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Perhaps Alamy's illustrious James West would like to make a blog about this and other perceived problems that we, the contributors of images to his library, are finding and explain what they are doing.

 

Allan

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Here is something that may affect image placement that I haven't heard discussed before.

 

There is a new tab in AIM whereby one can select for an image "Primary Category" and "Secondary Category" e.g., Travel, Business, Concepts, etc.

 

Why would Alamy have added this? Most likely so that clients could filter their searches, for example if one searches "New York" and doesn't want to see the pictures of New York Strip Steak that come up, they could select the category "Travel," and if presumably the steak images are categorizied as "Food and Drink," those images would be lowered in a search of New York "Travel."

 

However, Alamy can use this to filter pictures on it's own, and in fact I am told by Alamy Contributor Relations that if a picture is categorized as "Travel," it may be placed lower than another picture based on the "Date Taken" field, with the idea that for travel pictures at least a more recent image is more "relevant."

 

So, if you have older travel images that still sell well, you may want to leave the "Primary Category" tab empty, for fear that the age of the picture may cause it to be pushed down in results.

 

Patrick

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Here is something that may affect image placement that I haven't heard discussed before.

 

There is a new tab in AIM whereby one can select for an image "Primary Category" and "Secondary Category" e.g., Travel, Business, Concepts, etc.

 

Why would Alamy have added this? Most likely so that clients could filter their searches, for example if one searches "New York" and doesn't want to see the pictures of New York Strip Steak that come up, they could select the category "Travel," and if presumably the steak images are categorizied as "Food and Drink," those images would be lowered in a search of New York "Travel."

 

However, Alamy can use this to filter pictures on it's own, and in fact I am told by Alamy Contributor Relations that if a picture is categorized as "Travel," it may be placed lower than another picture based on the "Date Taken" field, with the idea that for travel pictures at least a more recent image is more "relevant."

 

So, if you have older travel images that still sell well, you may want to leave the "Primary Category" tab empty, for fear that the age of the picture may cause it to be pushed down in results.

 

Patrick

Thanks for the heads-up. That's a few of mine with the category switched back off, then.

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Here is something that may affect image placement that I haven't heard discussed before.

 

There is a new tab in AIM whereby one can select for an image "Primary Category" and "Secondary Category" e.g., Travel, Business, Concepts, etc.

 

Why would Alamy have added this? Most likely so that clients could filter their searches, for example if one searches "New York" and doesn't want to see the pictures of New York Strip Steak that come up, they could select the category "Travel," and if presumably the steak images are categorizied as "Food and Drink," those images would be lowered in a search of New York "Travel."

 

However, Alamy can use this to filter pictures on it's own, and in fact I am told by Alamy Contributor Relations that if a picture is categorized as "Travel," it may be placed lower than another picture based on the "Date Taken" field, with the idea that for travel pictures at least a more recent image is more "relevant."

 

So, if you have older travel images that still sell well, you may want to leave the "Primary Category" tab empty, for fear that the age of the picture may cause it to be pushed down in results.

 

Patrick

 

but that still doesn't explain why my own image moves down if I change one of its tags to a supertag.

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Here is something that may affect image placement that I haven't heard discussed before.

 

There is a new tab in AIM whereby one can select for an image "Primary Category" and "Secondary Category" e.g., Travel, Business, Concepts, etc.

 

Why would Alamy have added this? Most likely so that clients could filter their searches, for example if one searches "New York" and doesn't want to see the pictures of New York Strip Steak that come up, they could select the category "Travel," and if presumably the steak images are categorizied as "Food and Drink," those images would be lowered in a search of New York "Travel."

 

However, Alamy can use this to filter pictures on it's own, and in fact I am told by Alamy Contributor Relations that if a picture is categorized as "Travel," it may be placed lower than another picture based on the "Date Taken" field, with the idea that for travel pictures at least a more recent image is more "relevant."

 

So, if you have older travel images that still sell well, you may want to leave the "Primary Category" tab empty, for fear that the age of the picture may cause it to be pushed down in results.

 

Patrick

 

but that still doesn't explain why my own image moves down if I change one of its tags to a supertag.

 

 

No It doesn't explain the Tag-Supertag issue.

 

But, with all the testing that's going on, it may be helpful to keep this in mind as photos categorized as "Travel" (or other categories) "may" get lower rankings if they are old. Usually stock agencies categorize travel pictures as "old" if they are more than five years old. I still get good sales on travel images that are older than that. But if Alamy are going to demote them based on "date taken", I may remove the "Travel" category from them.

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Here is something that may affect image placement that I haven't heard discussed before.

 

There is a new tab in AIM whereby one can select for an image "Primary Category" and "Secondary Category" e.g., Travel, Business, Concepts, etc.

 

Why would Alamy have added this? Most likely so that clients could filter their searches, for example if one searches "New York" and doesn't want to see the pictures of New York Strip Steak that come up, they could select the category "Travel," and if presumably the steak images are categorizied as "Food and Drink," those images would be lowered in a search of New York "Travel."

 

However, Alamy can use this to filter pictures on it's own, and in fact I am told by Alamy Contributor Relations that if a picture is categorized as "Travel," it may be placed lower than another picture based on the "Date Taken" field, with the idea that for travel pictures at least a more recent image is more "relevant."

 

So, if you have older travel images that still sell well, you may want to leave the "Primary Category" tab empty, for fear that the age of the picture may cause it to be pushed down in results.

 

Patrick

 

I might be being a bit dense here but how does the client select the category "Travel" when doing a search for New York or whatever?  I don't see a filter for those categories, not yet anyway.

 

Pearl

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I think you are correct Pearl: there is no feature like that now for client searches, but because Alamy has added that feature to the annotations in AIM, I am speculating as to possible future uses for it. They are not putting it there for no reason, presumably.

 

One of the uses for it currently, I am led to believe by Alamy Contributor Relations, is that Alamy "may" use it to rank images through a combination of category and date taken. In this instance, pictures that are categorized as "Travel" can then be further sorted by "Date Taken." Not perhaps by the client yet, but by the search engine in returning images in a specific order, for instance more recent travel images before older ones.

 

Patrick

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Here is something that may affect image placement that I haven't heard discussed before.

 

There is a new tab in AIM whereby one can select for an image "Primary Category" and "Secondary Category" e.g., Travel, Business, Concepts, etc.

 

Why would Alamy have added this? Most likely so that clients could filter their searches, for example if one searches "New York" and doesn't want to see the pictures of New York Strip Steak that come up, they could select the category "Travel," and if presumably the steak images are categorizied as "Food and Drink," those images would be lowered in a search of New York "Travel."

 

However, Alamy can use this to filter pictures on it's own, and in fact I am told by Alamy Contributor Relations that if a picture is categorized as "Travel," it may be placed lower than another picture based on the "Date Taken" field, with the idea that for travel pictures at least a more recent image is more "relevant."

 

So, if you have older travel images that still sell well, you may want to leave the "Primary Category" tab empty, for fear that the age of the picture may cause it to be pushed down in results.

 

Patrick

 

I might be being a bit dense here but how does the client select the category "Travel" when doing a search for New York or whatever?  I don't see a filter for those categories, not yet anyway.

 

Pearl

 

 

Scroll down on the Alamy home page to access categories. However the categories there don't match with those in the new MI. :wacko:  Why am I not surprised...

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I think you are correct Pearl: there is no feature like that now for client searches, but because Alamy has added that feature to the annotations in AIM, I am speculating as to possible future uses for it. They are not putting it there for no reason, presumably.

 

One of the uses for it currently, I am led to believe by Alamy Contributor Relations, is that Alamy "may" use it to rank images through a combination of category and date taken. In this instance, pictures that are categorized as "Travel" can then be further sorted by "Date Taken." Not perhaps by the client yet, but by the search engine in returning images in a specific order, for instance more recent travel images before older ones.

