10 Uses For Google's Search By Images

I have reviewed Google's Search by Images yesterday and was impressed by the new search feature. The image recognition works extremely well in most cases. Search will still turn out blank occasionally but most of the time you get the information that you wanted to find.
Today I'm going to look at different uses of Google's Search by Images. What can you use the new technology for?
Google Search by Images is a reverse image search engine built on top of the standard Google Images search options. Users can drag and drop images to the search form, upload images from their computer with a file browser or paste an image web address into the search form to search for that image. You find the service here.
One of the easiest ways to use the reverse image search engine is to have two browser windows open. Keep the Google Search by Images page open in one, and use the other to drag and drop interesting images and photos to it. This works even in different browsers, like Firefox and Chrome.
Lets start with 10 uses for Google Search by Images.
1. Find People
This works best with portraits. You can use it to find a long lost friend, similar photos of a celebrity that you hold dear or information about a person of public interest. Just use the photo that you have and upload it to the search engine. All findings will be displayed on the search results page. Please note that the results depend largely on the availability of additional photos and information on the Internet. If your long lost friend is anti-Internet, your search will likely turn up empty. Works best for people of public interest.
2. Find Dead People
The Internet offers lots of information about people of the past. From the Cesar's of old Rome over generals of the Napoleonic Wars to scientists and artists. If a picture is available, it is likely that you can find out more about them. It does not have to be a photo of the person, it can also be a photo of a painting or bust for instance.
3. Get Information About Art
Ever wanted to know what Van Gogh's Starry Night is all about? Then upload a photo of the painting to Google's Image search to find out. Even better, you can upload photos of art that you do not know the artist or name of. That beautiful picture in the newspaper or magazine? Take a photo, upload it to your computer to find out all about it. Works well for paintings and photography, but other art forms as well.
4. Find a Location
So you have that picture of the most romantic sunset in history, but do not know where it was taken. Upload it to Google Search for Images to get the location where the photo was taken. Found an interesting landmark, hotel, hangout or even the interior of a house? Try to get their location by uploading the photos.
5. Sightseeing
Take photos while you walk the streets of your holiday destination. Maybe you are in Berlin and want to know more about the Dome or the Reichstag, or you are in London and want to find out more about the Tower of London. You can use the new search to find out more about a building or sight that you do not know anything about, not even a name. Where ever you are, take a photo, upload it to the search engine to get information about the sight. Especially handy if you have a mobile phone with a decent camera, and a solid Internet connection.
6. Identify Plants
You can use the reverse image search to identify plants. Your neighbors have that beautiful plant in their garden that you do not know anything about? Take a photo, upload it to find out all about it. Maybe you like trekking or hunting. If you encounter plants you could take a photo to analyze them right away or at a later time.
7. Identify Animals
Just as with plants, it is possible to identify animals as well. This may be a bit more difficulty considering the fact that animals are most of the time on the move and not standing still so that you can take a photo of them. From the smallest of animals to the largest, if you are lucky enough to be able to take a photo, you will be able to find out more about them using the image search engine.
8. Identify Technology
Identify cameras, laptops, car parts, weapons or household items by taking a picture and uploading it to Google Search by Images afterwards. Maybe you see a cool laptop at the other table in the coffee shop and want to know more about the manufacturer and model.
9. Search for vehicles
Find out more about planes, automobiles, trains or ships. This works even with miniatures, as long as the photo is detailed enough.
10. Find out Who's Using Your Photos
You can use the search engine to find out if other webmasters or websites have copied your photos or images. Just upload them to the search engine to get a list of sites that have posted identical images or visually similar images.
Closing Words
Have you played around with Google's Search by Image yet? What's your impression of the service?
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“Do you use Google Photos?”
I do; I find it impossible not to use Google Photos on the Android phone; nevertheless, the “memory” feature is sort of neat. I’ve seen photos from a couple of years ago that that offer glimpses into the long-ago, forgotten past. It’s a lot like reviewing journal writing. “What was I doing and such and such a date?”
And, I think, when the “memories” are sorted and positioned, one can create a mini-collage with up to eight photos.
It’s so much easier to share photos with people rather than journal entries.
Nifty!
I delete the photos after 1 month of being taken. All of them are erased to return to the black and silent nothingness. Only the best ones are printed and placed in a very nice site at home. :]
I should buy a Chromebook.
None of the big tech companies are good but at least Google are the least dishonest and morally bankrupt of them. They’re always trying to do the right thing if the money allow it.
In reply to “https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/19/google-keep-is-getting-a-version-history-but-only-on-the-web/” since the website has gone insane and no one can know where thier comment ends up.
This app should be called “Google Keeps it”. Because, they do.
I use Color Notes. No syncing, no internet, just local.
The article said: “[…] positive outcomes of genocide…”. Perhaps the AI was actually discussing the benefits of reading a “Scroll of genocide” … “You feel dead inside.”.
Martin, this post reply is supposed to belong: [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/22/googles-ai-search-generates-horribly-misleading-answers/] (given the the database is faulty it could appear anywhere or nowhere).
