Microstocktime Statistics Service

For a long time, Shutterstock was the most “secretive” stock photo site. While other agencies provided stats like image views or even per-file sales counts, Shutterstock showed only the number of items in a contributor’s portfolio.

Recently, however, the microstocktime project appeared on the web, allowing users to see contributor statistics for Shutterstock. For instance, it revealed that just over 33,000 contributors actually collaborate with the platform, instead of the earlier figure of 330,000. Thus, we learned that only about 10% of all registered users make it through the exam.

On microstocktime, you can see each contributor’s activity dynamics. The service tracks portfolio growth weekly and displays it in charts.

Take the portfolio of the well-known Lev Dolgatchev, for example. His page shows the registration date (which is hidden on the official site) and area of specialization. The service calculates the percentage of photos vs. illustrations in the portfolio and the orientation breakdown.

There are also activity charts. The first shows total portfolio growth:

The second displays the number of files uploaded each week:

Contributors can be filtered by specialization — you can select photographers, illustrators, or those with a portfolio dominated by vector graphics.

Aggregate statistics are also available, showing:

• portfolio sizes across contributors;
• distribution of contributors by year of registration;
• the ratio of photographers to illustrators.

In short, the Shutterstock stats service from microstocktime is a useful tool for competitor analysis and for understanding broader market trends.

Unfortunately, the service has since been abandoned by its creators and is no longer functioning. As an alternative, you can check the m-rank service.