 

Patrick

 

Alamy is known for putting things for no reason, DISCOVERABILITY is one example.

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Here is something that may affect image placement that I haven't heard discussed before.

 

There is a new tab in AIM whereby one can select for an image "Primary Category" and "Secondary Category" e.g., Travel, Business, Concepts, etc.

 

Why would Alamy have added this? Most likely so that clients could filter their searches, for example if one searches "New York" and doesn't want to see the pictures of New York Strip Steak that come up, they could select the category "Travel," and if presumably the steak images are categorizied as "Food and Drink," those images would be lowered in a search of New York "Travel."

 

However, Alamy can use this to filter pictures on it's own, and in fact I am told by Alamy Contributor Relations that if a picture is categorized as "Travel," it may be placed lower than another picture based on the "Date Taken" field, with the idea that for travel pictures at least a more recent image is more "relevant."

 

So, if you have older travel images that still sell well, you may want to leave the "Primary Category" tab empty, for fear that the age of the picture may cause it to be pushed down in results.

 

Patrick

 

I might be being a bit dense here but how does the client select the category "Travel" when doing a search for New York or whatever?  I don't see a filter for those categories, not yet anyway.

 

Pearl

 

 

Scroll down on the Alamy home page to access categories. However the categories there don't match with those in the new MI. :wacko:  Why am I not surprised...

 

 

Yes I am well aware of those categories which have been there for several years now.  They are of images hand picked by Alamy and do not tie in with the general search.  And as you say, the categories don't match those offered to us in the IM.

 

Pearl

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I have done a bit more experimentation with supertags.  My second best selling pseudo was top line of p2 for BHZ with BHZ as the first supertag.  I changed that to an ordinary tag and it is now half way down p10.  BHZ is only in the image once and I have made no changes to any other pseudos.

 

I have now changed the tag back to a supertag so I'll see where it ends up after the next website update.  It will be interesting to see if it is restored to the exact same position or not given that BHZ is now the last supertag.

 

Pearl

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Very briefly, as mentioned earlier in this thread, I tried the tag to supertag experiment. I removed the supertags back to just the one tag status and the two lower of my pseudos returned to where they were. However, the pseudo that was on page 9 and went to page 21 when I added the supertag has now gone up to page 4 after removing the supertag. This distraction is even more confusing!

 

Jim. ;)   

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I have done a bit more experimentation with supertags.  My second best selling pseudo was top line of p2 for BHZ with BHZ as the first supertag.  I changed that to an ordinary tag and it is now half way down p10.  BHZ is only in the image once and I have made no changes to any other pseudos.

 

I have now changed the tag back to a supertag so I'll see where it ends up after the next website update.  It will be interesting to see if it is restored to the exact same position or not given that BHZ is now the last supertag.

 

Pearl

 

The image is now on p2 but lower half of the page instead of line 1 as BHZ is now the last supertag rather than the first.  This upholds my suspicion that supertags are working more as they should.  

 

In all this searching that I have done recently I have also noticed that many of the images coming up early in the search results do not have the search term in the caption making me suspect that this has less weighting again.  Has anyone else noticed this?

 

Pearl

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I have done a bit more experimentation with supertags.  My second best selling pseudo was top line of p2 for BHZ with BHZ as the first supertag.  I changed that to an ordinary tag and it is now half way down p10.  BHZ is only in the image once and I have made no changes to any other pseudos.

 

I have now changed the tag back to a supertag so I'll see where it ends up after the next website update.  It will be interesting to see if it is restored to the exact same position or not given that BHZ is now the last supertag.

 

Pearl

 

The image is now on p2 but lower half of the page instead of line 1 as BHZ is now the last supertag rather than the first.  This upholds my suspicion that supertags are working more as they should.  

 

In all this searching that I have done recently I have also noticed that many of the images coming up early in the search results do not have the search term in the caption making me suspect that this has less weighting again.  Has anyone else noticed this?