I have yet to be impressed with AI of any kind. I think it’s overhyped and not ready to live up to it.
How to use AI: Avoid the artificial stupidity at all times.
“When searched “Why guns are good,” it also prompted questionable responses, including potentially questionable statistics and reasoning. ”
Based on whose reasoning? These sorts of assertions are generally bullcrap intended to advance an agenda. If you don’t like guns, say so. Meanwhile, there are 400 million firearms in the US owned by close to a third of the population and around 20 million carry concealed.
So your opinion is not shared by a LOT of people who either enjoy firearm spots or are concerned about self-defense or both.
Wow. Ghacks still hasn’t fixed the broken comments system where old comments from a different article appear. Sad to see you slowly turn to dust since the buyout.
@Seeprime,
For over two weeks now,
I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
For the time being,
it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.
This guns comment came up in the Pixel watch repair post and I was bewildered as to what was the connection between the two.
goog = skynet
“human beings” = \slaves\
This info is so NOT correct.
I so do not want google in my life that I have NEVER downloaded chrome and I do NOT have ANY google accounts.
My browser is set to clear all cookies, cache and history every time I close it, which is every day, and I still get these world takeover login prompts on every site I go to.
So I CANT go to google accounts and turn it off.
If this info were truly accurate I wouldnt be getting these pop ups AT ALL.
Thanks @Ashwin for the article! :]
Anyone who continues to use these big tech scum’s cloud services deserves what they get.
Given Ghacks’ comments’ database problems I precise :
I’m commenting the article “Google is in trouble with YouTube Shorts – gHacks Tech News” by Emre Çitak
at [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/04/googles-youtube-shorts-problem/]
—
About the article’s question, “What do you think about YouTube Shorts?” (BTW first time I read here any other writer other than Martin Brinkmann directly asks the audience it’s opinion, and that’s just fine) :
YouTube Shorts may suit smartphones (which I don’t use) but on a PC they are not my cup of tea, to put it mildly.
From what I read a bit everywhere, opinions are shared : love or hate. For those who dislike many scripts and dedicated browser extensions have been developed to handle them (removal or redirect to standard video display).
I don’ view YouTube videos on YouTube but via a Piped or a Piped-Material YouTube front-end instance and these offer on search results and on channels the option to view Videos-Shorts-Livestreams-Playlists-Channels ; well, I practically never open the ‘Shorts’ display. I don’t like shorts (except in summer, hmm), I dislike the concept, fast-videos after fast-food, fast, faster … to bring what? Emptiness, IMO
Does that answer your question, @Emre Çitak :)
I despise YouTube Shorts. So much in fact, I use custom adblock rules in Brave Shields to remove that crap.
youtube.com##ytd-grid-video-renderer:has([href*=”shorts”])
youtube.com###dismissible:has([href*=”shorts”])
There’s an extension for Firefox and Chrome browsers called “Youtube-shorts block”, re-opens the video in a normal window. :)
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-shorts-block/
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-shorts-block/jiaopdjbehhjgokpphdfgmapkobbnmjp
ps. say NO to Shorts, it only encourage shooting vertical-videos which doesn’t go well with many desktop displays… except when shooting vertical objects, such as ahem… pretty ladies. :)
Page source shows that ghacks is still using WordPress as the platform. Knowing, more or less, how it works at the DB level I am not sure how one could mess up comments this badly. It is actually very difficult.
Google is the big leader of everything. Indeed it can actually buy Amazon, Disney, Netflix, X and whatever other company. I wonder what could happen if Google starts to build airspace ships in order to conquer the Moon. I bet that Google would be the first to offer free WiFi at the Moon. Please fix the comments.
This comment is inside the article:
[https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/04/what-is-google-synthid-and-how-does-it-work/]
This “analysis” is disappointingly shallow and trivial. Why not include other factors like job level, responsibilities, full-time/part-time, qualifications, etc.? Because the conclusions probably wouldn’t fit the current leftist/feminist narrative. You don’t find what you don’t look for.
Misleading statistics.
Wage should be based on the amount of time, works, thinking (brain > muscle), responsibilities etc
Not skin pigmentation or your genitalia. There could be correlations, but not causations.
“Google maintains that it provides a superior product”
That is also Mozilla’s official position in defense of Google against the people, on that question of search engine abuse of dominant position by Google.
The funniest part is that not only it’s false regarding actual competitors, but even among not-actual-competitors there are meta-search engines that use exactly the same engine, just minus the tracking, so Google is clearly the inferior one compared to those already. But maybe what Google is saying is that it is the surveillance and bubbling that would make their engine superior. False again even without considering the damage those do.
“Google increases Chromebook support to 10 years”
I mean that’s great and all, but imagine using a browser-based, highly internet-dependent OS such as chrome. I’ve never used chromeOS but have seen it in person and read about it, just seems like ultra-limited user experience which relies on the concept that “most things can be done in a browser”.
What is there to support? It just a glorified web browser.
“Google launched Chromebooks in 2012 as low-cost devices and the company has had great success in the education world, especially in the United States.”
Happy tracking for all those unsuspecting children. And help normalize surveillance for those young brains. Well done Google.