Interesting Errors in Search results

[Paul_RNRS]

I performed some searches on Adobe stock to see where some images would rank when searching for their keywords. What was surprising was that they didn't come up in the results at all!

- For the first test I picked this premium image of some heart shaped cookies (568256741)

- Filters were all set to 'ALL', ALL asset types, ALL subcategories, ALL price etc, to ensure widest possible search.

- I searched for "February 14, food" which are my target images main keywords.

- To find my target image in the results, I sorted the results by "most recent"

- My target image (568256741) was uploaded on the 6th of February 2023, so should appear between images 568258273 and 568256259 but does not.

Just to check this wasn't a random mistake I tried another test

- For the second test I picked this premium image of a lighthouse (514377703)

- Filters were all set to 'ALL', ALL asset types, ALL subcategories, ALL price etc, to ensure widest possible search.

- I searched for "Uruguay, lighthouse" which are my target images main keywords.

- To find my target image in the results, I sorted the results by "most recent"

- My target image (514377703) was uploaded on the 1st of July 2022, so should appear between images 519161026 and 511611970 but does not.

The customer thinks they are searching ALL assets when in fact some images are being omitted from the results. The only way the customer will see these images is if they go into the filters section and SPECIFICALLY filter by "Premium and Video". Customers that are trying to search everything are not being shown everything.

I shared these findings with support a week ago and it doesn't appear to have been fixed as yet. Thought it important to share with other contributors who may be wondering why their sales are down.

[Angela Micheli Otwell]

I think some of this might be by design, although I could certainly be wrong. I think Adobe "rotates" the search results so that each contributor gets some exposure. I seem to get sales on a periodic basis on my images. No sales for a month and then some for a few days and then no sales for about another month. (I didn't double check the exact time frames, but you get the idea.) I'm sure more popular sellers get rotated through more frequently.  I have a low volume of images uploaded, and I'm slow to add more, so I'm not complaining. I'll take what exposure I can get. Hope I can "advance" and get rotated through more frequently, though.

However, this could all be my imagination/coincidence with my sales pattern. Maybe they don't do it that way at all. 

[Nancy OShea]

Google search for Adobe Stock Valentine's Day Cookies yields these results on page 1.

[Abambo]

Search shows only 100 pages, so I suppose there is some randomization joining in so that all images get shown from time to time.

I shared these findings with support a week ago and it doesn't appear to have been fixed as yet.

By @Paul_RNRS

That would have been fast. Really fast! And it's not sure that it is a bug, even that it may be a bug.

[Paul_RNRS]

I think it has to be a bug because the search for "Uruguay, lighthouse" sorted by "most recent" displays images uploaded after 24th May 2022 on page 1. 

As the target image was uploaded on the 1st of July 2022 it should appear here, on page 1. If it doesn't come up in the results it has to be an error. I do not think Adobe would intentionally hide assets that match the search on purpose, as this would unnecessarily hurt the contributor.

[Abambo]

How do you know the upload dates?

[Paul_RNRS]

I can tell by the file number as these are sequential. File numbers 5143XXXXX were issued on the 1st of July 2022, so numbers lower than this are older.

[Abambo]

Great. So, yes, there may be a different sorting criteria jumping in or there is indeed a complex bug somewhere in their database.

[Nancy OShea]

Search on Google instead.

Also try searching for Valentine's Day rather than Feb 14.

[RALPH_L]

I think every thing is ok. The search for "february 14 food" reveals your image on the first page of results.

Please note tat other factors play a role in the search result order.

-- Number of times an image has been sold

-- Contributor ranking (at least that is my guess)

-- Title

-- Keywords

-- Placement in Title

-- Placement in Keywords

[Paul_RNRS]

Hi Ralph, It looks like they have boosted the ranking of this image in the last 24hrs, as it comes up on the first page when sorted under "Relevance".

The error still persists however, because if you sort by "most recent" it is still not in the search results. It should (at this current time) appear on page 34 but does not.

My second example with the search "Uruguay, Lighthouse" it still hidden in results. Should appear on page 1 sorted by most recent.

I agree that "Number of times an image has sold"etc has a bearing when results are sorted by relevance, but when we are sorting purely on "most recent" these biases don't apply.