Duncan_Andison

Tongue and cheek really :-D ... that's when the % drops to 40%. If I see a flurry of sales popping up after those dates it will raise an eyebrow. Normally get 10-20 sales a month but nothing as yet!

Same here.... no doubt it will be resolved by the 21st/22nd of February.

You should be more than fine with the i7. I have heard the i9 can overheat but can't confirm 100%. I use A7riii's and process stills and 4k footage on a 2015 15" 16gb i7 when I'm away from my Mac Pro so the 2018 should be no problem, especially with 32gb ram. If you use it as a workstation attached to a monitor, get one of those laptops stands with the fan in the base that takes power from a USB... not only does it lift the laptop screen to a nice level as a 2nd monitor but, it also helps keep the temperatures down on the laptop when processing footage and renders.

Exactly.... and Alamy wouldn't be the first to push an option that results in more $'s for them.

I'm happy some are happy with the outcome and that it works for them. But, it does seem funny that we were told one minute they were taking X away.... then they tell us we can have X back provided we we only deal with Alamy and suddenly they are fantastic again?!?! For myself, looking at the licence fees dropping in so far this month from Alamy, then taking off Alamy's/distributors slice, I just can't see justify being exclusive here. The last half dozen sales this month doesn't even cover 1hrs worth of sales elsewhere. If I'm to stay in business I need to spread the risk and diversify rather than placing images with just one agency. Will I continue to submit to Alamy?!?.... hard to say. I may upload what I've been sitting on for a while and then call it a day here for now and see where the fees go but they're looking more like micro fees but without the volume.

Very much so. When it comes to illustrations, motion graphics etc I can produce imagery that is of a very high standard but after software, only cost is time. This of course is more of a commercial rather than editorial imagery though and, why for the most part I only submit some stuff here. Edit... I think we maybe moving away from the original topic (regarding scorecards etc) I'd hate for this to be closed down

Haha... yeah, exactly. I try to work on a "zero cost to shoot" policy. Of course, I've invested in various pieces of software for motion/stills graphics etc but once they've been paid for, time is my main expense. A few props here and there and that's it. I would never pay to go to XYZ to just to take photos for stock. Takes too long to recoup costs before making a profit.

Exactly, but that should be by submitting better quality images with better quality keyboarding etc rather than trying to workout % of this multiplied by this/ that and the other over time with a weighting of XYZ subject to client needs. As photographers, we should focus on the product and how we keyword it.

I'd imagine CTR will be one of the variables in a search. As to what the weighting of that variable, only Alamy will know. This is the thing. A lot of the variables in a search algorithm will be a numerical value. Image views - what % of images views of this image result in sales.... what % of the sales were editorial/commercial.... is the client an editorial / commercial client..... and so on and so on. To help get the right image in front of the client there will be many of these types of questions being asked that will result in the right image landing in front of the right client.... or at least, that is the goal. If contributors know the variables then they can influence the results rather than relying on the images previous performance / history as well as the clients buying patterns determining the final position. Every contributor wants to be at the top of the search so there has to be way to determine the position of each image and this will inevitably be based on image performance and client needs/history... a scorecard will use a selection of variables that will do this form them.

No. The problem you're facing / confusing is the difference between search scorecard and search policy. Two entirely separate things. The scorecard will rank images based on their performance, history, age and other AI learning variables. Policy would be.... images need to be the correct size, right cameras, color space, must be keyword and have all required releases etc Contributors need to know the policy but not the scorecard. Good behaviour will be following policy and it is not expected for contributors to understand or, need to learn all variables in a scorecard design.

Hi Mark. I used to work as a Credit Scoring Analyst for12 years before going full time photographer, designing scoring systems and applications. It's industry practice not to reveal this data as people will game the system... human nature. If you tell people what you want to hear, well, that's all your going to hear.

This will never happen, and rightly so. Once you publish how images are ranked it will result in gaming of the system. People will tinker, correctly or otherwise, images so they fit what is being looked for in the search. This results in each image having more or less the same rank and no there'll be no way to define which image should be at the top. For a search Algorithm, scorecard to work it has to be undisclosed and only then will it be affective. If you tell 100 people to choose a random number between 1-100 and that one of these numbers will be picked out for a prize, you'll get a randomised mix. If you tell them the winning number is likely to be between 1-5 then there won't be many selecting anything else other than those numbers. You'll either be splitting the winnings between the 100 or fighting over them.

Agree 100%..... sort of confirms they just took it for granted that they could take money off contributors and that they'd just roll over.

Maybe some but I know there are quite a few that submit to other editorial agencies. It will come down to how much Alamy makes for them. Given the squeeze on fees and Alamy's willingness to cut commissions it would be a brave individual to place all your stock eggs in this particular basket. Alamy would have to come up with a good package and that, may or may not, offset anything they may make from those left at 40%..... if they're the smaller group in terms of image volumes. Especially as it will be the 40%'ers that will be funding Alamy's bright ideas.

That is another risk and there is no way to know or, guarantee it won't happen. No agency publishes the variables used to determine search position as this would leave them open to people gaming the system.