stock it up people
Posted By pmelcher On January 28, 2008 @ 12:03 pm In Midstock, license, technology, No sense, keyword, Royalty free, corbis, prosumer, Microstock | 2 Comments
Last week, super giant discounter and famed losing money photo library Corbis announced with no small effort that it was going “global”.
From [1] Cnet.com :
“SnapVillage, a microstock site founded in June by stock-art sales company Corbis to compete with rivals such as Fotolia and Getty Images’ iStockphoto, has expanded to include international sales.
Although the site now works beyond the United States, the Web site is English-only for now. ”
Does that mean that prior to this press release, Snapvillage would refuse any sales coming from outside the United States ? To me, going international is to have your site in local language. Or open offices in countries other than your point of origin. So what did Snapvillage exactly do to go from local to international? The site works beyond the United States now, we are being told. Does this mean that the Corbis programmers have finally discovered that foreign browsers can read HTML too ?
The most interesting part is that a few days earlier, German RF company PantherMedia also[2] announced it was going international by partially translating their site in English. So, what does “going international” really means people ?
According to my extensive research, it is :
1) Having a site in English
2) Having a site that works beyond your borders
3) Having your site in English
During one of my many tenures, and of on the subject of globalisation, I had to listen to a VP based on the west coast of the United States whose furthest travel had been to the East Coast of the same country tell me that ” The United States is the Business nation of the world thus what we do here will apply everywhere in the world” or something like that. No, his name is not George Bush and yes, he was serious.
I guess Corbis subscribes to that model. Corbis also sees Snapvillage as a “image warehouse” according to its own definition :
[3] 
Which allows its contributors to proudly say to their friends and family that they are “stack” photographers working for an image depot. How proud they must be. Stock it up, people. Faster !!
Finally, on while we are on the subject of the second agency in the world (who decided that ? under what criteria ? Is it that [4] Jim Pickerell again ? certainly not in profit), here is a post that you cannot miss :
2 Comments To "stock it up people"
#1 Comment By jeffgreenberg On January 29, 2008 @ January 29, 2008
Why isn’t anyone predicting that Corbis/Gates will buy part or all of Getty?
#2 Comment By pmelcher On January 29, 2008 @ January 29, 2008
Jeff,
Good question. At a corporate meeting I was attending when I was doing time at Corbis, at a time when Corbis was still considered number 1 ( ???), a manager from the UK asked the same question. Bill Gates rapidly answered, with a smile :” the last thing I need right now is another monopoly lawsuit”.
Corbis cannot purchase Getty without the risk of being strongly investigated by the financial authorities of this country(USA)especially since Getty is a public company.
As far as buying parts, I do not think it is possible at this stage. I am not a financial expert but it does seem that Getty current sale offer is for all or nothing. It certainly does not prevent Corbis from acquiring stocks but then we fall back on issue number one.
Finally, Corbis wants to do it on its own. It wants to prove that it can do a profit on its own. Acquiring Getty would be a sure sign of a defeat.
That are the reasons I do not see it as an option. as for the “others”, I cannot write on their behalf.
Article printed from Thoughts of a Bohemian: http://blog.melchersystem.com
URL to article: http://blog.melchersystem.com/2008/01/28/stock-it-up-people/
URLs in this post:
[1] Cnet.com : http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9856563-39.html
[2] announced : http://www.cepic.org/english/press/present_pressreleases/080118_panthermedia.php
?navid=
[3] Image: http://blog.melchersystem.com/__oneclick_uploads/2008/01/snapvillagd.jpg
[4] Jim Pickerell: http://www.selling-stock.com/
[5] Overheard at Corbis this week.: http://www.epuk.org/Blogs/795/overheard-at-corbis-this-week
[6] Image: http://www.epuk.org/Blogs/795/overheard-at-corbis-this-week
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