For the month of December, Getty gave me twice as much income as Shutterstock.
This has never happened before. It means our money is being stolen. Or Shutterstock is being deliberately bankrupted.

Quote from: stoker2014 on January 18, 2025, 09:04

For the month of December, Getty gave me twice as much income as Shutterstock.
This has never happened before. It means our money is being stolen. Or Shutterstock is being deliberately bankrupted.

Or customers are going elsewhere? A drop in income doesn't mean that anything underhanded is happening and, if you look at the search, there is a lot of very ordinary content at the top of the search, and a lot of AI content. Couple this with the facility to search by 'new' being removed, and perhaps customers have just got fed up with not finding what they need, so they are going elsewhere.

As my RPD is so low on Shutterstock, I'd be much happier if customers went to Adobe or Istock, as the RPD there is more than double Shutterstock's rate.

I have another theory about what�s happening, especially on Adobe. I won�t go too deep into it for now since my numbers on Adobe are still growing, but something has caught my attention.

Lately, I�ve seen new accounts appearing on Adobe, filled exclusively with AI-generated content�images and videos that look suspiciously similar to the top-selling ones on the platform.

Of course, last year, we got paid quite a bit because they "trained" their AI using our images. But what really worries me is the possibility that these accounts aren't real people, but rather fake company-run accounts, designed to grab all the earnings from contributors who actually put in the work and figured out what sells.

Through AI, they could be generating almost identical content under these fake profiles to compete with and replace real contributors. If that�s the case, they wouldn�t just be profiting from AI�they�d be cutting us out entirely.

I really hope these accounts belong to independent people who are simply analyzing top-selling content and artificially copying it. Because if they are actually company-run accounts, created to take even more of our earnings, it would be a massive disappointment�especially coming from Adobe, which so far has been the most contributor-friendly platform.
 

Quote from: Video1977 on January 18, 2025, 09:38

I have another theory about what�s happening, especially on Adobe. I won�t go too deep into it for now since my numbers on Adobe are still growing, but something has caught my attention.

Lately, I�ve seen new accounts appearing on Adobe, filled exclusively with AI-generated content�images and videos that look suspiciously similar to the top-selling ones on the platform.

Of course, last year, we got paid quite a bit because they "trained" their AI using our images. But what really worries me is the possibility that these accounts aren't real people, but rather fake company-run accounts, designed to grab all the earnings from contributors who actually put in the work and figured out what sells.

Through AI, they could be generating almost identical content under these fake profiles to compete with and replace real contributors. If that�s the case, they wouldn�t just be profiting from AI�they�d be cutting us out entirely.

I really hope these accounts belong to independent people who are simply analyzing top-selling content and artificially copying it. Because if they are actually company-run accounts, created to take even more of our earnings, it would be a massive disappointment�especially coming from Adobe, which so far has been the most contributor-friendly platform.
 

You started with a leading question and suspicion that Shutterstock is manipulating the numbers, based on your sales being down. Now you are suspicious about Adobestock having company run AI accounts to copy best sellers and your work. But you don't want to start rumors about conspiracy theories, or plots. No you wouldn't want to do that.

Quote from: RalfLiebhold on January 18, 2025, 14:37

Quote from: gnirtS on January 18, 2025, 13:00

Its rare to see reviews as uniformly poor, even for stock sites.

Did a fact check in 10 seconds. Adobe the same negative picture.

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/stock.adobe.com

No this can't be true. Adobe is the best company in the world that only spreads love and is only here to support creative people, be it a contributor or customer. They can never have a bad review. That can not exist. You must have visited a fraudelent website or it's just the evil competitors writing all this negative reviews. Must be. C'mon man, it's Adobe we are speaking hereof (I will praise Adobe at all times).

Quote from: Diana Herrmann on January 18, 2025, 13:59

Quote from: Video1977 on January 18, 2025, 09:38

I have another theory about what�s happening, especially on Adobe. I won�t go too deep into it for now since my numbers on Adobe are still growing, but something has caught my attention.

Lately, I�ve seen new accounts appearing on Adobe, filled exclusively with AI-generated content�images and videos that look suspiciously similar to the top-selling ones on the platform.

Of course, last year, we got paid quite a bit because they "trained" their AI using our images. But what really worries me is the possibility that these accounts aren't real people, but rather fake company-run accounts, designed to grab all the earnings from contributors who actually put in the work and figured out what sells.

