The microstock community
Dreamstime has announced that it saw consistent strong growth throughout 2011. Since 2007, Dreamstime’s customer base has grown from 350,000 to the more than 4.2 million customers. With this rapid growth, Dreamstime has positioned itself as a supplier of high quality digital images to the second largest community of registered stock image users. (It is believed that Shutterstock has the largest community of image users.)
Another milestone celebrated by Dreamstime this year was the 12 millionth photo uploaded by a contributor to its website giving community members access to one of the largest stock image collections in the world. Also available at the site are more than 300,000 free images. Unlike other websites, Dreamstime editors carefully review and approve all images submitted by the community’s photographers to ensure every image is risk free for customers to download. With image downloads occurring once every three seconds, (about 10.5 million downloads per year) it is clear that the variety of images is driving customers to purchase from the website.
“Above all else, Dreamstime respects and supports its members, making a point to be engaged, listen and communicate directly with us. Their customer service is always professional and friendly, and they go the extra mile to ensure any issues or questions are solved quickly,” says Mandy Godbehear, a Dreamstime photographer. “Because of Dreamstime’s dedication to its community, I know, as a photographer, that my portfolio and my interests are in good hands.”
Always looking to leverage new technology for the benefit of its contributors, over the last year Dreamstime implemented a variety of features dedicated to meeting customer needs and enhancing value. Recognizing an opportunity to help its large and active community protect their images and also educate customers about image copyright, Dreamstime introduced
Infringement Reporter. An industry first, this tool streamlines the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notification process and provides contributors a quick and easy way to notify website owners when they are misusing a photo.
Focusing on the needs of its global customers, Dreamstime also started offering
geo-tagged images using Google Maps and Google Earth. Now contributors are able to precisely add a location to images, streamlining the search process for designers creating materials with a certain geographical or tourism focus.
“People across the globe are turning to Dreamstime for their imagery needs and we pride ourselves on providing each customer with a seamless experience,” said Serban Enache, CEO of Dreamstime. “This is an important milestone for Dreamstime, and to serve our fast growing customer base, we remain focused on developing and enhancing offerings and solutions that drive additional value for everyone.”