Jill Morgan Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I mentioned to MS the other day about multiple similars (and I mean VERY similar although not 100% the same) that push other photos off the top spots. I also mentioned how there are often such terrible looking photos near the top that this affects decent ones being seen on the first page (I don't mean that they are poor photos in my opinion, but they really are terrible and there is no doubt nobody would ever buy them). Their reply didn't mention either of those things, annoyingly. Alamy should at least take it seriously if it's brought to their attention that there are photos or collections of photos that would in no way pass QC if they had been checked. Remember, Alamy does not edit for content, only technical standards. If there are lots of similars and terrible looking photos (I am assuming you are referring to content, not technical quality) that is the way it goes with the way Alamy QC works. They don't look at every photo submitted in a batch, so it is unlikely they would notice lots of similars. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreign Export Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I can see how many similars can be frustrating and a little irritating - but for me the bigger issue is blatant errors in key wording From my current part of the world , some photogs will keyword an image with all the major cities names and deliberately describe the opera house as the harbour bridge as well Maybe alamy needs more sample audits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 The milk and coin examples are also examples of lack of keywords. Or choice of keywords. One pound coin stack and low fat milk give very different results. Most lack the keywords 1% and [pound sign]1. And there you have one reason for that: I do not have a pound sign on my international keyboard. I have a $ sign. And 1% milk may be a specific British expression: I had never heard of it.It's low fat milk for me (in transatlantic) or in translated dutch: skinny milk (magere melk) or half full milk (halfvolle melk): really weird, I know. Now you know what to look for in the Albert Heijn supermarket in Amsterdam ;-)Maybe I should do a series on weird dutch packages.Like gestampte muisjes that some of us eat for breakfast. (Literally: stamped little mice. No it's not cat food, nor cocaïne.) wim (not my pic) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I agree with you Wim about people's lack of accurate keywords. In both my coins and milk photos I have used full words too and not just the symbol for percent and pounds, which is why there weren't that many results in both cases when searching using the symbols. I have tried searching using full words too though and I still see those awful coins right near the top. 1% milk in England is a fairly new thing that not all stores do. We have semi-skimmed as well as skimmed, and both are lower in fat than pasteurised (which we also call full fat). We've had 1% milk here in Canada for donkey's ages. At least 30 years. Isn't all milk pasteurized? I know here in Canada you need a special license to sell raw milk and it has to be clearly displayed. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I can see how many similars can be frustrating and a little irritating - but for me the bigger issue is blatant errors in key wording From my current part of the world , some photogs will keyword an image with all the major cities names and deliberately describe the opera house as the harbour bridge as well Maybe alamy needs more sample audits I guess the good news is that images that have been deliberately packed with misleading and irrelevant keywords will probably sink into the depths of Alamy's collection, never to be seen again. Or will they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaJ Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Sure. I just didn't want to give examples of particular photos as I don't want to offend anyone. An example of excessive similars can be seen if you search for "1% fat milk" (no quotes) the first result and a further 9 are all pretty much the same. There are also others on that page where there are many different ones all looking close to the same, so that same contributor is taking over the page. There aren't many results in this case so my photo (ET3WWY) is still obvious but it's just an example of the sort of thing I often see. An example of very poor photos can be seen by searching "£1 coin stack". Again in this case there aren't many results and some of mine are still on the first page, but there are several terrible images near the top, particularly 4 by the same contributor that are extremely pale looking and would never pass QC if they were checked. There are many others there too that are very poor quality and are pushing decent photos away from the top. Geoff. Out of curiosity I did a search for the 1% milk term on another agency's site, and that same contributor has a load of multiples there as well. Perhaps with so many thousands of images coming through each day, it's too much work to screen out the multiples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickJ Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 In the US we have 1%, 2%, and Whole milk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 There are 16,603 images on Alamy with graffiti spelled "grafitti" in the keywords. Come on, people -- get your act together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morrison Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 There are 16,603 images on Alamy with graffiti spelled "grafitti" in the keywords. Come on, people -- get your act together. I'd use both spellings... and the same for any other words that people might commonly misspell (mispell? mis-spell?? get wrong)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 There are 16,603 images on Alamy with graffiti spelled "grafitti" in the keywords. Come on, people -- get your act together. I'd use both spellings... and the same for any other words that people might commonly misspell (mispell? mis-spell?? get wrong)... I use both spellings as well. Better not get Edo started on cappuccino, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 There are 16,603 images on Alamy with graffiti spelled "grafitti" in the keywords. Come on, people -- get your act together. I'd use both spellings... and the same for any other words that people might commonly misspell (mispell? mis-spell?? get wrong)... I use both spellings as well. Better not get Edo started on cappuccino, though. Coffee, cofe, coffe, cofee, Java, (Indonesia), jive (dance). Oh Gawd (God, Lord, Lawd, Cockney, London, Bow Bells)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I forgot about whole milk. That's also what we call the normal pasteurised in England. OK, so Ot, it's untrue, but anyway: I cannot find an original here of what we used to have delivered to our door in the '60's: Jersey full fat (cream on the top) Pinta's. Mmmmm... Best I can do on Alamy is a modern equivalent: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 There are 16,603 images on Alamy with graffiti spelled "grafitti" in the keywords. Come on, people -- get your act together. I'd use both spellings... and the same for any other words that people might commonly misspell (mispell? mis-spell?? get wrong)... I use both spellings as well. Better not get Edo started on cappuccino, though. Coffee, cofe, coffe, cofee, Java, (Indonesia), jive (dance). Oh Gawd (God, Lord, Lawd, Cockney, London, Bow Bells)! Un cafecito, por favor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I'm thinking of using only the correct spelling . . . sort of, wouldn't license one of my images to someone who can't even spell . . . dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 My thoughts exactly, DD. And frankly, thinking of Alamy's buyers as people who can't spell, can't bother to turn on a spellchecker, and don't know or care, is insulting to them. As far as using "both spellings" is concerned, there is just one spelling. If we decide to put in wrong spellings . . . why stop at two? Maybe we should just put in the alphabet and let buyers choose their own combinations? Early in my life I was diagnosed with dyslexia, so I must work a bit harder not to make spelling mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morrison Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I'm thinking of using only the correct spelling . . . sort of, wouldn't license one of my images to someone who can't even spell . . . dd People who can't spell very well can still spot a good pic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreign Export Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 I can see how many similars can be frustrating and a little irritating - but for me the bigger issue is blatant errors in key wording From my current part of the world , some photogs will keyword an image with all the major cities names and deliberately describe the opera house as the harbour bridge as well Maybe alamy needs more sample audits I guess the good news is that images that have been deliberately packed with misleading and irrelevant keywords will probably sink into the depths of Alamy's collection, never to be seen again. Or will they? Hopefully in time - but for now many are on page 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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