Innovation That Matters

Stock art seller uses Twitter to help buyers find right image

Advertising & Marketing

Stock art subscription services have been around for some time, but earlier this year Getty Images introduced Thinkstock, which offers millions of select royalty-free images, vectors and illustrations from multiple providers. Now, Thinkstock is testing Social Art Buyer, a service that uses Twitter to help subscribers find the images they need. Thinkstock brings together more than 5 million user-generated and professionally art-directed images from Seattle-based Getty Images, iStockphoto and Jupiterimages. Priced at USD 149 for a week, USD 249 for a month or USD 199 per month for an annual subscription, Thinkstock lets subscribers download up to 25 images a day or 750 images a month; legal protection against copyright claims is included. Now, with the Social Art Buyer service, users can submit an image request to @Thinkstock. The Thinkstock team will then begin by checking the Thinkstock library for a match; if it’s not there, they’ll look outside for an image that fits the requester’s needs. It seems fair to say that once a product array is established—whether it’s the books on Amazon or the images on Thinkstock—the next step is curation and/or help zeroing in on the right ones. Most sites focus on improved search algorithms, but personalized search services could be a compelling option. One to try out or emulate for your own overwhelmed consumers…? (Related: Marketplace for custom advertising images.) Spotted by: Rosalie Berns

Email: sales@thinkstock.com

Website: www.thinkstockphotos.com

Download PDF