MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Sites that no longer exist => SnapVillage.com => Topic started by: News Feed on March 14, 2008, 17:45
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News from SnapVillage: site improvements and new ads
Say Goodbye to Beta Soon
We’re doing some spring cleaning at SnapVillage. Our web team has been working hard to fix the last few bugs in the site so we can get out of beta soon. You should notice an increase in performance right away as we release these improvements. Many of [...]
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SnapVillage/~3/251653689/
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Encouraging news. They just uploaded all of the images I sent them on a CD. That was easy enough.
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sent my cd almost a month ago now... still waiting.....
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I'll get my CD in the post this weekend, we'll see how quickly it gets uploaded!
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News from SnapVillage: site improvements and new ads. Say Goodbye to Beta Soon
Does that mean FTP?
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i checked and saw two sales in march 2 x $3. better than before. may be just a coincidence ....
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It will be interesting to see how big they can grow. I hope that with lots of money to spend on advertising and their links to Corbis and microsoft they will do well.
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I'll be very interested to see what these 'site improvements' are.
But if I had to place a bet between Slappertown becoming a success, or me having a night of rampant sex with Milla Jovovitch....
...I'd place the bet on Milla.
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I'll be very interested to see what these 'site improvements' are.
But if I had to place a bet between Slappertown becoming a success, or me having a night of rampant sex with Milla Jovovitch....
...I'd place the bet on Milla.
Who is Milla Jovovitch? Your wife? ;D
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Mila Jovovich:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000170/ (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000170/)
Good luck with that Hatman - you are quite the optimist :)
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Mila Jovovich:
[url]http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000170/[/url] ([url]http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000170/[/url])
Good luck with that Hatman - you are quite the optimist :)
According to the photos in that link, somebody has already ummm..... sorry Hatman, to late already :D
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For starters, would like to see a faster site - hopefully it's on its way!
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Just checked out Snapvillage and from what I can see there are still MAJOR things that need to happen before I would upload there. They need to be able to read IPTC data. Yeah, I can send them a DVD, but they want the keywords in separate text files along with the images? And model releases with each image rather than uploaded to the site and linked up later like most other sites? Sounds hugely time consuming.
And seriously, they make you wait 45 DAYS to get paid? That is absolutely insane. Maybe that flies in the trads where you are making hundreds or thousands of dollars per sale, but in the micro business, where they are talking about $10 payouts, that turnaround is just not acceptable.
Really guys, there is not need or justification for reinventing the wheel here. I would love to have you selling my 3,000 plus images, but you are going to have to make it easier to get them to you and faster to get paid.
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...They need to be able to read IPTC data.
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And seriously, they make you wait 45 DAYS to get paid?
You may be a bit misinformed about SnapVillage.
They read IPTC data and model releases are attached in the conventional fashion. Because they don't support FTP, uploading is done in batches of five. Yes, it's a hassle, but doable if you schedule in 20 uploads a day into your routine. They'll accept anything and everything you throw at them.
Payment is more like 30 days - I received my January earnings on March 3, I'll get my February payment at the beginning of April, March in May, etc. The minimum payout is $10, which is absurdly easy to reach. My earnings there are less than BigStock, but more than Crestock.
My biggest issue with them has to do with keywords: they typically (though not always) rework keywords, removing "good" ones and adding "bad" ones.
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i checked and saw two sales in march 2 x $3. better than before. may be just a coincidence ....
another $3 earned ...
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They read IPTC data
More or less. In my case they read title and description, but only the first keyword. I have reported this to them, and they said they were looking into it (twice in an interval or one or two months). They even asked me to email an image so they could look into the IPTC data. That was late last year, I haven't retried to see they solved the problem, but I would have expected they would have emailed me again to try.
It's slightly better than IS, where only the description is read, and they said they were aware of it, but never cared about correcting it. I use Exifer.
It can't be something so difficult to fix, as all other sites read the data well.
As for sales, one last month, that's all I got.
Regards,
Adelaide
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They read the keywords on about 95% of my uploads.
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The one GOOD thing I can think of about Snapvillage is that because they are so incompetent, any money they spend on advertising will drive more and more customers to the OTHER stock agencies......
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The one GOOD thing I can think of about Snapvillage is that because they are so incompetent, any money they spend on advertising will drive more and more customers to the OTHER stock agencies......
;D ;D ;D ;D
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The one GOOD thing I can think of about Snapvillage is that because they are so incompetent, any money they spend on advertising will drive more and more customers to the OTHER stock agencies......
