Computer and Library Learning (Archived)

Google’s Inside Search page provides details about new innovations in the Google Image Search. Those users already familiar with the Google Image Search know about typing in keywords and obtaining a results list denoting images or pictures. Google has now refined the Image Search to allow users to also search by image through clicking on the camera icon on the right-hand side of the search box.

Google’s Image Search offers the user three methods to search by image:

1)      Drag and drop an image from the internet or one’s computer into the Google Image search box.

2)      Upload an image by clicking on the camera icon, then selecting “Upload an image”, followed by clicking on the image of choice.

3)      Right-click the mouse on an image to copy the URL of the image, then click the camera icon in the Google Image Search box and select “Paste image URL.”

Google recommends speeding up the image search process by using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers and downloading on the appropriate extensions.

The intent of searching by image in the Google Image Search is to find the source of the image. An article in the Financial Post reported that Google’s Search by Image technology is similar to TinEye, a Toronto-based reverse image look-up service developed by Idée Inc. TinEye is intended to determine an image’s source, its usage, whether it has been modified, and even whether a higher resolution version exists.

There may be some glitches to work out with the Google Search by Image as demonstrated by the confusion distinguishing between President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush.