Google has recently made changes to image search, making it difficult for users to steal images without giving any copyrights, and it has been able to do this by simple removing the ‘view image’ button.
When the ‘view image’ button was pressed while viewing a picture, it led to open the picture alone that can then be saved or copied without the need to visit the source website. Now, Google has added one more step to save/copy the image by visiting the page for the picture through clicking on the ‘visit’ button.
As The Verge reports, the tech giant has been under pressure from various photographers and publishers who thought that people would steal their pictures through image search. This removal of the ‘view image’ button is one of the steps Google has taken as a response to the complaints.
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. pic.twitter.com/n76KUj4ioD
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 15, 2018
Android users to soon get Google’s latest Chrome 63
Earlier, stock photography website ‘Getty Images’ filed a complaint against Google, which was settled previous week when the two reached a settlement that contained some terms and conditions for Google. Removal one the ‘view image’ button was one of those terms.
Also, because the button did not require the users to visit the source website, it gave a disadvantage to Google that deprived them of page hits and ad revenue from visits.
Moreover, as Splash Gear reports, Google is also removing the option of ‘Search by Image’ that can be used or abused to search similar images without any watermarks. However, the option of reverse image search is still there that works by dragging an image to the search bar, but then again the same limitations would be there.