Now You Can Search by Image on Google

We’ve been waiting for this a long time!  If you’ve done an image search on Google recently you might have noticed a little camera icon at the end of the search bar.  If you click on it, it allows you to Search by Image.  To do this simply upload or specify an existing image to search for, instead of writing what you want to search for in words.

Now I know what you are thinking!  “If I already have a picture of the thing that I want a picture of, why do I need to search on Google for the picture that I already have?”

Why would you use Google Search by Image?

That would seem like a fair question. So here’s a few examples of why you might use this new Search by Image feature:

1. You are a photographer or artist and you want to find out where your image has been used online (maybe to check if others have stolen it)
2. You see an image that you like and want to find out if it is available to buy online as stock, or to find the origial artist
3. You need the same image in a larger size
4. You have an image of something and want other images of the same thing
5. You have an image of something and are not sure what it is

Yes, that last one is the real genius behind it.

Google will actually try to figure out what the image is of and then find images and information relating to that thing.  OK, it isn’t perfect, but this technology is going to keep getting better and better, and there are so many uses for it.

Here’s a quick example

I found a picture of the Colloseum in Rome and put the image URL into the image search.  What I got back is shown below.

You’ll see the it has identified the image as ‘Fall of Rome’.  It has offered me the same image in different sizes, visually similar images (note that these are alldifferent photos of the same thing), a couple of web pages about the fall of Rome, and listed every other page on the web that it has found using the exact same image.

It doesn’t sound so pointless after all does it?

Why don’t you let us know if you’ve found the new image search functionality useful and what you have been using it for.  Leave us a comment and let us know.

Article posted on 13th July 2012

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