Google has recently launched a new feature as part of their image search engine in which the user can link or upload a picture to find where else it is used on the internet. The specific term for this is reverse image search, which has been the purpose of the popular TinEye website for several years.
To use the new feature, simply go to Google"s main image search webpage and click the camera icon towards the left of the search bar. Clicking this will bring up a small popup box in which you have the option of linking to an image or uploading one from your personal computing device. Google has a promotional webpage up which explains a little more about the process, including a link to a Chrome/Firefox extension.
After comparing several image searches on both sites, Google"s results came out on top each time, often by having a much larger collection of results to choose from. If you"re searching for a larger resolution image than what you currently have, a feature such as this can be very useful to being more productive.
With Google now finally introducing this feature that some have been calling for, it raises the question of whether this will stomp out the competition, which is primarily TinEye at the moment. Google has managed to integrate the new feature seamlessly as though it was a normal search and because it"s by far the largest internet search engine, it will most probably provide a better selection of results. Does this mean the end of TinEye amongst other reverse image search sites?