Category? What is the point.

[Ed_Downunder]

Primary and secondary category. I think about this and pick a category and second category. But what is the point? On the search box for images, there is no selection for a category. Only search terms, that are probably tags or keywords. Can someone explain the point of categories?

[Harry Harrison]

Alamy are the only ones who could explain this and they never have, at least not publicly. They were introduced with the new Alamy Image Manager back in 2016 in the Optional tab which meant that many contributors would need to apply them retrospectively to images uploaded before that time, and of course in any case they are still only optional now. In their pdf instruction manual issued at the time they say "Alamy may use these in the future to point users to specific collections". 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Harry Harrison

[phomme]

I'm not even certain that I am always selecting the right category for my images, but fill it out anyways.

 

[Harry Harrison]

14 minutes ago, phomme said:

I'm not even certain that I am always selecting the right category for my images, but fill it out anyways.

 

That too is a major part of the problem with them, absolutely no feedback loop at all so no one can be sure.

[Colin C]

Interestingly, or otherwise, if you select the primary category it moves the discoverabilty bar along by about 2 mm - if you select the secondary category it has no effect on discoverability

[Harry Harrison]

4 minutes ago, Colin C said:

Interestingly, or otherwise, if you select the primary category it moves the discoverabilty bar along by about 2 mm - if you select the secondary category it has no effect on discoverability

I hadn't noticed that with respect to the secondary category but although I sometimes make the effort to enter a primary category if it's obvious (and it usually isn't) I rarely bother with a secondary. Secondaries have never made sense to me without any explanation of their relevance. Yes, entering primary categories score points when trying to ramp up the idiot discoverability bar.

[Ed_Downunder]

On 12/06/2023 at 16:28, Harry Harrison said:

Alamy are the only ones who could explain this and they never have, at least not publicly. They were introduced with the new Alamy Image Manager back in 2016 in the Optional tab which meant that many contributors would need to apply them retrospectively to images uploaded before that time, and of course in any case they are still only optional now. In their pdf instruction manual issued at the time they say "Alamy may use these in the future to point users to specific collections". 

Thank you, Harry. The PDF was appreciated. It is clear and well written. The discovery bar movement is an interesting observation mentioned by Colin, thank you, Colin. This at least adds a little incentive to take categories seriously. 

[Harry Harrison]

3 hours ago, Ed_Downunder said:

This at least adds a little incentive to take categories seriously. 

Yes, I should say that there is no downside to entering either Primary or Secondary Categories, though there's no obvious upside either apart from, as you say, the Discoverability Bar.

 

To be fair to the Discoverability Bar, its intentions were good, it was (back in 2016) designed to encourage contributors to explore the full gamut of options in the new AIM, including those in the 'optional' tab. I think the major criticism of it now is that it rewards contributors for adding more than 40 keywords/tags even when the subject doesn't merit so many. So, for a McDonald's sign against a blue sky there is no need for a lot of keywords whereas for something from the natural world, with latin names and specific habitats then someone with the correct knowledge (not me) could easily come up with 50 relevant ones, and let's not forget conceptual keywords for even mundane subjects. When I say relevant I mean ones that might sensibly be used by a buyer searching for such an image.

 

There is also the possibility that Alamy might suddenly decide to make use of the categories in some obvious and visible way in which case all those who have diligently entered them will be in a very good position so the 'just in case' argument is valid. Alamy might even tell us what they're for I suppose.

 

As far as I know the Location field is not searchable in the normal way but if the text string that you enter contains either 'UK', 'USA', 'Europe' or 'Australia' then that is uniquely used by the Location filter and your text will also display under your image where it can be indexed by Google.

 

It's worth noting that the model & property questions in the optional tab have taken on a new significance since the new Ultimate, Vital, Uncut & Foundation 'Collections' came in back in June of last year. We were eventually able to deduce that an image would never get into Vital if those questions hadn't been addressed, even if there were no models and no property in the image.