Why are you so negative about them when it is still a beta site? I don't understand your views. Corbis is a rival to Getty and with the money SV will have to spend on marketing, I see no reason why they shouldn't be a big earning site in the future. There are sales there already, a lot more than the site that launched at the same time, Albumo. Who knows what the sales will be like in a years time? They might fail but I prefer to give them a chance.
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yes, give them one / two years and than we'll see what happens.
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Sharpshot my comments about Snapvillage should be taken on a relative basis. As people keep pointing out, this venture is funded by Corbis who (apparently) are the second largest photo agency in the world. They are (apparently) backed by the unlimited zillions of Bill Gates.
Given this backdrop they have exhibited incompetence, complete lack of understanding, an inability to recognise what the microstock market wants (and needs) and site development which smacks of simply 'couldn't care less'.
Their keywording department is rubbish, their web site operation appears to be one man and his dog, and the beta goes on and on and on because frankly they haven't got the faintest idea.
Yes, they will make sales. But in my opinion in five years from now they won't be within a hundredth of iStock.
If it was any other start up operation, funded by small capital, I could understand. But this is meant to be a push into microstock by Corbis, and relative to THAT what we have seen so far is rubbish.
You'll recall Yuri's comment that he had had an hour's conversation with SV's CEO. His conclusion was 'nice lady, doesn't understand the business'.
Worst of all, Snapvillage is an insult to the amount of work and effort we devote as photographers, and the very name of the place cocks a snook to you, me, and any other photographer that doesn't fit into the Corbis definition of 'professional'. And that is why I will not have my portfolio there.
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My biggest issue with them has to do with keywords: they typically (though not always) rework keywords, removing "good" ones and adding "bad" ones.
I have had the same problem and contacted support. They agreed that the keywords added by them were poor and apologised. It's possible to add keywords manually one at a time, but to remove inappropriate ones or change the category then you have to contact support.
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Sharpshot my comments about Snapvillage should be taken on a relative basis. As people keep pointing out, this venture is funded by Corbis who (apparently) are the second largest photo agency in the world. They are (apparently) backed by the unlimited zillions of Bill Gates.
Given this backdrop they have exhibited incompetence, complete lack of understanding, an inability to recognise what the microstock market wants (and needs) and site development which smacks of simply 'couldn't care less'.
Their keywording department is rubbish, their web site operation appears to be one man and his dog, and the beta goes on and on and on because frankly they haven't got the faintest idea.
Yes, they will make sales. But in my opinion in five years from now they won't be within a hundredth of iStock.
If it was any other start up operation, funded by small capital, I could understand. But this is meant to be a push into microstock by Corbis, and relative to THAT what we have seen so far is rubbish.
You'll recall Yuri's comment that he had had an hour's conversation with SV's CEO. His conclusion was 'nice lady, doesn't understand the business'.
Worst of all, Snapvillage is an insult to the amount of work and effort we devote as photographers, and the very name of the place cocks a snook to you, me, and any other photographer that doesn't fit into the Corbis definition of 'professional'. And that is why I will not have my portfolio there.
It might cock a snoot to you but the name really doesn't bother me. I am a professional but I take snap shots, just like Henri Cartier-Bresson did. I admit his were a bit better than mine though :)
I wrote a long post but deleted it. You have made up your mind about them after 8 months and I respect that. I just want to give them more time and think they have the potential to be a site that is worth using.
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I still believe that SV can become a success, but they need to take care of some major issues. One thing that is extremely irritating, is the way they treat images from a 6MP camera: they are sold as medium sized, 1600 x 1200 pixel photos. That obviously reduces the potential of the photos considerably, particularly when the same photos can be bought at full resolution elsewhere.
I took it up with support, but they said they had no plans changing their routines. That's the way of a real amateur :(
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I still believe that SV can become a success, but they need to take care of some major issues. One thing that is extremely irritating, is the way they treat images from a 6MP camera: they are sold as medium sized, 1600 x 1200 pixel photos. That obviously reduces the potential of the photos considerably, particularly when the same photos can be bought at full resolution elsewhere.
I took it up with support, but they said they had no plans changing their routines. That's the way of a real amateur :(
I agree and yet those same 6MP images could be interpolated and uploaded to Alamy at a resolution of 5114 x 3400 and pass through QC with no problems. So why can't SV use them at their native resolution?
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...They need to be able to read IPTC data.
...
And seriously, they make you wait 45 DAYS to get paid?
You may be a bit misinformed about SnapVillage.
Don't think so. If I am misinformed Snapvillage are the ones who misinformed me.
