iStockphoto, launches editorial collection, enhances search tools
iStockphoto is launching a new "editorial collection" dedicated to news organisations and bloggers
Author: Olivier Laurent, with Tommy Bassom
14 Dec 2010 Tags: Istockphoto
iStockphoto has announced that in the new year it will be launching a new editorial collection to serve the image needs of news organisations. The move follows a similar foray into news photography by Alamy.
iStockphoto says that the editorial images submitted to the collection won't be subject to the same guidelines as iStockphoto's main collection - and "will be ideal for news outlets, publishers, mags and bloggers," it claims. "For contributors, it's an additional revenue stream and provides customers with access to more great imagery," says iStockphoto.
While the new collection will only be available to customers in early 2011, iStockphoto is already inviting its contributors to submit images.
The new collection comes on the heels of iStockphoto's new search enhancements, announced earlier this week. The changes, the stock agency claims, "make finding the perfect image easier than ever."
iStockphoto has reformulated its algorithms drawing on its localised search system, which sorts searches into globally relevant results. For example, if someone in Britain used the keyword "money", the results would display images such as pound signs, British currency and euros. A different set of results would be created for someone in America using the same keyword; a US search would generate American concepts of "money", says iStockphoto.
Alongside the localised search, iStockphoto is also using an advanced faceted query system where customers can search for precise qualities in image and audio content. These include file type and size, artist, orientation, upload date, music genre and audio mood/duration.
Although it is impossible for the company to know exactly what any one of its seven million users may be searching for, the localised and faceted search tool could shorten the amount of time people spend searching for images.
Speaking to BJP, Jay Boehm of iStockphoto, says: "We are very serious about spreading our influence in the market; in order to do that we have to be less American. We want to become the place for people to go in Europe, which is currently the case in the US."
For more information, visit istockphoto.com.
Comments
One wonders what sort of price they plan to put on the pictures? Sensible or the usual unsustainable rubbish that we have become accustomed to from them. The editorial industry is in a bad enough state as it is without them making it even worse.
Depressing really. At least Alamy offer the photographer something approaching 'fair'. Dreamstime and Shutterstock offer editorial images and you can expect to be paid around $0.25c for a XS image.
Microstock began as an image dump for amateurs, the professionals became involved and amateurs left, then the prices hit rock bottom but the professionals remained. Subs are even worse now - seeing a high-res XL image going for 25c, it's depressing.
A recent incident involving TIME using an image of a jar full of pennies for their front cover perhaps demonstrates the nature of Microstock. The image was bought for around $15.00. Time has a massive circulation and an advertising revenue to match. The end result was good for everyone but the photographer. Royalty Free has let the gene out of the bottle. The fact that microstock are now going to attack editorial is hardly surprising. I wonder what the response will be from AP, Reuters and Getty?
This article missed the real reason for this changeover in search: the company has added more "premium" images and eliminated the former Advanced Search option to weed these out. Now, it advertises images "as low as" about $3 for extra small, but in order to find those, you have to manually sift through tons of images you're asked to pay $80 or more for an extra small. Overnight, iStockPhoto went from being the friend of the little guy to a "big-business only" kind of site.
Rebel Satellite, thanks for the other suggestions. I've been emailing iStock, but they haven't deemed me worthy of a response; I suppose the paltry $300 a year I spend with them is nothing compared to their corporate accounts and doesn't merit me a reply. Pity I just paid another $120 for credits, but when those are used up I'll explore options with some of those other stock photography companies. I can't be bothered to spend a half hour looking for a picture that doesn't cost an arm and a leg when it used to take two minutes.
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