Online stock footage listings

As you plan your marketing budget, it would be nice to see pond5 on the apple stock footage listing

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/resources/tools/stockfootage.html

and since many others are listed there, the stockfootageonline.com directory could also be useful. This online stock video industry is relatively young, so some so-called 'directories' may well be more useful than others.

However, I do have to echo the concern that pond5 doesn't come up very quickly in a google search for e.g. 'stock footage'.

Otherwise, I like the site and the many options, and from the forums I can see that there is regular, quality communication between members and admins - I cannot tell you how important that is from my experiences.

Sean72

I agree with all the above statements. It will be really interesting to see where this site goes after a marketing push.

The site is actually pretty well pulled together with easy upload and searching and quick reviews... it doesnt at all feel beta to me.

Welcome to both of you, and thanks for the comments!

We'll be looking into getting listed in the directories you've mentioned - and if you come across others, feel free to https://www.pond5.com/index.php?page=contact_us

Lot's of new stuff is coming soon, along with a big marketing ramp-up, so keep the suggestions (and the clips) coming! :)

Thanks Tom. And hi, razberry, nice to see you here. I'm starting to feel some stock footage 'enthusiasm' again just being here. The way this site works so far is a breath of fresh air.

As an aside, one thing I cannot find is the number of clips the site hosts to date. I saw the posts about 10 000, so the info must be here somewhere (and that quantity is nothing to be shy about).

The database has been slower and slower so I'm testing different things with it right now; not returning exact number of clips on the search page is one of them. Part of the problem was me not doing some admin stuff properly. Apparently it is just as bad doing a bad vacuuming on databases as it is in real life.

Anyway, at the bottom of the site, when logged in with an artist account (an account registered for selling) you have an extra link "artist resources"). We try to put general information here that you ask for. I suppose we'll stick the number of clips on another more prominent place too.

Heya! *waves at Teka and Sean* Nice to see you around!

With 10K+ clips online we're steadily approaching the point where load balancing will become a very important issue. Otherwise the first rush of marketing will have the same effect as a DOS attack - only with better intentions. ;-)

Anyway, I believe the number of clips could easily be cached and generated once a day or so. It should be displayed prominently as it's of value for potential buyers. 10K+ says we're to be taken seriously - few others (of the micros) have more, and only one that I know of has twice this.

The number of clips is indeed cached, it refreshes every time I login. The expensiveness was how the query to the db was done; normally with sql one cannot count total number of rows a select would return at the same time as asking for some of them. So just clicking search and seeing "found 11234 clips" meant 11234 id's had been passed around internally. Google (et al)'s approximate number of results I guess is derived from more or less the same reasoning too.

Anyway, I guess you're right; I added the cached number to the search results page.

That was fast, thank you. At some point, at least when your marketing starts, I would put it relatively prominently on the home page. It is the quickest way for consumers and contributors alike to decide whether or not to delve deeper when they land here for the first time.

(Obviously, quality should also be very important, but clip quantity is one of the quickest ways to evaluate a site.)

The other thing that encourages consumers is the look and feel of your site's interface. For the most part I like it, but if you want a suggestion... put spaces between the check boxes and their descriptions below the search i.e. HD, PAL, etc. Perhaps it's just my browser.

Hey sean and varius. :D this place is starting to feel like home seeing your two usernames. :)

I am very excited about the marketing push that is coming up.

Also thank you marcus for being so responsive!