Shutterstock Photographer Forum :: View topic - Shutterstock®: The Biggest Microstock Agency

shutterstock · Joined: 22 Oct 2004 Posts: 1870 Location: New York, NY

For immediate release

Shutterstock®: The Biggest "Microstock" Photo Agency in the World

Approaching 1.5 Million Premium Photos in its Collection, Shutterstock Emerges as Category Leader

New York, NY--January 9, 2007-- Shutterstock®, already the world's largest subscription-based stock photo agency, today announced another milestone: Shutterstock has the largest photo collection in the microstock industry. "Microstock," a term that describes the newest wave of stock photo agencies, generally refers to companies that are web-based, source their photographs from a diverse pool of talent, and sell royalty-free images at rates lower than traditional "macro" agencies. Founded in 2003, Shutterstock distinguished itself immediately with its user-friendly subscription model and superb photo library; today it has further differentiated itself from the competition by the sheer magnitude of its collection.

While this most recent achievement is about the quantity of images in its collection, Shutterstock's focus has always been on quality. Portfolios are carefully screened before photographers are allowed to submit images; once a photographer is approved as a contributor, each photograph he submits is then subject to screeners' strict criteria. Shutterstock currently accepts about 40% of the photographs submitted to the site, and, thanks to proprietary technologies, is proud to have one of the fastest approval times in the industry. The running total published on Shutterstock's homepage refers only to the photographs that have made the cut and are accepted into the collection, unlike other stock agencies that include rejected or deleted images into their "total" figures.

"We are absolutely committed to high standards for photo quality," said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO. "Numbers are irrelevant if the integrity of the collection is compromised in the growth process. We're proud that Shutterstock's collection has continued to grow while maintaining the level of quality the creative community has come to expect from us."

Keeping pace with the collection's growth, Shutterstock has seen significant increases in subscribers over the past months and is now the preeminent resource for creative professionals. Shutterstock's customer base encompasses professionals in industries like advertising, publishing, and the graphic arts as well as entrepreneurs in countless fields--but they are united in their constant need for fresh imagery. Shutterstock adds 15,000+ new premium images every week, ensuring that every search turns up fresh results.

"Feedback from our subscribers is very gratifying," said Oringer. "In today's highly visual marketplace, people need great images to compete. With the quality and size of our collection, we are able to offer great photographs at affordable prices that make a difference to our customers' businesses."

iconex · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 353 Location: India

Sure all facts to be proud of ... SS a class apart !

Some other imp facts (at least from contributor's point of view) - SS is the only one of the top micros where the artists don't have to request a payout - it's automatic and super prompt - a testimony to the contributor-friendly site attributes. Also, without an iota of doubt, SS has the most efficient submission process, and the most OPEN forum participation policy.

trexec · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:50 pm

Congratulations.

Regards.

Logos · Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 399 Location: Århus, Denmark

Impressive work! I’m building an empire myself. Hoho. Shutterstock is quiet extraordinary!

lanagold · Joined: 01 Feb 2006 Posts: 140 Location: the Netherlands

stay alway in forward of microstock business, with all innovation ideas !

cmcderm1 · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:03 pm

Tell us something we didn't already know!!! JK

This is a great press release. Nice use of media outlets to promote the site and the product.

Keep up the amazing job Team SS.

- Chad

wtolenaars · Joined: 02 May 2006 Posts: 2891 Location: The Netherlands

Congrats Jon! That's great. So when can we become exclusive photographers here?

imv · Joined: 22 Aug 2005 Posts: 323

Nice to see things are going well.
Regards!
;)

pjmorley · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:21 pm

That's great for SS and it's members however there is another microstock agency that claims more.

sparrow · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 55 Location: Russia city Moscow

It is the most profitable site for me and the best for me! ! !

mack · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:32 pm

Congratulations!

Proud and honoured to be part of the SS global team.

curtpickens · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 1142

Congrats SS !

Who wrote this and where is it published ?

fleitao · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:37 pm

Hi,

This is great... One more example of the highly proclaimed management rule KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). I don't agree on the "stupid" part (or at least this is on another context), but keeping it simple is strangely enough one of the hardest things to achieve in a business... SS proves that it works... Simple enough, effective enough, the queen of MicroStock.

It's a pleasure to be a part of this community and we can only hope that this kind of exposure will brings us more and more downloads.

Congratulations to Jon and your team, you're doing a hell of a job here. We may nag and bitch sometimes about this or that thing that needs improvement (we always want better, don't we?), but the fact is, it works very well as it is and the freedom allowed in the forums make this agency a true meeting point for contributors and it almost seems that we're a big, big family.

Thanks for all

kerioak · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:40 pm

Congratulations to SS, and to all the buyers and last but not least, us submitters without whom there would be no images :-))) A great team

Christine

PS - Fleitao - or a variation on your KISS theme - Keep It Shutter-Stock

shutterstock · Joined: 22 Oct 2004 Posts: 1870 Location: New York, NY