Category: Techies

Warning! For all artists using watermarks to protect their art

22/9/2017

There is an imminent threat to all artists, art galleries and photographers that have been using watermarks to protect images with a commercial value.

Images have become bigger and increased in importance within the web. The emphasis is on images looking good and helping people navigate the web (if you like this - then how about more like this?)

For all those artists using watermarks to protect their images - you need to be aware that Google has worked out HOW TO REMOVE THEM! It recently presented its findings at the presented at the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference. (Why they think they have the legal ability to alter your image without your permission and reproduce it is anybody's guess!)

Below is the video produced to explain the CVPR 2017 paper "On the Effectiveness of Visible Watermarks". It also explains that they worked out how to remove the vulnerability of images to this sort of watermark removal process.

Irises by Vincent Van Gogh (Source Wikimedia Commons) - annotated with copyright notice to make a point!

However the good news is that the guys at Shutterstock are really not at all impressed with having their revenue model upended in one fell swoop (surprise, surprise!). They have now reverse engineered the new algorithm to prevent Google (or anybody else) from removing a watermark that is now unique to every picture which, in turn, makes watermark removal for secure.

What they've done is worked out how to make each watermark unique by marginally changing part of each watermark - for example by including the name of the photographer.

The same issue applies to artists - and what artists need to do is to work out how they can make their own watermarks more robust and incapable of removal using the algorithm so helpfully explained by Google!

My best guess is that this will need to involve doing something along the lines of what Shutterstock have done.

My recommendation is that artists should consider citing the title and their trade name (abbreviated in necessary) within each individual and unique watermark.

I predict this whole watermark thing will become BIG and there will be much scratching of heads by artists using watermarks!

REFERENCE:

Making Visible Watermarks More Effective Posted by Tali Dekel and Michael Rubinstein, Research Scientists | Google Research Blog Thursday, August 17, 2017
Google figured out how to flawlessly remove stock-photo watermarks | Engadget
Thanks to Google, Shutterstock can stop automated watermark removal | Engadget
Google shows how easy it is for software to remove watermarks from photos | The Verge - To highlight the need for more secure copyright protections

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How to report a spam email address

21/4/2017

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One of the things that happens to many artists with a new (or existing) website is that they get spammed by companies who want to "help you sort out your website".

This post is about a few things you can do to stop spam and stop scammers

how to check the whether it's spam
how to check if it comes from a scammer
how to report spam from a scammer to the official authorities

Characteristics of spam from a scammer

Most such approaches are almost universally scam operations. Such emails typically have similar characteristics

They send automated template letters out i.e. they do not approach you by name - even if your name is on your website under your "about me" section.
The letter is robotic. They have a long list of things that are wrong with your website (even if they are not)
Their assertions may contain totally incorrect information (eg the ones I get tell me they can help me set up a responsive website - for a site which already has a responsive website)
There is no website for the domain name

Most importantly, the letter is wholly unsolicited. That of itself makes it spam.

How to check if it's spam from a scammer

Things you can do are:

Check the name of the person it is sent to - if it's not your name then it's spam
Check the domain name (that's the end of the email address (e.g. the one I got this morning "weboptmizes.com") If it doesn't exist - and this one didn't then you can very reasonably conclude that it's a 100% a scam.
Check ownership details. Check whether the website - if it exists - includes the names of the people who own the site and a complete postal address - as required by law because it is trying to sell a service via the internet. I have been known when pretty certain that a plausible email is actually spam to check out that address using Google Streetview! Locations tell you a lot!

How to report spam from a scammer

Block the address
See if you can block the email address. This requires two things:

the spam email needs to have come direct from a scammer and NOT via a third party (such as my website host Weebly)
your email provider needs to have a function for blocking emails from specific addresses or domain names (eg gmail does this)

However I can't block the email addresses if they come via Weebly my website host - because all I'd be doing is blocking all email from Weebly and not making one bit of difference to the spammer!

