Life is filled with funny little events. Today I was informed by a friend that there was a rather sensationalized discussion on a few internet forums about me or at least my name “Dale Hogan”. It all started a number of years ago when some of my royalty free stock images (Which, by the way, I sell exclusively through iStockphoto.com) included my name in their keywords. My name keywords have since been removed. However, during the time that they were there numerous people tried to reproduce my success by copying my images and or my keywords. It’s my view that in their haste for good fortune they mistakenly (I hope) used my name in their tags or keywords.
So today I find myself reading forums on a stock imagery site that I don’t belong to, that are about little ol’ me. I like to see my name in lights as much as the next guy but some folks seem to be whipping themselves into a frenzy over the issue. Some making rather far reaching suggestions about there being a “worm virus” involved. Well, best as I can tell it’s more a matter of good old laziness at work.
The moral of the story is… photographers, don’t blindly copy keywords and don’t believe everything you read. I get the whole, “don’t recreate the wheel” thing, but for goodness sake, take the time to carefully read all your keywords and ensure they are accurate, before you submit an image. In the end you’ll be doing your customers and yourself a big favour. You want your images to appear in the correct searches and rank as they should. That makes happy searchers and adds up to more sales for you.
There you have it. Mystery solved. Take a deep breath and relax. I am Dale Hogan and I approve this message.
Hi Dale Hogan,
I started the Dale Hogan worm story the evidence I was presented with
came after a threat to bar me from a site for something I don’t understand. I have never copied your keywords but I may have copied someone who did copy them. However my picture only had six keywords so it dos seem unlikely it was a spirit level. Also which was my real point of the worm story my photo number had been changed which amazed me how good that be?
Many people do copy keywords because many words in American are different and I have discovered that you have something called an Hogan which is I think a fish hook in USA.
However out of this story I have discovered that most agencies offer scant protection against number changing if anyone changed the number of a file few people would ever know.
I do not think this offers enough protection to the photographer and believe your photographer number should be part of the picture number thus giving everyone instant identification.
Interestingly enough people where being banned from sites before I stepped in to stop the
Dale Hogan story as far as I know they will always be banned?????
I will take this opportunity to wish you and your family a happy Christmas.
Peter Baxter
I’ve met the real Dale Hogan and you sir…are him.
Dale’s “spirit level” was a FIOTW at iStock, and one of the first on the site. Not really a surprise that your “spirit level” may have acquired the bad keywords if you engage in keyword copying…
The excuse that words are different in English doesn’t really apply. This is the web, and finding out what something means isn’t particularly difficult. If English isn’t your first language, iStock has a Controlled Vocabulary that lets you keyword in your own language (imagine!) and then will translate to English without you needing to copy anyone’s keywords.
Basically, the idea that this is a language barrier innocent error is 100% bunkum.
I believe that the story of the image number changing was refuted repeatedly by others, including the site administration. Most of the systems would make changing that number, which is a key, impossible. iStock assigns a number when it’s uploaded, and when the image is approved, you get a message with that number in it. Pretty simple to check. I imagine that the other agencies have a similar process. Even if it were possible, if the number has changed and it’s still showing up in your portfolio, what is the problem? If your image shows up in another portfolio, is it that the number changed (and somehow all the other relational data?!) or that someone uploaded your photo as their own?
Just sayin’.
I accept all your points except your point on number changing I had no idea the number had been changed until I checked my initial file and that was a completely different number to my current number. Additionally I have found Dale Hogan on files at Istockphoto that are not in his files such as foreign cash from Haiti. Istockphoto encourages people to copy the keywords on their files especially the top sellers however they do ban people from adding their own names and I deplore this practice. This is because people are being thrown off
sites because someone is a publicity seeker. The words Dale and Hogan are both nouns as well as being peoples names anyone not from USA should be forgiven for not understanding there meaning. Do you know what a Hogan is?
My current suspicion is that some kind of scam is being attempted on all the agencies and needs to checked out by their site security. I hope, if I am proven right, appropriate action is taken.
I am mystified why anyone should think that better protection of our files is a bad idea???????????
Pete
Pete,
I appreciate that you are sincerely concerned about protecting your files. I believe that all of the agencies marketing your and others files are even more concerned about security then you are. Rest assured that they don’t want anything to interrupt their business revenue. Think about it!
Let me also assure you that the explanation I have provided applies to all the images on all the sites. I have or did have (I have deactivated some) at one time, images similar to all the examples out there. This clearly demonstrates that my keywords (including “Dale” & or “Hogan”) have been copied. Either directly from me or from someone who has copied directly from me. I have yet to see a single example that falls outside of my explanation and I’ve been looking. So please, let’s let it die here. There is no conspiracy.
As far as your file number being changed I cannot comment. However, I believe one of the administrators, for a site you have your images on, has already responded to you regarding this. If you have a specific example and supporting evidence I’m positive they would be very grateful to see it. However, you are coming across as an alarmist, radical who is broadcasting nonsense all over the internet.
Please take my advice and take this offline and go directly to the source. You need to dial it way back my friend and take a breath.
In my opinion there is no need for concern. If you continue to think otherwise, take it to the source. Be open to the answers you receive and take responsibility for your actions no matter how well intentioned.
Once and for all, let’s leave my name out of any further discussions you feel you need to have regarding file numbers. All of the images with my name on them on all the sites are because of blatant keyword copying. Got it?