losdemas Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Bit of a cheek this, I thought. Doing searches for towns/villages, Google throws up a little sidebar giving an overview of the location c/w a snippet from Wikipedia, the current weather, etc. along with a mini-map which links to Google Maps....and a photo thumbnail. It appears that they've now started using Alamy thumbnails. Example here. Is this good or bad? Promotion for our images or just a handy link for abusers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York Photographer Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 I've noticed that on several searches. Typical google, using other people intellectual property to embellish their products to their customers, without paying anything for it, and then selling advertising around it! Great business model for them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewP Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 If you click on the image and then click on the 'Visit' link it takes you directly to the Alamy page for that image. Google will argue that using an Alamy image within their search results will be good for Alamy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Ashmore Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 1 hour ago, AndrewP said: If you click on the image and then click on the 'Visit' link it takes you directly to the Alamy page for that image. Google will argue that using an Alamy image within their search results will be good for Alamy. And you can also click 'Save image as...' and in the case of the example cited by the original poster, I think the alamy watermark would unfortunately be easy to remove :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Kyhn Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Matt Ashmore said: And you can also click 'Save image as...' and in the case of the example cited by the original poster, I think the alamy watermark would unfortunately be easy to remove :-( You can save watermarked images from the Alamy website too. I do indeed understand the point that there's something dubious about Google making use of copyrighted material in this way. But in practice, does it make that much of a difference, except that the images in question get extra exposure (though I have no idea if this results in extra sales)? People who bother to save a watermarked image probably wouldn't have spent money on a legit version of it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Ashmore Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Thomas Kyhn said: You can save watermarked images from the Alamy website too. I do indeed understand the point that there's something dubious about Google making use of copyrighted material in this way. But in practice, does it make that much of a difference, except that the images in question get extra exposure (though I have no idea if this results in extra sales)? People who bother to save a watermarked image probably wouldn't have spent money on a legit version of it anyway. Alamy have fairly recently blocked the "save image as..." in browsers from their own site but there is no protection against people taking a screenshot. But yes, you make a valid point. (I guess there are the people that still don't realise that you can't just take pictures off the internet (and might pay if they did realise) ... but i guess they are a minority). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York Photographer Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Thomas Kyhn said: You can save watermarked images from the Alamy website too. I do indeed understand the point that there's something dubious about Google making use of copyrighted material in this way. But in practice, does it make that much of a difference, except that the images in question get extra exposure (though I have no idea if this results in extra sales)? People who bother to save a watermarked image probably wouldn't have spent money on a legit version of it anyway. The value to google, is their users can picture the place, making google's services more valuable to users, and encouraging them to use google more. They need to pay for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Kyhn Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 3 minutes ago, York Photographer said: The value to google, is their users can picture the place, making google's services more valuable to users, and encouraging them to use google more. Yes, that's definitely a valid point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnapper Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Matt Ashmore said: Alamy have fairly recently blocked the "save image as..." no need to 'save as..'. Drag and drop onto the desktop works fine..... km Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 1 hour ago, York Photographer said: The value to google, is their users can picture the place, making google's services more valuable to users, and encouraging them to use google more. They need to pay for that! Yes, indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Maybe, just maybe, Alamy have given Google associate status. You know where you get 30% of a sale if it comes from someone who looked at it on Google. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 3 hours ago, Niels Quist said: Yes, indeed. I don't see how this is any different to scam websites copying watermarked images from Alamy, which I ask them to take down if there is contact information available (and we can ask Alamy to pursue if the website falls within their remit). Yes, it may be good advertising, but it's also copyright theft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 20 hours ago, Allan Bell said: Maybe, just maybe, Alamy have given Google associate status. You know where you get 30% of a sale if it comes from someone who looked at it on Google. Allan That's what I wondered, maybe Alamy could clarify if this is the case, and if not what their position is on Google profiting from our works. Interesting AndrewP's post above which said clicking on the image takes you right to the Alamy page for that image. Often clicking on a link to an image via Google takes you not to that image's page, but a search on which the file which was clicked on doesn't necessarily feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Ashmore Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 19 hours ago, Allan Bell said: Maybe, just maybe, Alamy have given Google associate status. You know where you get 30% of a sale if it comes from someone who looked at it on Google. Allan You mean we get 30% of the nothing that the person that saw the image on Google paid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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