What I want is for Weebly to implement a filter to catch the scammers - and so far Weebly has not done this (which is very irritating!) All they need to do is implement an address for reporting scammer/spam email addresses - but they've not done this to date.

If you have a website host who also does not use filters or a reporting button from spam from scammers you might want to try persistently raising this issue with them as I do!

IN THE USA: Report the email address to the Federal Trade Commission
The next best thing is to report the email address to the body which is set up to protect consumers from scammers of this sort.

This is the Consumer Information page about Spam on the Federal Trade Commission website and it tells you how to report spam.

Report Spam
Forward unwanted or deceptive messages to:
- the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov. Be sure to include the complete spam email.
- your email provider. At the top of the message, state that you're complaining about being spammed. Some email services have buttons that allow you to mark messages as junk mail or report them spam.
- the sender's email provider, if you can tell who it is. Most web mail providers and ISPs want to cut off spammers who abuse their system. Again, make sure to include the entire spam email and say that you're complaining about spam.
If you try to unsubscribe from an email list and your request is not honored, file a complaint with the FTC.

In the UK: Report the email address to the Information Commissioner

The Information Commissioner's Office is responsible for

the regulation of the conduct of those using your personal information to contact you and
marketing on the internet.

This is the ICO Information Page for the Public about spam emails. It provides very useful information about why they arise and what you can do about them - and what they can do about organisations based in the UK.

They also indicate who can send you marketing letters and who cannot.

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 cover the sending of email marketing. This legislation says that organisations must only send marketing emails to individuals if you have agreed to receive them, except where there is a clearly defined customer relationship.

Clearly if you've not signed up for communications from third parties via your web host then you should not be receiving these emails. You should certainly investigate whether your web host sells your email address to third parties or whether they have your consent on record relating to communication from third parties.

If you've made sure that this has not happened, then you can assume such emails to be spam from scammers (i.e. they are not observing the regulations relating to internet marketing and selling services via the internet).

It has a section on What can I do if I’m getting unwanted marketing emails? which contains two reporting buttons. I suggest you bookmark the page if you live in the UK and want to help stop spam from scammers.

Interestingly they also say on the same page that they operate arrangements with international agencies to exchange information. So although they can only operate in respect of organisations which are based in the UK that doesn't stop them sending on information to other countries.

What this website is less helpful about is recognising that much of such spam emanates from websites which don't exist!

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In addition there is always an UNSUBSCRIBE button in every email if you don't want to receive emails any more - and you should always use the unsubscribe button if you've changed your mind about a subscription and NOT the spam button!

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Don't be conned by SEO companies!

3/2/2017

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I regularly get approaches from people representing SEO companies who promise that they can help improve the performance of my website.

I normally send them straight to the spam folder. However they're sneaky and use forms on your website.

This is one such - which came in via a form response on Art Business Info for Artists this morning

Name
Alan Sehwag
Email
alan@ngrwebteam.com

Comment
Hi there,

I recently spent some time doing a site review of www.artbusinessinfo.com. (Yes, I do random site reviews for a living.)

Based on what I saw,there are a few things you could implement pretty quickly that would help boost your Google rankings, traffic, social media & conversion. I noticed, few technical errors that are effecting your website’s performance too.

We'll start counting & will keep fixing all bugs, provide you a clean safe website.We are also into website design, development and can redesign your website.

Not sure what your initiatives are in this area, but is this something that’s on your radar?

Alan.
(323) 617-3981

This is the reply I've just sent to Alan.

Dear Alan

I'm assuming this is for free and that your pricing page http://www.ngrwebteam.com/seo-pricing didn't just slip your mind - or the Federal Regulations relating to spamming people who have not given their consent to be approached? You sure you don't want me to remind you?

I also do reviews of those that say they help artists. I'll be sure to remember the name of your company.

