Wednesday 28 October 2009

Similar Images graduates from Google Labs

Today, we're happy to announce that Similar Images is graduating from Google Labs and becoming a permanent feature in Google Images. You can try it out by clicking on "Find similar images" below the most popular images in our search results. For example, if you search for jaguar, you can use the "Find similar images" link to find more pictures of the car or the animal. 

When we revamped Labs in April, we also launched Similar Images to highlight some of the innovative work our engineers have been working on. Google Labs gives us a way to get some of our new ideas in front of you early in the process, refine them based on your feedback and see what sticks. Your support has helped to make Similar Images the first major feature to graduate from Google Labs since its recent overhaul.

So, let's say you want to find images of Ancient Egypt. Google Images will provide you with a rich variety of results, including pyramids, maps, relics, drawings and other types of images. Instead of poring through hundreds of images, now you can simply click "Find similar images" to narrow down the results to the results to the type you want. (We're rolling this out gradually, so the links in the below examples may not work for you yet.)

You could narrow down your results to show you only the Great Sphinx of Giza:


Or illustrative maps of Ancient Egypt:


Or ancient Egyptian-style drawings:


While we'll continue to use Google Labs as a way to showcase and collect feedback for exciting new technologies, we also want to make it easier for you to provide direct feedback on all aspects of Google Images. That's why today we're also announcing the availability of Product Ideas for Google Images. With product ideas, you can post comments that will be seen directly by members of the Images team, as well as vote on ideas that others have submitted. We'll pay special attention to those ideas that are voted to the top of the list.