Shutterstock Acquires BigStockPhoto

So a major buy out happened while I was out of town. Shutterstock bought out BigStockPhoto. It sounds like the two companies will function as separate sites as Shutterstock was looking for an option of credit based sales to added to their subscription based system. I think this is a great venture and for sure we will see an increase in quality at BigStockPhoto's.

This morning I have the pleasure of announcing the acquisition of BigStockPhoto by Shutterstock Images. We are excited to add a credit-based product to our line up of best-in-industry subscription options. Though we studied the possibility of building a credit site from scratch, in the end we decided that acquiring and building upon the momentum of a solid brand like BigStockPhoto is the best way to deliver this new product to our customers. As you all know, Shutterstock has pioneered many products that have been duplicated in the industry: we offered the first and by far the most successful crowdsourced subscription stock photo product, we built the first footage microstock product, and we were the first commercial stock photo site to crowdsource editorial content. We still feel strongly that subscription solutions offer the best value, but we also recognize that some customers prefer to buy content through credits. We want to work with those customers to better understand and meet their content needs. Acquiring BigStock is the first step.

More than anything, we're excited to bring the things Shutterstock is known for - our high quality content, great site design, precision search tools, and saavy marketing - to the BigStock brand, the website, and the product line. Be prepared to see a huge marketing push, a redesigned website, and the type of sales volume that you are used to seeing at Shutterstock. This won't happen overnight, but we expect the trajectory will be the same as Shutterstock. What we did with subscriptions - we plan to do with credits.

I hope all of you are as excited as we are that BigStockPhoto is now part of the Shutterstock family. Tim and Dawn Donahue and their team have built a great product, and we plan to make it better than ever for image buyers and sellers around the world. For now, we plan to keep the two sites operating on their own. Nothing will change for contributors of both sites at this time - continue to submit as usual to both. We hope you will continue to allow us to represent your great content on both Shutterstock and BigStockPhoto and we look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead.

Jon Oringer, Founder/CEO
Shutterstock Images