Ok, so it's not just istock. Other sites with forums have rules against discussing other stock sites. But istock does seem to be the most strick about the rule. This week alone there were two threads that I saw locked down, one justifiably, the other more questionably (someone was trying to locate a photographer who wasn't even an istock contributor anymore).

My point here is not whether these rules are fair, justified, etc. My question is whether these rules make any sense whatsoever. The reason I see thrown around istock for having this zero tolerance of even mentioning another site by name is that istock is a business, and we don't discuss competitors.

What?!

That is exactly the opposite of what businesses do. You look at your competition, size them up, see what they do well, what they do poorly, etc.

Is this all just one big "we don't want to share contributors" pissing match amongst the microstock companies? Seems silly. Chances are most people already know about the other major companies out there.

Can anyone think of a good, practical reason why these policies exist?

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openpathdesign.com Microstock - A Crash Course

They probably don't want potential buyers even thinking about going elsewhere, where prices are sometimes cheaper for photo credits.

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s e l l p h o t o s . t k

Top Sellers • Shutterstock • Fotolia • Dreamstime • BigStock • StockXpert • FeaturePics • MostPhotos •

Avoid advertising competitors for free. That's about it, really.

Well firstly it doesn't look professional because the forums can be seen by everybody not just members.

But I'd imagine the real reason is they're are paranoid about any possible legal implications, judging by their recent 'Evolving whatever made up reasons for accepting an image' postings which is some of the most ridiculous stuff I've read in a long time. (Mind you DT are even worse!)

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Richard

Why they should allow that? Should CocaCola allow banners for Pepsi Cola in its web page? Even more, free banners?

It's because they are in the business of selling photo's and they don't want anybody advertising other businesses that sell photo's.

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JK

www.microstockphotography.info

It's one thing to discuss competitors in private with business associates within the confines of a meeting or office setting. But it's another thing entirely to discuss them on a company-owned public forum. If IS allowed members to discuss other sites on their forums, they would stand to lose potential exclusive contributors (aka their most attractive selling point) and buyers to the competition as members learn about other sites. They would also be inadvertently helping other sites grow their databases and sales with new contributors and buyers.

I'm reviewing contributor application submissions at LO now, and get to read how potential contributors found the site. At least once a day, someone says they found us either through SS's forums or the generic "competitor's forum." Always surprises me.

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Photography by Karin Lau | SmugMug Pro Account | Shutterstock | Mostphotos | StockXPert | Dreamstime | iStock | 123RF | BigStock

Quite a stretch there, don't ya think? Going from contributor discussion in a forum to banner ads?

But since you brought it up, Coke and Pepsi have, in fact, mentioned each other in ads. Usually just to say that one is better than the other, but it is done. And I bet mentioning Coke in a Pepsi forum wouldn't be treated in the same way as it is done at istock.

I'm not saying that Coke should promote Pepsi any more that istock should promote BSP or any other company, but it seems very Big Brother that even the mention of another company name is immediately erradicated from the forums as soon as it happens, even in the most harmless of circumstances.

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openpathdesign.com Microstock - A Crash Course

In many cases there are images that I can buy on 123RF for half the price (or less) than I'd pay for the same picture at iStock. I know because I do it quite often.

If you were running a forum on a microstock site, would you allow competitors to be mentioned?

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JK

www.microstockphotography.info

Basically, it's the same. Banners are intended to drive traffic to other sites.