Google Image Search Gets a Long Overdue Revamp

Google had been testing a new Image Search interface which more and more people started seeing. Turns out that Google was actually very close to launching the product, the new Image Search is going live for users and everyone should be able to see it in the next few days. It’s quite a radical change and is actually the first major revamp since Google introduced Image Search in 2001.

“Meanwhile, the quantity and variety of images on the web has ballooned since 2001, and images have become one of the most popular types of content people search for. So over the next few days we’re rolling out an update to Google Images to match the scope and beauty of this fast-growing visual web, and to bring to the surface some of the powerful technology behind Images,” Nate Smith, Product Manager, Google Images, announced.

The most noticeable change is in the layout of the search results. It’s all about the images now, all text is gone with just thumbnails of various sizes being listed. All the meta data, the image’s title, file type, size and so on, is displayed when you hover the mouse over one of the thumbnails. The images in the results are also significantly larger than before, more suited for today’s high resolution displays.

There are also no more results pages as well; you can scroll down ‘infinitely’ to see all of the images Google surfaces. The new Image Search only loads about 1,000 image results,  but it still a lot more than most people are ever going to need.

There’s also a new landing page for when you click on one of the results. The image is highlighted in the center of the page with the original website behind it. Closing the preview or clicking anywhere outside the image will send you to the original site. If you still see the old interface when visiting Google Image Search try using a different browser or, if that doesn’t work, just wait a couple of days until it goes live for everyone.