny bit of positive feedback at first and then over time gradually increase the negative feedback so an image has to continue to increase sales to maintain a top position. A few years ago I think SS was leaning a bit too much towards new images and lately they have probably leaned a bit too much towards old images. This latest shift is just a weird IS best match esque change, so in general I don't approve. If they fix it soon then it probably won't make much of a long range difference other than giving a few images the chance to rise more than they would have otherwise. If it takes a long time (someone suggested it was linked to the problem of new images disappearing which has been going on for months), then it might permanently kill some best sellers which would be unfortunate. Since I only have one best seller that was hit by this it doesn't effect my overall sales all that much (maybe one a day - certainly nice, but not that great a percent of my overall sales to notice a huge drop off).
edited to fix typo
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Holly Sh..
This bug sent me to ground zero!
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Yes, to me it's silly to complain about it. It is incredibly obvious that there will be exactly as many photos that benefit as there are photos lose out. The only reason to complain is if poor photos are being artificially moved up front due to what collection their in, etc, like at istock, but htat doesnt appear to be the case here. The photos near the beginning, while different, still seem to be good.
FYI, i seem to have lost out mildly on this. Definitely most photos are a little further back, but nothing huge.
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Yes, to me it's silly to complain about it. It is incredibly obvious that there will be exactly as many photos that benefit as there are photos lose out. The only reason to complain is if poor photos are being artificially moved up front due to what collection their in, etc, like at istock, but htat doesnt appear to be the case here. The photos near the beginning, while different, still seem to be good.
FYI, i seem to have lost out mildly on this. Definitely most photos are a little further back, but nothing huge.
Temporary bug is being fixed.
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Temporary bug is being fixed.
No. One of my bestsellers is gone from place 1 behind place 15.000 !
Others also.
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I'm not sure that the bug is at fault but ... I'm having a TERRIBLE week. >:(
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This was posted by SS forumguru (admin) this morning:
"Hi all,
Thanks for the feedback. We're working on two different issues:
1. Images disappearing from search and affecting popular search results
2. Images disappearing from portfolios only
The first issue is nearly corrected and we should see the results of that very soon.
The second issue is more of an on-going bug that we are working on but it will take a bit more time to reverse that. But keep in mind that the second bug will not have any affect on search results, downloads or images appearing on any other part of the site other than your own portfolio."
Cross your fingers...
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This was posted by SS forumguru (admin) this morning:
"Hi all,
Thanks for the feedback. We're working on two different issues:
1. Images disappearing from search and affecting popular search results
2. Images disappearing from portfolios only
The first issue is nearly corrected and we should see the results of that very soon.
The second issue is more of an on-going bug that we are working on but it will take a bit more time to reverse that. But keep in mind that the second bug will not have any affect on search results, downloads or images appearing on any other part of the site other than your own portfolio."
Cross your fingers...
Nothing so nebulous as nearly. When will this programming change be fixed? When it has nearly killed all of the best sellers?
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This was posted by SS forumguru (admin) this morning:
"Hi all,
Thanks for the feedback. We're working on two different issues:
1. Images disappearing from search and affecting popular search results
2. Images disappearing from portfolios only
The first issue is nearly corrected and we should see the results of that very soon.
The second issue is more of an on-going bug that we are working on but it will take a bit more time to reverse that. But keep in mind that the second bug will not have any affect on search results, downloads or images appearing on any other part of the site other than your own portfolio."
Cross your fingers...
Yes in every case I can find my pictures in searches, especially for people who have a problem, just use the file number and prove to yourself it's really there. I don't understand why people keep saying they are gone from the shutterstock site, when they aren't? But like everyone else they are NOT on Submitt and come and go at random.
I'm getting sales on files that aren't visible to myself, so I know that buyers can see them.
If you can't find a photo using keywords, keep in mind it might be the search itself that's messed up. As in That Other Problem... :(
Use the file number from the acceptance email and you'll see the images are really there.
That's a little consolation for the bugs with the search and that our new images aren't in the section where we can manage them. At least buyers can find them!
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Something has changed - there's new "Display Preferences" button on portfolio site.
Some of my images do not have previews - just a horizontal grey line.
