We will soon be implementing a new keyword screening system, to help combat keyword spam.

This system will do several keyword checks before submitting an image, one of which will be the limiting of how many keywords you can submit.

You will soon be limited to a maximum of 15 keywords per image.

Any image can be described in 15 keywords. If you find yourself using 15,20, or 30 keywords per image - then you are pushing it. Remember: keywords should only DIRECTLY DESCRIBE your image.

Click here for the forum thread.

Regards,
Adelaide

Thanks for posting the link Madelaide  Good to be aware of these kinds of changes.

I might be in the minority, but I don't mind the change. Anything that cuts down on keyword spamming is a good thing. Just about all of the sites have started cracking down on spamming so I suppose Can Stock is just following the trend.

i would be for it if it was the standard but when the standard is 30 or 50 is creates problems.

If you don't want to create a lot of work for yourself then you would have to give all your images only 15 keywords.  This just might encourage me to upload as many images as i can before the keyword cut off starts.

I try to key in the keywords with most relevance first. That way, when there's an agency with limitations, I just delete the last keywords after the system has told me how many to delete.

I think that we'll see more of this. Even with 15 keywords, many photographers with lack of fantasy and/or language knowledge will fill up the last ones with words they think fits, but that don't.

I agree with Epyxx. I always have the most relevant keywords in the first dozen or so. It saves loads of time on sites like Fotolia, whose search is slanted towards the first few keywords. It will make uploading to CS a piece of cake.

I am all for a keyword limit. The spamming is getting ridiculous, and it must be putting buyers off.

epixx,

I always put more relevant keywords first, but I also add all synonyms for these main keywords. 

dbvirago,

The Keyword helper was one of the commnets I made at CanStockPhoto.  It is indeed nonsense.

Karimala,

I totally agree with fighting keyword spam, but a large number of keywords is not necessarily spam.  Some keywords help refine searches.  I think they're using a hammer to kill an ant.

Regards,
Adelaide

In principle I am not against the limitation of 15 keywords.  Problem is that I prepare my images principally for the top earning sites and embed my keyword in the IPTC data - invariably more than 15 keywords.  With images ready and keyworded I do occasionally upload to CanStockPhoto because it does not take a lot of time.  However, if this now implies that I will have to reduce my keywords especially for CanStockPhoto I am afraid it is bye, bye CanStockPhoto. It will simply not be worth the time and effort for a site with such meager sales.

I'm all for limits on key words, and have been ranting against spamming for a long time.  If you're searching for a "leaf" you won't search "green" and the word green can always be included in the description.  Right now, searches on most of the sites turn up about 50% irrelevant on each page.  Pretty frustrating.  A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand words doesn't make a picture.

Karimala,

I totally agree with fighting keyword spam, but a large number of keywords is not necessarily spam.  Some keywords help refine searches.  I think they're using a hammer to kill an ant.

Regards,
Adelaide

Exactly.  And often times keywording is driven by the photo itself.  I have a series of Italian food still life shots in my portfolio that include 10 or more different types of food per shot.  A limit of 15 keywords will only hurt the sales potential of this series, and I can't even begin to imagine how I would keyword such complex images with 15 words or less.  There won't be any room to describe the atmosphere, the background and foreground, specifics about the food (green bell pepper instead of pepper or grated mozzarella cheese instead of cheese, for example), etc.



I can always write a lengthy description, but most sites don't recognize them in the search, and some even limit the description size (like SS).  So...I'm with Phil and Nico on this one.  I'll stop contributing to a site before I change my workflow, especially when it's already an under-performer. 

With that said, I might...and that's a big might...change my mind, if those 15 keywords are included with additional words suggested by the keyword helper, so more keywords are available.  If that's the case, then CanStockPhoto could become a part of my overall workflow.  I'd have to try it out first and see if it's worth the time to copy/paste the new keywords into my IPTC data, and then continue uploading to the remaining sites.

What I would love to see instead of limits on contributors is for the sites to develop ways for their reviewers to eliminate spam on the spot (and even add a few suggested keywords).  As a reviewer on one of the sites, I can tell you that all reviewers recognize spam immediately and it's a huge topic of discussion behind the scenes.  A large portion of the problem comes from contributors who have limited English skills, so it would be great if we could assist them and the sites somehow without resorting to outright rejections or limitations.   

You�re resurrecting a 13 year old thread?

They were turds then and are still turds now

For a time I would say they were actually the best of the small agencies with fast and consistent inspections and reasonable if unspectacular sales even the occasional "Big Fish" I had $73 once...then it went horribly pear shaped.