Despite the dismal failure of Google News redux, the mischievous mercenaries from Mountain View decided to take another crack at fixing something that ain’t broke. Today they launched a redesigned Google image search page; the folks at Wired have already pointed out its suspicious similarities to the Bing version. Indeed, Google basically ripped the new layout right out of Bing’s playbook, a brazen act to say the least. The only logical explanation for this intellectual property theft is that Google is supremely confident that no one but tech columnists will even notice their dastardly deed because, well, it’s Bing.
That said, Google’s previous image format seemed fine to me, until I laid eyes on the latest incarnation. Now I know what was bugging me all these years as I searched through pages and pages of useless pictures that had absolutely nothing to do with my search query. This time around, the results are actually relevant, for the most part, anyway. Also absent are those annoying lines of text that appeared underneath every picture as if to justify its presence lest you question the wisdom of All Mighty keyword feeder. Now users are able to scroll down through a screen filled withmultiple page results on a single screen, so you don’t have to keep hitting the back button on your browser.
The minimal amount of white space gives the page a collage-like feel, which seems fitting and natural. It may look a bitchaotic to some, but personally, I think it’s a huge improvement. Simply drag your mouse across the scattered images and hover over them to get an enlarged view. Click on the pic and you’ll be taken to a landing page that displays a full sized likeness in front of the host site. To copy and paste the picture onto a forum or someone’s facebook page, click on the link to the right of your screen entitled, “full size image.” From there it’s business as usual. Below the link, you’ll find the image’s specs, including the size and file type. Above the link is the exact name of the host site, so that you have the option of not actually bothering to click through to it should you think it unsafe or find its content objectionable. Or you can click on the dim backdrop behind the pic and go straight through.
In case you haven’t played around with this facet of the Google Empire lately, I strongly recommend giving it another shot. There are plenty of other cool features, such as image searches by color. I’m really digging this option, but maybe that’s because I’m a girl. In fact, I could probably kill the rest of natural life looking at endless pictures of flowers in shades of yellow, green, blue, pink, and purple (too cute!).
There are plenty of other search options for people not interested in gawking at various flowers all day. Users can type in a key word and obtain results for books, videos, maps, shopping, news, blogs, etc. You can also display stuff according to when it was posted on the series of tubes, by the amount of time it’s been out there, and more. Overall, I’d have to give Bing two very enthusiastic thumbs up! Err, um, I mean Google.
