Allows Members to Search and Upload in Twelve Languages; Buyers Gain Full Access to Collection in Their Native Languages and Artists Reach More Customers
(CALGARY, Alberta--BUSINESS WIRE--Sept. 18, 2006) Stockphoto®, the world's leading community-powered marketplace for stock photography, illustrations and videos, today launched localized versions of the site in French, German and Spanish and will offer search and keyword entry in 12 languages. These enhancements will create easier access for designers and business owners worldwide while giving talented global photographers, artists and videographers an opportunity to profit from their work.
iStockphoto already boasts a million-member community offering more than one million images and videos by more than 25,000 contributing artists from six continents. Now, clients from Los Angeles to Krakow can find and purchase cutting-edge royalty-free imagery (all starting at $1) and video (starting at $5) more easily, by searching in any of 12 languages. Contributing artists will be able to keyword images in their native languages, and iStock will then use the industry's most powerful and accurate hierarchical language database to generate 11 different translations.
"Small and medium businesses can make a Fortune 500 impression with the images and videos that are now available at prices that provide a better value to them," said David Haueter, principal research analyst with Gartner. "It will be interesting to watch what globalization of this community can do for marketers around the world."
The new language support is made possible through the use of parent company Getty Images' patented, industry-leading search and controlled vocabulary tools, which have been more than 10 years in the making. Unlike other stock photo sites that claim to "automatically" translate words, leading to many keyword errors, this database has been pre-translated with approximately 67,000 main concepts and up to 1 million synonyms in each of the 12 languages.
The 12 supported languages are: US English, UK English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Polish and Greek.
iStockphoto's contributing artists will now reach an expanded audience as the site becomes more accessible to a global clientele. Those contributors whose native language is not English will have an easier task keywording their images and using the site. In addition, customers will be able to complete transactions in US, Canadian, and Australian dollars; Euros, Japanese Yen, and British pounds sterling.
French-, German- and Spanish-speaking communities make up the largest iStockphoto user populations after English. Each localized site will feature specific content created by members in that region. For more information on how to become a contributor, royalty percentages or image pricing, please visit www.istockphoto.com.
"We are very excited to welcome a broader set of international clients and contributors to iStockphoto thanks to our elegant new keyword translation, language support, and localized content," said Bruce Livingstone, CEO of iStockphoto. "We want to the share the explosion of stock imagery and video worldwide, and I can't wait to meet the amazing new contributors and designers who will join iStockphoto now."
Special Events:
- Germany
iStockphoto's CEO, Bruce Livingstone, who pioneered the micropayment stock imagery market in 2000, will be attending Photokina in Cologne, Sept. 25 and 26, and will be giving the keynote address at the German Multimedia Congress (DMMK) in Stuttgart, Germany on Sept. 27, 2006. For interviews with Mr. Livingstone in Germany, please contact Bernd Klumpp at clu@istockphoto.com.
- Spain
iStockalypse™ is a periodic event that brings iStockphoto contributors together in different cities around the world to create images, collaborate creatively and learn from one another. September's event in Barcelona will be the biggest ever, with more than a dozen shoots planned around the city for four days, ranging from flamenco dance shoots to the backdrop of the Parc del Laberint d'Horta.
The event begins on September 29 and culminates on Monday, October 2, at 20:00 with a gallery exhibition and silent auction of the best work by participants, sponsored by Turisme Barcelona. Proceeds of the silent auction will further support Getty Images' charitable contributions to Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Other sponsors include Bowens and Total Training, who are contributing to the event. For more information visit: http://www.istockalypse.com . For editors wishing to interview Bruce Livingstone, please contact Eva Serrabassa at eva@istockphoto.com.
About iStockphoto
iStockphoto,
http://www.istockphoto.com , the world's first, largest and most innovative community marketplace for digital imagery, pioneered the micropayment phenomenon in this industry, enabling buyers to license images for as little as a dollar. iStockphoto entered the stock video market in September of 2006, selling video for as low as $5 per 30 second clip. In partnership with its members, iStockphoto has turned community into commerce, transforming the digital imagery market by encouraging passionate dialogue and education, while making imagery affordable to businesses that may not have licensed imagery otherwise. iStockphoto is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Getty Images (NYSE:GYI).
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