Through AI, they could be generating almost identical content under these fake profiles to compete with and replace real contributors. If that�s the case, they wouldn�t just be profiting from AI�they�d be cutting us out entirely.

I really hope these accounts belong to independent people who are simply analyzing top-selling content and artificially copying it. Because if they are actually company-run accounts, created to take even more of our earnings, it would be a massive disappointment�especially coming from Adobe, which so far has been the most contributor-friendly platform.
 

You started with a leading question and suspicion that Shutterstock is manipulating the numbers, based on your sales being down. Now you are suspicious about Adobestock having company run AI accounts to copy best sellers and your work. But you don't want to start rumors about conspiracy theories, or plots. No you wouldn't want to do that.

And who said I don�t want to start rumors? 

Maybe you should try reading a little slower and focusing more on the subtext of what you're reading.
It helps.
 

Not saying it�s a fact, but� is there some manipulation going on from time to time?
 

I have another theory about what�s happening, especially on Adobe. I won�t go too deep into it for now since my numbers on Adobe are still growing, but something has caught my attention.

Lately, I�ve seen new accounts appearing on Adobe, filled exclusively with AI-generated content�images and videos that look suspiciously similar to the top-selling ones on the platform.

Of course, last year, we got paid quite a bit because they "trained" their AI using our images. But what really worries me is the possibility that these accounts aren't real people, but rather fake company-run accounts, designed to grab all the earnings from contributors who actually put in the work and figured out what sells.

Through AI, they could be generating almost identical content under these fake profiles to compete with and replace real contributors. If that�s the case, they wouldn�t just be profiting from AI�they�d be cutting us out entirely.

I really hope these accounts belong to independent people who are simply analyzing top-selling content and artificially copying it. Because if they are actually company-run accounts, created to take even more of our earnings, it would be a massive disappointment�especially coming from Adobe, which so far has been the most contributor-friendly platform.
 

Quote from: YadaYadaYada on January 18, 2025, 15:44

No and Adobe didn't create zombie AI accounts to steal our best sellers.

No conspiracy needed - half of Pakistan is doing that job.  Nothing to do with Adobe.

Quote from: RalfLiebhold on January 18, 2025, 16:07

Quote from: Video1977 on January 18, 2025, 09:38

I have another theory about what�s happening, especially on Adobe. I won�t go too deep into it for now since my numbers on Adobe are still growing, but something has caught my attention.

Lately, I�ve seen new accounts appearing on Adobe, filled exclusively with AI-generated content�images and videos that look suspiciously similar to the top-selling ones on the platform.

Of course, last year, we got paid quite a bit because they "trained" their AI using our images. But what really worries me is the possibility that these accounts aren't real people, but rather fake company-run accounts, designed to grab all the earnings from contributors who actually put in the work and figured out what sells.

Through AI, they could be generating almost identical content under these fake profiles to compete with and replace real contributors. If that�s the case, they wouldn�t just be profiting from AI�they�d be cutting us out entirely.

I really hope these accounts belong to independent people who are simply analyzing top-selling content and artificially copying it. Because if they are actually company-run accounts, created to take even more of our earnings, it would be a massive disappointment�especially coming from Adobe, which so far has been the most contributor-friendly platform.
 

At this point, I have to agree with you on the whole.
There seem to be accounts that specifically copy bestsellers with the help of AI and fill the entire account with them. In another forum, someone explained how this is technically possible on a large scale.
Maybe he will explain it here.
Because I'm not very good at this sort of thing, I can't reproduce it here.

But it has nothing to do with Adobe.

Wow! That's interesting...!

No, they didn't.
To be honest, I don't understand how people come up with such weird conspiracy theories in the first place. It's becoming a habit here.

Since Elan Musk hasn't completely shot up the Shutterstock headquarters with his lasers from space, downloads are completely normal, revenue in January is expectedly poor.

So what do I see? I see that the video review and acceptance on Shutterstock has become very long. I have been waiting for a video review for over a week. This has never happened before! It is obvious that the reviewer has been fired or transferred to work at Getty. This is the beginning of the end for Shutterstock.

So what do I see? I see that the video review and acceptance on Shutterstock has become very long. I have been waiting for a video review for over a week. This has never happened before! It is obvious that the reviewer has been fired or transferred to work at Getty. This is the beginning of the end for Shutterstock.