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For me new files are not being displayed in popular and relevant searches. Only in newest. This explains why new files get much less sales. Doesn't make any sense to upload files until the problem is fixed. And probably will have to reupload new files after that.
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Something has changed - there's new "Display Preferences" button on portfolio site.
Some of my images do not have previews - just a horizontal grey line.
Oh no, that's terrible you've been GreyLined! (http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad282/LeFETUSFISTER/three_stooges.jpg) (made that up, don't panic)
Can you do a screen shot, because I can't find what you are talking about? What page, where on the portfolio side? You talking about the Image Gallery? That's on the shutterstock side not the submit portion? I don't get it?
For me new files are not being displayed in popular and relevant searches. Only in newest. This explains why new files get much less sales. Doesn't make any sense to upload files until the problem is fixed. And probably will have to reupload new files after that.
Huh? When you search or when buyers search? Why would you need to upload again, if they are already there? Sometimes I get really confused with all this.
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For me new files are not being displayed in popular and relevant searches. Only in newest. This explains why new files get much less sales. Doesn't make any sense to upload files until the problem is fixed. And probably will have to reupload new files after that.
It used to be that SS would index images every day or so. Until then new images were only visible in our ports. If they had a glitch where there was no update for a few days it would mean either a very nice boost or complete burial depending on if your image was indexed right before the glitch or not. A year or so ago they went to a sort of continuous update for newest, but I think that the popular and relevant searches have always taken a bit longer to update. In any case they only update the sales stats once a day and until a new image has a sale it isn't going to have a very favorable placement in the regular searches.
It would be nice for them to figure out whatever the problem is and fix it once and for all. I am much less worried about images disappearing and reappearing only from our ports than something weirdly wrong and inconsistent with the search overall and different search placement when searching with and without vectors etc. etc.
I have had some sales of possibly buried images since this latest switch, and when searching on some of them they do have favorable placement, so I don't think that it has effected my overall sales much in the short term.
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Huh? When you search or when buyers search? Why would you need to upload again, if they are already there? Sometimes I get really confused with all this.
There is only one page search result. I'm pretty sure buyers will not see images on this one page either. Why to reupload? IMO, search engine is using downloads/age metric to sort images. And this metric is given quite a high weight. So what happens if I get lets say 4 times less downloads for new images. After bug is fixed all new images will be pushed pretty far back in search results and will be selling less then they would normally do.
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Can you do a screen shot, because I can't find what you are talking about? What page, where on the portfolio side? You talking about the Image Gallery? That's on the shutterstock side not the submit portion? I don't get it?
Yes - it's in Image Gallery in top right corner. There used to be number of images you want to display (I guess 50 - 100 - 150 images), now there is "Display Preferences".
(http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/9780/89814461.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/89814461.jpg/)
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Can you do a screen shot, because I can't find what you are talking about? What page, where on the portfolio side? You talking about the Image Gallery? That's on the shutterstock side not the submit portion? I don't get it?
Yes - it's in Image Gallery in top right corner. There used to be number of images you want to display (I guess 50 - 100 - 150 images), now there is "Display Preferences".
([url]http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/9780/89814461.jpg[/url]) ([url]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/89814461.jpg/[/url])
Yup GreyLined and they got you bad! LOL :) Is that little bulb IE missing image symbol?
You need to check your software? I suppose it could be the servers where you are but here's something to consider:
(http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/5003/greylined3.jpg)
Top Firefox, middle Chrome, bottom IE.
Re-install or update your browser. I know that's the easy and obvious and support will always blame us in the first place, but honestly it looks like something is wrong with your browser? Not loading things right. Try clearing your cache first, but I suspect your browser has some corrupted files in it?
Good Luck, I wish I could be more helpful.
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I am much less worried about images disappearing and reappearing only from our ports than something weirdly wrong and inconsistent with the search overall and different search placement when searching with and without vectors etc. etc.
A very, very good point. I used to complain about IS's best match roller coaster when it suddenly drowned my images, and others complained for the same reason.
But what may have been worse was that it inflicted bizarrely inconsistent search results for the customers. How could they tell if they were being shown the 'Best Match' results they were used to or something not so 'Best'? They couldn't, and they went elsewhere to search.
