BHZ changed for the first time in years

[Steve Dorey]

Hi All

I don't know how many of you still use bhz to measure your position in searches.

I'm a bit of a bean-counter so I have measured my different pseudonyms on the 1st of every month since 2007.

(It's a bit sad really)!

Anyway, today I have noticed the first significant change in the position of some of my pseudonyms since 2017.

(Alamy used to update them every 100 days or so).

Has anyone else noticed a change?

 

[geogphotos]

31 minutes ago, M.Chapman said:

Obviously Alamy can do whatever they want. But it's hardly a sound basis for long term collaboration if a contributor can steadily build a collection of images that are selling well, only to find Alamy then change their rank so that their images are less likely to be seen.... Alamy's lack of transparency on the contributor ranking system has always been a concern for me as it means that they could suddenly change my ranking and hence income, without any consultation or explanation.

 

Mark

 

 

 

Your concerns may be very valid. Who knows? 

 

Alamy does not offer transparency. It offers a platform for images to be licensed. It is a business and obviously our choice whether to take part.

 

At one stage of the business Alamy portrayed itself as the 'photographer's friend' and many of us were enticed by that. Those days are long over. 

 

Yes, of course, Alamy will change the ranking system as they see fit without consultation or explanation. That was never promised. 

Edited Thursday at 21:22 by geogphotos

[Reimar]

I thought I'd check another image in my top pseudo with a BHZ supertag to see where it lands.  As I recall, they used to be quite close to each other.  This one landed on page 3 instead of 7 when including RF images since I forgot to make sure I picked a RM image.  More testing to come....

[Reimar]

Just to finish that thought:  a RM image previously sold and sold again yesterday placed on page 3 rather than page 6 for an image that hasn't sold for years.  So in addition to pseudo rank, individual image CTR/sold status must be having an effect.  Last time I looked many years ago individual images of a pseudo clustered around the same page.

[wiskerke]

23 hours ago, Reimar said:

I thought I'd check another image in my top pseudo with a BHZ supertag to see where it lands.  As I recall, they used to be quite close to each other.  This one landed on page 3 instead of 7 when including RF images since I forgot to make sure I picked a RM image.  More testing to come....

 

2 hours ago, Reimar said:

Just to finish that thought:  a RM image previously sold and sold again yesterday placed on page 3 rather than page 6 for an image that hasn't sold for years.  So in addition to pseudo rank, individual image CTR/sold status must be having an effect.  Last time I looked many years ago individual images of a pseudo clustered around the same page.

 

So BHZ still has it's value: as a testing ground to answer questions such as this.

Because the algo has gotten much more complicated, testing has become more complicated also.

Try the same method for the keywords that sold your image.

 

wim

[geogphotos]

1 hour ago, wiskerke said:

 

 

So BHZ still has it's value: as a testing ground to answer questions such as this.

Because the algo has gotten much more complicated, testing has become more complicated also.

Try the same method for the keywords that sold your image.

 

wim

 

 

The same sort of testing of image rank - what difference does it make if I add a Supertag, what happens if I remove the tag completely and leave it in caption only -  can surely be done more effectively using real life searches against other images that won't have made the same changes overnight. 

 

I must admit that I don't get around to adding Supertags and just hope for the best. 

Edited Saturday at 17:04 by geogphotos

[John Mitchell]

4 hours ago, Reimar said:

Just to finish that thought:  a RM image previously sold and sold again yesterday placed on page 3 rather than page 6 for an image that hasn't sold for years.  So in addition to pseudo rank, individual image CTR/sold status must be having an effect.  Last time I looked many years ago individual images of a pseudo clustered around the same page.

 

I haven't done any testing, but I think you're correct. In my experience, image sold status has a big effect when it comes to placement of individual images -- i.e. if an image has been licensed, it is much more likely to appear on the first page of relevant search results.