Regards
Katherine

Katherine Tyrrell
Making A Mark on Art

Making A Mark is a top art blog - #3 in the UK and #7 in the world
c. 3.8 million+ visitors and 10.5 million+ pageviews and counting.....
Follow Making A Mark on Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Amazon
My Book on Facebook: Katherine Tyrrell: 365 Tips for Drawing and Sketching
Website: Art Business - for Artists + Blog + Facebook Page
Website: Botanical Art & Artists + Blog + Facebook Page

If you get approaches like this:

You shouldn't be. This is spam. It also breaches the rules of marketing online.
They typically all say the same generic things irrespective of what the issues are with your website. That's because they are selling their services to make money for themselves.
They typically haven't got a clue about the target market for your website. They are selling cookie cutter solutions - not something specific to marketing art by artists.
Check the website to find the pricing page. Alan forgot to mention that help from his company STARTS at $400 per month! The more difficult it is to find the pricing the more suspicious you should get. That includes any omission to mention prices in any approach to you.

The enormous prices for services from NGR

You most certainly don't need to be spending a lot of money. Most artists simply don't need help from professional companies if they are prepared to learn the basics for themselves. It's not difficult.

Personally I'd recommend avoiding SEO companies who in my book are the equivalent of snake oil salesmen!

Try and see how far you can get on your own through studying the basics of what helps with marketing your art online. Unless you've got a BIG pot of money to sink into creating a brand and marketing it and expert who gets results for ARTISTS!

One simple way to improve your website performance

I've always found the Google Webmaster Guidelines is a good place to start because you need to ensure your website is compliant with Google if you are to get a good ranking and turn up in search enquiries.

Work your way through these before you ever contemplate looking around for more help.

What's your best tip for fellow artists?

Please share your best tip for improving the performance of your website.

Mine relates to being very careful how you title pages and construct URLs for individual pages on your website.

be aware of the keywords associated with search queries
be very accurate as to content (Google likes this!)
try not to be the same as everybody else!

7 Comments

Image sizes for social media sites

30/12/2016

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Do you struggle with getting image sites right in terms of:

pixel dimensions
file size and type

for all the different images on all the different social media sites you use?

This morning I came across an incredibly helpful infographic which has now been imported into this site - see my new page Image Sizes for Social Media Sites in the Marketing section

2017 Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet by makeawebsitehub.com

The social media sites it covers include:

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Google +
Instagram
Pinterest
Tumblr
Linked In and
Ello

The infographic provides the precise dimensions for each specfic image.

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES: The post also provides detailed and very helpful notes about:

the best sort of image to use
resolution
file size
embedding
where and when an image will be seen

In summary I recommend this Infographic. I suggest your save the original post to your bookmarks - but if you lose it any time you now know you can find it again on this site.

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Art Inventory Management & Software - your views

25/9/2016

13 Comments

I'm currently building a web page about art inventory management and software.
It will:

identify whether it is cloud based or computer based
identify which operating systems it's compatible with
compare features
identify pricing
list reviews

Please leave a comment if have any experiences you care to share about:

the methods you use for inventory management of your artwork?
and/or software you have tried?

Alternatively if you've done a review I'd love to know where I can find this (URL etc)

The Software under review includes: the following - and you can see screenshots of their home pages above.

Cloud based Options:

Any others you know of and/or would recommend?

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Art Business Info: NEWS

Warning! For all artists using watermarks to protect their art

How to report a spam email address

Characteristics of spam from a scammer

How to check if it's spam from a scammer

How to report spam from a scammer

Did you find this helpful?

Don't be conned by SEO companies!

One simple way to improve your website performance

What's your best tip for fellow artists?

Image sizes for social media sites

Art Inventory Management & Software - your views

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

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Art Business Info: NEWS

Warning! For all artists using watermarks to protect their art

How to report a spam email address

Characteristics of spam from a scammer​

How to check if it's spam from a scammer​

How to report spam from a scammer​

Did you find this helpful?

Don't be conned by SEO companies!

One simple way to improve your website performance

What's your best tip for fellow artists?

Image sizes for social media sites

Art Inventory Management & Software - your views

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

GET Art Business Info. NEWS by Email

Author

Archives

Categories

Characteristics of spam from a scammer

How to check if it's spam from a scammer

How to report spam from a scammer