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)

Fotoglif launches, short interview with Mike Betts

Before Mike Betts and his team launched Fotoglif today, I asked him: can you explain the main differences to PicApp and GumGum, and the possible personal and commercial use of Fotoglif?

Mike responded:

We are all targeting a similar market issue, but with different approaches from both a technical and revenue generation perspective. With Fotoglif we have decided that creating a fully functional advertising network around the content available on Fotoglif, is the best win/win approach. To that end, both the publisher and the photographer get a share of the revenue when using Fotoglif, something quite different than what is offered by either of our competitors.

We maintain a different portfolio of content. While both of our competitors have focused on heavily celebrity based collections we have made every effort to try and maintain a very diversified collection of partners covering all major news and editorial topics. Including partners like Thomson Reuters and The European Press Photo Association has helped to give the collection that added depth.

QuickLinks For 2008-10-02

• GumGum launches partnership with Glam Media and Splash News:
  GumGum will provide the entire Glam publishing network (over 600 publishers) with free and legal access to entertainment content from Splash News (photos typically range between $75 and $500 a piece), the content will be ad-supported.
  More details over at TC: "Glam Teams With GumGum".

• October Corbis Creative IQ Trend – Low Tech Living (PDF Download):
  However, as Blackberries, mobile phones and laptops have become more ubiquitous, our lives have become more "connected" and faster-paced than ever. It’s getting more and more difficult to take time away from the devices that were originally meant to set us free.