A comparison of eight image databases

In this market overview, we checked eight commercial image databases in an editorial comparison for performance and offer. "Visual content" is one of the most important ingredients of a successful content marketing strategy. That is why this comparison gives you all the decision criteria you need to find the right image database: Which providers are there? What imagery do they offer? How are the prices? On 32 PDF pages, the providers are compared in 12 categories and more than 100 criteria. 

The image database market overview of contentmanager.de

Our market comparison is primarily intended to provide interested parties and potential users of image databases with an initial overview of various providers and thus contribute to decision-making. The market overview is available for download.

By clicking on the download button, you consent to your company email address and company name from contentmanager.de (Digital Diamant GmbH) and the sponsor 123RF Ltd. may also be used for advertising purposes by email and for market and opinion research. With your consent, you will automatically receive the contentmanager.de newsletter. The declaration can be revoked at any time via a link in every email.

The range of information is steadily increasing and the attention span of the recipient decreases to the same extent. Tldr - the acronym for »too long, didn't read« - sums up the zeitgeist of our media consumption habits well. Today, content must be able to be grasped quickly and then make the interested consumer want more.  Just like content marketing does at best. Because the focus is on an informative, content-driven communication strategy and not on repetitive advertising messages.

The eye reads - Visual content for more relevance in content marketing

In times of »Visual Search« applies picture before text! In this case, Visual content stands on its own as well as content support supplement as an illustration. According to Forbes, the provision of visual or additional auditory-visual content is “the future of storytelling”. This is documented by several studies from psychology: Visual content is absorbed and processed by our brain 60,000 times faster than pure text content. The topic is captured - even if only roughly - at first glance on pictures, graphics, photos, videos or diagrams, and the relevance is immediately assessed. So it is hardly surprising that 90 percent of the information processed by our brain is of a visual nature.

In addition, visual content makes it much easier to remember. After three days, people can retrieve information from optical content such as pictures or graphics five to six times more successfully than text information. In order to be able to classify the meaning of texts, they must first be understood in their entirety. Visual content can emotionalize or present complex issues clearly and easily understandable. A picture says more than a thousand words. And on top of that, the conversion rate is sustainably optimized through the fast transmission of information. 

Stock Images:  Stock images are professionally photographed or designed images offered by photo agencies and photo databases on Photography Stocks pages. Stock images are produced without a special order and are archived on different platforms in a »stock«. These images can then be used for a fee or by subscription, taking into account licenses and user rights. The exact opposite of stock photography is contract photography.

8 image databases in the market overview of contentmanager.de

Image databases, stock or image agencies, and photo databases centralize image management thanks to mostly huge libraries, categorized media pools, and archives, thereby perfecting the entire content marketing workflow. We have listed the following commercial databases in our market overview and compared them in an editorial comparison.

• 123RF
• Adobe Stock
• Getty Images
• Indivstock
• mauritius images
• Panther Media
• Shotshop
• Shutterstock

More than 100 criteria in 12 categories on 32 PDF pages

In principle, the different providers are similar - and basically function similarly accordingly. In this way, basic functions do not “win” a comparison, and yet they can be “lost” here. Spoiler alert: All image databases don't give themselves anything in this category so that no agency stands out from the others. However, the various price models, inventories and various bundle features are interesting. We have divided the different criteria into 12 categories.

• General information (company name, company headquarters, number of employees, number of customers, unique selling proposition)
• Languages ​​of the image/file search
• Topic categories (For which subjects do the providers offer images, eg "Business / Finance", Nature / Landscape "or" Computer / Communication ")
• Basic properties (basic features such as rights management, download directory, parent-child option, API, mobile app, free text search, category search, license format search, other basic properties)
• Inventory and inventory usage (number of available images/photos, vectors, videos, audios, the average number of downloads per month, most popular topics)
• Interfaces (Are there interfaces to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Photoshop, MS Office, other interfaces)
• Preview pages for individual images (metadata on file and image size, usage rights, user information, image description, image rating/user comments, links, resolution, other similar images, further information)
• License formats (standard license, comprehensive license, license for print/editorial use, electronic media, social media, audio, video, other licenses)
• Legal criteria (server location in Germany? Certifications, protection against cyber attacks guaranteed, security, jurisdiction, terms and conditions, terms of use and data protection declarations, data protection)
• Content formats and format specializations (image formats, video formats, audio formats, format selection for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, further format selection)
• Additional services (German-language hotline, toll-free hotline, help chat, online community, integrated image editor, video editor, audio editor, other services)
• Price approach (starting price per year, minimum contract period, subscription model, cost subscription model, number of images in a subscription model, price for a paid image with and without subscription, flat rate, what are average costs of a customer, other costs)