John Mitchell Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 As the Alamy collection continues to grow almost exponentially, a question that continues to preoccupy me is what will be the ultimate fate of the thousands (I'm being kind here) of images that likely will never be leased or even zoomed. I noticed recently that a certain stock agency, whose name I won't mention, has an "Undiscovered" tab in its search results. The images that come up when a buyer clicks this tab are, I believe, ones that have never been downloaded. I wonder if a similar tab (with a different name, of course) might work for Alamy. No doubt there are plenty of hidden gems in the depths of Alamy's database. This might be a way of unearthing some of them. Any thoughts on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morrison Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Yes, a tab called 'Straight to Landfill' might do the trick. Of course, there might be a very good reason why a lot of Alamy pix have never been downloaded... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York Photographer Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I've always thought a Random Button, in addition to creative, relevant and new, would stir up the search results abit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpole Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Do customers know if a image has been used before ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Estall Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Since the vast majority of images here are non-exclusive, any advice from Alamy about sales history would not be conclusive. We were able on just one occasion to grant exclusive rights in a limited sector but that was because I could assure Alamy that the image had not been spread around. Searchers want to be presented with a page or two of attractive suitable images. An option to view the seldom seen images might present a truly awfull page! There are bound be a few gems hidden away but I think they are going to have to stay in limbo. There is already a somewhat randomised presentation from Alamy though how that works is yet another mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Endicott Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 That's a great idea John. This would also provide clients with an opportunity to use an image that is completely unique to them (sometimes an important feature in the advertising business) which generally brings higher fees associated with that scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 'Creative', 'relevant' and 'irrelevant' tabs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Do customers know if a image has been used before ? At present, I don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Yes, a tab called 'Straight to Landfill' might do the trick. Of course, there might be a very good reason why a lot of Alamy pix have never been downloaded... That's pretty funny. You have a point of course. Still, there are no doubt a lot of deserving images that will probably never see the light of day. I don't imagine most clients dig deeper than the first couple of pages of search results. This seems like a bit of a waste, but perhaps that's just the way things are destined to be in the age of digital stockpiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 The tabs should read New, Creative, Relevant and Ed Rooney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Yes, a tab called 'Straight to Landfill' might do the trick. Of course, there might be a very good reason why a lot of Alamy pix have never been downloaded... That's pretty funny. You have a point of course. Still, there are no doubt a lot of deserving images that will probably never see the light of day. I don't imagine most clients dig deeper than the first couple of pages of search results. This seems like a bit of a waste, but perhaps that's just the way things are destined to be in the age of digital stockpiling. I am surprised by how deep people go with searches. I often seen 960 total views and a lot more is not unusual. Mind you I only see the ones where they go that deep, my images don't show with less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 The tabs should read New, Creative, Relevant and Ed Rooney. I'm sure Alamy is "on that," Edo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 I've always thought a Random Button, in addition to creative, relevant and new, would stir up the search results abit How would a random search work exactly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 The tabs should read New, Creative, Relevant and Ed Rooney. Thanks for updating the blog, Ed, and don't forget your notebook too often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Clemson Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Alamy posts here sometimes refer to the 'diversity algorithm' which mixes the search results to ensure they are not dominated by one contributor. I guess this has some kind of impact in the way the OP suggests, though I don't know how deep in the results it goes to find images to mix with the first pages of returned images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Alamy posts here sometimes refer to the 'diversity algorithm' which mixes the search results to ensure they are not dominated by one contributor. I guess this has some kind of impact in the way the OP suggests, though I don't know how deep in the results it goes to find images to mix with the first pages of returned images. I wonder, though, how effective that algorithm will remain as the well continues to get deeper, even bottomless. Perhaps the diversity algorithm could be linked somehow to a "Dig Deeper" tab that would bring up neglected images that might deserve some exposure. Easy question for me to ask since I don't really know anything about this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I've always thought a Random Button, in addition to creative, relevant and new, would stir up the search results abit How would a random search work exactly? Well, you might search for the words 'cozy wood fire' and up would pop pictures Scarlett Johansson. Thanks for visiting and reading, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Richmond Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I've always thought a Random Button, in addition to creative, relevant and new, would stir up the search results abit How would a random search work exactly? Search generates the usual list of suspects, each one is assigned a number, meanwhile a random number generator throws out a number in the list and that, and only that image is displayed. Simple enough to program. But then the buyer, not liking what the Random button has thrown up, hits it again. And again. And again.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York Photographer Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I've always thought a Random Button, in addition to creative, relevant and new, would stir up the search results abit How would a random search work exactly? If it took the previous search (be it new, creative or relevant) and just jumbled up the results returned from that, the potential buyer could then skim through the pages, or hit random again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 How about a red button that just says,'Surprise me!' Total random shuffle of images that have never seen the light of day so to speak. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 if it's going to increase sales, sure . . . but I can't see stirring up the bottom of the pool achieving anything other than . . . well, stirring up the bottom of the pool. Hidden gems there may be, but I'd wager there's exponentially more of the other, and it may not be a good look for a professional photo library to encourage their display. Of course, not being tutored in the arcane arts of licensing a multi-million image collection, I may be totally wrong and it might enhance Alamy's reputation having the bottom of the pool dragged to the top occasionally . . . though I doubt it. As Martin mentioned above, some searchers go very, very deep, and no doubt they'd expect that as they went deeper the relevance and perhaps the quality of images would start to lessen. But if some of those less relevant or lesser quality images were presented at the very beginning of a search, Alamy's collection may start earning a less-than-whatever-it-currently is reputation . . . MTBW. dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York Photographer Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I've got lots of images which have sold well in the past, that are still relevant but buried behind newer pictures, stirring the pot might put them in front of potential customers eyes who haven't got the time to trawl through 10, 15 or 20 pages of 100 results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dov makabaw Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Last week I had a sale for $200 of an image taken Mar 2006 and never clicked or sold before from my non performing pseudo which ranks on the last page of the BHZ search. I would guess that with good key wording buyers will find the image they want. If the want something different they could always start from the last page and work their way back. At the end of the day IMO this issue should be client driven. That said some 50% of my portfolio is non performing so I am for the idea. dov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Last week I had a sale for $200 of an image taken Mar 2006 and never clicked or sold before from my non performing pseudo which ranks on the last page of the BHZ search. I would guess that with good key wording buyers will find the image they want. If the want something different they could always start from the last page and work their way back. At the end of the day IMO this issue should be client driven. That said some 50% of my portfolio is non performing so I am for the idea. dov Dov, 50% of my portfolio is non-performing salewise too, but I can assure you, it's not because of the lack of random search results. The reason is much closer to home, and I'm working on it daily :-) dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 It's a different market place - "undiscovered" is the exception on the site you mention but I image more the rule on the higher priced collection here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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