self-ranking of clips

In the Pond5 model there isn't much curation, either by POND5 or as per your suggestion or by sellers. In other models, there is, hence the different commissions as on Shutterstock, etc. In this model first rule, DON'T SELL DUCKS or any other over shot subject. If you don't have an angle, in production value or niche, don't waste your or the searchers time. This is the brutal truth - there's no way around it. Sales are tough deep in the long tail. Unfortunately, none of us contributors are allowed to tweak the machine.

Aside from the other issues raised, how do you know what a buyer wants? What you think is a "low ranking" clip might be just what they are looking for. By giving it a low rank they might not see it.

Cleaning up spam keywords would be a far better way to improve rankings.