What does it mean when a keyword is flagged?

When viewing your keywords in Image Manager, you might notice some marked in red:

A red flag indicates that a Stocksy staff member has flagged the keyword for review. You can easily view all assets with flagged keywords by using the "Flagged Keywords" filter.

Do Stocksy staff add or remove keywords?

Yes. If we review a flagged keyword and determine that it is irrelevant, redundant, or inaccurate, we may remove it or replace it with a more suitable term. We also occasionally add missing keywords that are important for discoverability.

That said, our role is limited to cleanup and mentorship—accurate keywording is ultimately your responsibility.

Do flagged keywords affect search placement?

No. A flagged keyword does not impact your search placement. Your asset will still appear in searches for that term as it usually would, even if it has a red flag.

Do I have to remove flagged keywords?

There's no penalty for leaving flagged keywords in place, but we do appreciate it when members clean up their metadata. If your content accumulates multiple flagged terms, we may return it to you with a request to improve the keywording.

What if I disagree?

We occasionally add flags by mistake. We usually catch and correct these during review, but if something doesn't make sense, you can contact Support and ask for clarification.

Before you reach out, take a moment to review your keyword list carefully. A flag doesn't always mean the keyword is "wrong"—it may simply be unnecessary, repetitive, or overly broad. Here are a few common reasons we flag keywords:

• Synonyms: When keywords are linked in our internal dictionary, you only need to include one. For example, if "Xmas" is flagged, check if "Christmas" is already included.

• Redundancy: We may flag multiple versions of the same word (e.g., "walk" and "walking") to keep your list concise.

• Model release metadata: Keywords related to age, gender, and ethnicity are automatically applied from the model release, so you don't need to add them manually.