No More Free Pics As Google Removes ‘View Image’ From Searches To Avoid Stealing Of Photos

The change is seen as part of Google's partnering with stock photo provider Getty Images.

San Francisco: In a move to curb the lifting of copyrighted images from its platform, Google has removed the "view image" button from its image search results.

Ultimately, Google Images is a way for people to discover information in cases where browsing images is a better experience than text. Having a single button that takes people to actionable information about the image is good for users, web publishers and copyright holders.

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 15, 2018

 

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

The change is seen as part of Google's partnering with stock photo provider Getty Images.  

For those asking, yes, these changes came about in part due to our settlement with Getty Images this week (see also https://t.co/a5uFldOcih). They are designed to strike a balance between serving user needs and publisher concerns, both stakeholders we value. — Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 15, 2018

Google last week signed a multi-year global licensing deal with Getty Images, allowing it to use Getty's content within its various products and services. According to a report in The Verge, Google will make copyright attribution and disclaimers more prominent in image search results. Now, users have to wait for a website to load and then scroll through it to find the image. "The change is essentially meant to frustrate users. Google has long been under fire from photographers and publishers who felt that image search allowed people to steal their pictures, and the removal of the view image button is one of many changes being made in response," the report said. Websites sometimes disable the ability to right-click, too, which would make it even harder for someone to grab a photo they're looking for. "Fortunately, there's still at least one way around it: if you right click, you can select "open image in new tab" or "view image" (or whatever your browser's equivalent option is), and you'll still open up the full-size picture," the report added. In addition to removing the 'view image' button, Google has also removed the 'search by image' button that appeared when people opened up an image. Users seemed frustrated with this new move  

Realizing the “view image” button was removed from Google... pic.twitter.com/SzNAy4z0op — Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) February 16, 2018

 

Google removing the "view image" option is legitimately one of the workflow crippling things I've experienced in a while and is so user hostile that either 1) they'll be forced to pull it back or 2) an alternative will need to arrive — Nikhil Krishnan (@nikillinit) February 16, 2018

Why did Google remove the "View Image" button from Images? Its totally useless now. What the fuck. Unironically going to switch to Bing or something now — Royal Poodle (@royal_poodle) February 17, 2018

Top reason why Google removing the "view image" actually HURTS artists. People are scared of theft? You can still directly save the image. People WILL STILL STEAL! This doesn't stop thieves. Most people viewing an image share it with friends. Artwork sharing will decrease. ???? — Kikidoodle & Purrmaids @ ECCC (@KikiDoodleTweet) February 16, 2018

Cool, so Google got rid of the view image button on Google search. LITERALLY THE ONLY THING I EVER USE . THANKS GOOGLE — Ali H ???? (@The_AliH) February 16, 2018