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Can you do a screen shot, because I can't find what you are talking about? What page, where on the portfolio side? You talking about the Image Gallery? That's on the shutterstock side not the submit portion? I don't get it?
Yes - it's in Image Gallery in top right corner. There used to be number of images you want to display (I guess 50 - 100 - 150 images), now there is "Display Preferences".
([url]http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/9780/89814461.jpg[/url]) ([url]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/89814461.jpg/[/url])
Yup GreyLined and they got you bad! LOL :) Is that little bulb IE missing image symbol?
You need to check your software? I suppose it could be the servers where you are but here's something to consider:
([url]http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/5003/greylined3.jpg[/url])
Top Firefox, middle Chrome, bottom IE.
Re-install or update your browser. I know that's the easy and obvious and support will always blame us in the first place, but honestly it looks like something is wrong with your browser? Not loading things right. Try clearing your cache first, but I suspect your browser has some corrupted files in it?
Good Luck, I wish I could be more helpful.
Thank you but I'm afraid that problem is not in my computer or browser. I have this problem only with 5 images out of 150 and it's same in Firefox, Safari and in in my smartphone with slight differrence - I'm not GrayLined but BlueQuestionmarked in other browsers :-). I have to contact support. Again.
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Can you do a screen shot, because I can't find what you are talking about? What page, where on the portfolio side? You talking about the Image Gallery? That's on the shutterstock side not the submit portion? I don't get it?
Yes - it's in Image Gallery in top right corner. There used to be number of images you want to display (I guess 50 - 100 - 150 images), now there is "Display Preferences".
([url]http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/9780/89814461.jpg[/url]) ([url]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/89814461.jpg/[/url])
Yup GreyLined and they got you bad! LOL :) Is that little bulb IE missing image symbol?
You need to check your software? I suppose it could be the servers where you are but here's something to consider:
([url]http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/5003/greylined3.jpg[/url])
Top Firefox, middle Chrome, bottom IE.
Re-install or update your browser. I know that's the easy and obvious and support will always blame us in the first place, but honestly it looks like something is wrong with your browser? Not loading things right. Try clearing your cache first, but I suspect your browser has some corrupted files in it?
Good Luck, I wish I could be more helpful.
Thank you but I'm afraid that problem is not in my computer or browser. I have this problem only with 5 images out of 150 and it's same in Firefox, Safari and in in my smartphone with slight differrence - I'm not GrayLined but BlueQuestionmarked in other browsers :-). I have to contact support. Again.
Well that ends my best guess for the evening. Strange that others aren't jumping on this wagon? Did you do the Clear The Cache thing? Oh nevermind that's what Facebook and Zynga always say. Remember it's always our fault, not theirs. ;D Good luck...
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Yes, they have changed the order of popularity, it's better for me. I've another question. I have a lot of picture waiting for review since Friday. It's a long time for SS. Am I the only one that is waiting?
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Yes, they have changed the order of popularity, it's better for me. I've another question. I have a lot of picture waiting for review since Friday. It's a long time for SS. Am I the only one that is waiting?
Nah, we're all in the twilight zone lately. Images get accepted, show for a day or two, vanish. (but it appears are available for purchase, just not on the submit site) The Popularity match is in chaos, new images may or may not be showing as new... I had some images accepted Friday and they have never shown up on SS yet, anywhere.
I know someone there claims 2-3 hour reviews. Maybe it's some ranking thing, (so I'd be low...) but I average three days and it's fairly consistent.
Newest three for me went in the 23rd. Still pending. I'd expect them to get looked at tomorrow. And weekends don't seem to count? If reviewers are external, I'd think weekends would be faster, not slower? Anyway, maybe some others can chime in. For me three days is "normal" the last couple months.
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I've had images approved within hours in the past, lately it's been about 3 days.
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I got 71 dls yesterday starting from early morning, and 0 yet today. Weird. Anyone having similar experience?
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I had a decent day yesterday, and a handful so far this morning. No apparent problems.
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I got 71 dls yesterday starting from early morning, and 0 yet today. Weird. Anyone having similar experience?
Same here, it was a delay in registering downloads, but it's ok now.
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The popular image search seems to be fixed.