While we continuously work to optimize our site with tools and features designed to maximize customer engagement and discoverability of content, Shutterstock also relies on contributor-provided metadata along with our own data to help customers find the right content for their creative needs in our vast collection.
Contributor-provided metadata
Beyond keywords, categories, and descriptions, contributors have the option to include ethnicity, age, and gender information for model-released images. This data is used to help customers fine-tune and filter their search for photos with models for commercial use. This is the only model-related data we share publicly. Any personal information, including the name and address provided on a model release, is never disclosed.
Also, contributors are encouraged to provide the geographic location where the photo or video clip was taken. This information can help drive customer decisions when location plays a critical role in their creative project.
Website data insights
To help customers make better-informed creative decisions, Shutterstock has introduced insights based on engagement and usage data from our site. Asset data displayed on image detail pages now includes scores for Popularity and Usage. Popularity is measured by how many times an image is viewed or saved to a collection, whereas Usage is based on download activity relative to other images in our collection.
Every customer is looking for something different. Some experienced designers may seek out undiscovered images to ensure their work will be unique. Others may decide to “go with the crowd,” choosing content with a proven track record. Popularity and Usage data helps customers differentiate the wide range of quality content in our collection.