StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

Getty Images Buys PicScout for $20 Million

• "Getty Images Inc. has acquired image copyright solutions developer PicScout Inc. for $20 million.
  The company's annual turnover is estimated at $5 million, and it is believed to be profitable.
  PicScount filed a prospectus with the Israel Securities Authority to raise $5-10 million at a company value of $20-30 million in an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) in September 2010, but withdrew the plan.
  PicScout will continue to operate independently following the acquisition, and no major personnel changes are expected. The Herzliya-based company has 60 employees.
  PicScout's technology identifies the digital fingerprint of images appearing online, even if they have been blurred or edited. The company has two products: ImageTracker, which locates the use of images online and reports it to the copyright owner; and ImageExchange, an add-on to Firefox and Explorer browsers, which can identify in real time copyrighted images and offer the users an option to buy them."
  
  (Noa Parag, Globes, Israel´s Business Area)
  
  (Similar, with a note on PicApp: Getty Images pays $20mm for PicScout, Israel21c)

QuickLinks For 2008-10-01

• Edited interview with iStock´s Kelly Thompson:
  
  • Question: "Beyond that, will you still look for other niches to get into?"
  • Answer: "We have a couple of pretty game-changing things that we can’t really talk about yet... . I think they stand to fundamentally change the stock industry; not to sound too over-the-top, but some of the things we´re introducing could change the stock industry as much as microstock did in the early days."
  Article by Australia´s smartcompany in the "Lunch with an entrepreneur" series.
  Interview by James Thomson as MP3 file (5.8 MB/17 min.).