 

Pearl

 

 

Yes, I'm also seeing that images that come up first do not have the search term in the caption, which is different from what we were seeing before.

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I don't understand this inconsistency.  My BHZ results follow Geoff's experience, not Pearl's.  A BHZ supertag puts my main pseudo on page 21, but a BHZ regular tag bumps it up to page 6.

I'll be testing duplicate tags and caption keywords again in the days to come, but I'm betting both those will move things to page 1 again.

 

I will admit that the search algorithm is not giving the kind of fixed result we had before.  The micro position of images have been moving around.  For example, my second tier pseudos used to go from page 23 with a supertag to page 22 with a regular tag.  Now the regular tag bumps them to the bottom of page 21.

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Different algorithms at one time?  Different results for different people?  The new search engine must be a lot smarter than me.

 

Pearl, it makes me think I would like to know what position I see your BHZ image at and if it's different from what you see. 

Could you post the image and it's current annotation regarding BHZ (eg. tag or supertag)?  Cheers

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Thanks Kumar.  I see the headphones p2 position 62, but the pumpkin in the same position as you.

So no explanation there for why supertags work for Pearl and not others.

 

Pearl, is it true that the pumpkin has bhz as a tag and the headphones as a supertag?  I assume that if you switch the tags, the image positions change too?

thanks

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Thanks Kumar.  I see the headphones p2 position 62, but the pumpkin in the same position as you.

So no explanation there for why supertags work for Pearl and not others.

 

Pearl, is it true that the pumpkin has bhz as a tag and the headphones as a supertag?  I assume that if you switch the tags, the image positions change too?

thanks

 

 

Reimar I haven't changed my pumpkin at all as it is in a different account as well as a different pseudo. However I have also been changing my sea pinks image ET3TX3 which is presently on p7 last image on second to last row @ 120 per page. This has gone from p23 and back to p7 by changing BHZ from last tag to last supertag. This is the same account as the headphones but my best performing pseudo (headphones are in 2nd best). The headphones now have BHZ as a supertag again as explained previously.

 

Pearl

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I have a theory -- call it the "Search Engine Indigestion Theory" -- that the fewer keywords / tags an image has, the more likely it will be that supertags work well. Conversely, the more "discoverable" an image is -- i.e. the more tags it has -- the less likely it is that supertags will do their intended job.

 

Has anyone tested this shaky hypothesis?

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Yes Pearl, the pinks are on page 7, but on row 5, second place (In other words position 62 on page 7), so I'm not seeing anything substantially different from you in the search results.

So your second-best pseudo is on page 2, while your best pseudo is on page 7.  My BHZ results at least still follow pseudo rank in terms of sales etc.

 

As an aside, I don't understand how two images with the exact same pseudo name on display (headphones and pumpkin) can be in different accounts and different actual pseudonyms.  Will the mysteries never end!

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Yes Pearl, the pinks are on page 7, but on row 5, second place (In other words position 62 on page 7), so I'm not seeing anything substantially different from you in the search results.

So your second-best pseudo is on page 2, while your best pseudo is on page 7.  My BHZ results at least still follow pseudo rank in terms of sales etc.

 

As an aside, I don't understand how two images with the exact same pseudo name on display (headphones and pumpkin) can be in different accounts and different actual pseudonyms.  Will the mysteries never end!

 

Re the second account.  It is possible to have more than one account based on different email addresses.  I have a separate login and get separate payments for the second account.  I set it up originally for more creative images as I was going to use it to apply to be in the creative collection but then Alamy stopped accepting requests before I got around to it. I have moved most of the images out but left a few there in case I need it in the future but I don't tend to log in much.

 

Some contributors set up second accounts when the new forum was introduced so they could hide their images from forum members.  You don't have to upload any images to it so your image count shows as 0.

 

Pearl

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So what I think you are saying is you can have the exact same pseudonym name from two different accounts. 

That could mean that two photographers could accidentally  (or intentionally) pick the same pseudonym that appears in image license credits.  I didn't know that.

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