I read the 45 day payout turnaround on their website. Ditto the procedure for sending them images on DVD with the model releases and keywords in separate files in the same folder with the image.
I have over 3000 images and maintain portfolios on 8 sites already. No way in Hades I am going to upload more than 3000 images 5 at a time. Especially to an unproven site that isn't producing significant earnings.
If the information regarding upload and payout on their website are incorrect they should update their FAQ
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Lisafx - there is another thread here where a member says SV did use the IPTC info on the disk he sent in. http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php/topic,3949.msg38222/topicseen.html#new So I guess the SV website is stating inaccurate info.
Sharply_done - You must be an extemely patient person. I tried the 20 a day but gave up after few days.
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Thanks digiology for clearing that up. Any word on including model releases?
If they start to pick up steam (and if the process is not to torturous) then it might be worth doing.
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Sharply_done - You must be an extemely patient person. I tried the 20 a day but gave up after few days.
I don't see what a big deal it is. Uploading four batches of five to SV is far easier than the six batches of one I upload to IS daily. It's something I do with my morning uploads, and hardly takes any extra time at all.
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I have uploaded about 50 images in the last week without any problem (uploading 5 at a time). Looks like they fixed the web form uploading.
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Maybe it works better now but when I tried a while back I found it too slow and clunky. IS on the other hand is always very smooth. I have been planning on sending in a disc but need to kick my butt.
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the six batches of one I upload to IS daily. It's something I do with my morning uploads
Try DeepMeta (http://www.deepmeta.com).
I hate to advertise it. I know the guy since he lives close. But it's good.
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DeepMeta fails working for me, the uploading part of it.
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the six batches of one I upload to IS daily. It's something I do with my morning uploads
Try DeepMeta ([url]http://www.deepmeta.com[/url]).
I hate to advertise it. I know the guy since he lives close. But it's good.
That won't help at all.
I keyword specifically for IS after uploading, and the way their system grabs keywords from uploads works a bit differently than if keywords are entered after uploading is complete. In order to maximize income from IS it is necessary to use their CV to its fullest, which automation does not do.
The bottom line: By using the same keywords in IS as for other sites - using the CV merely as a translator - you are handicapping your sales there.
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the six batches of one I upload to IS daily. It's something I do with my morning uploads
Try DeepMeta ([url]http://www.deepmeta.com[/url]).
I hate to advertise it. I know the guy since he lives close. But it's good.
That won't help at all.
I keyword specifically for IS after uploading, and the way their system grabs keywords from uploads works a bit differently than if keywords are entered after uploading is complete. In order to maximize income from IS it is necessary to use their CV to its fullest, which automation does not do.
The bottom line: By using the same keywords in IS as for other sites - using the CV merely as a translator - you are handicapping your sales there.
Could you please show us how you would keyword diff for IS an image?
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The print ad they are running is terrible. Looks like a kid in a high school graphics class made it. Apparently the designer at SV hasn't heard of kerning before.
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The print ad they are running is terrible. Looks like a kid in a high school graphics class made it. Apparently the designer at SV hasn't heard of kerning before.
Let us see it, so we can learn to hate it ;D
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http://snapvillage.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/snapvillage-ad-creativity-feb08.jpg
I think it actually looks better on-screen. In person at full size, it is a bit worse.
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Wow. That ad does absolutely nothing for the image of microstock overall. What a sad joke.
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That is amazingly poor, its not like they have a whole website of images to choose from! :(
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Lame start advertising wise. How about an exciting reason to check out the new site? If you have a unique feature lead with it. Advertising 101.
By the way, I believe dinosaurs are extinct. Not a good omen.
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yawn... what a boring ad, cant say it would make me want to go look
(I quite like iofotos dinosaur they could have at least made it bigger, could have made a decent ad with that image some 'snappy' text with a snappy dinosaur, * I could think of a couple dozen ideas with that image (a couple of them are even half decent :)
Phil
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It occurred to me lately that no new stock agency really made it after 2005.
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Some cool, young art director has seen the light again.
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It occurred to me lately that no new stock agency really made it after 2005.
StockXpert, or not? When did they start?
Regards,
Adelaide
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It occurred to me lately that no new stock agency really made it after 2005.
StockXpert, or not? When did they start?
Regards,
Adelaide
Some time during 2005. A friend of mine advised me to join StockXpert the autumn of 2005. I didn't then. Thought microstock was a bad deal, but look at me now :D
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I joined in Feb or Mar 2006, and it was a very new site. I have images under #80000.
Regards,
Adelaide