Social Media Marketing

Google removes View Image from image search

Search for an image on Google Images and you will see one big change: There is no “View Image” button under any image you select. Also, you will no longer have an option to do a reverse image search. The change went somewhat under the radar, with a tweet from Google:

“Today we’re launching some changes on Google Images to help connect users and useful websites. This will include removing the View Image button. The Visit button remains, so users can see images in the context of the webpages they’re on.

The Search by Image button is also being removed. Reverse image search *still works* through the way most people use it, from the search bar of Google Images.”

One of the biggest concerns for websites, publishers, and image sellers with Google Images was the ability for people to steal images easily. With reverse image search, you could upload an image and find a higher quality version.

Google entered a multi-year deal with Getty Images recently which ended the European Antitrust complaint. The agreement with Getty Images is “a multi-year global licensing partnership, enabling Google to use Getty Images’ content within its various products and services.” As part of that deal, Google will be using Getty images across many of its “products and services.”

It is likely that this is one of the remedies that Google proposed as part of the agreement. It is still possible to use Image search to find and use copyrighted images, but the change makes it much harder for the average user.