Factsheet
Restore Google Reverse Image Search with the Search by Image Extension.
Restore Google Reverse Image Search with the Search by Image Extension. : chrome
Google Reverse Image search is basically useless since it is Lens. Like seriously, it's hot garbage, you just find *nothing*. Are there good alternatives? So far I tested tineye, which is just ok.
Searching for images "find image source" now completely replaced by Google Lens??
Is Google reverse image search accurate?
Not entirely. It depends on the type of image, how clear it is, and how much unique detail there is. The more unique the image, the more chance Google will find the exact one. But if it is a picture of a person with many things going on in the background, you may end up with hundreds of thousands of unrelated images that look vaguely similar.
What is reverse image search?
A reverse image search lets users upload an image to Google (or give it a direct image URL), to find all the sites where that image appears. This is tremendously helpful if you’re a photographer and want to ensure your work has not been stolen. Or, if you want to credit a photo and need to find the source, Google can help you there, too.
Are there any alternatives to Google reverse image search?
There are many, although the results will vary. TinEye is probably the most well-known Google alternative, but a quick Google search will throw up dozens more.
Videos
Edit 2: As of today, February 12, 2025, this no longer works for me 😔.
New Chrome update finally the killed the flag that was allowing for old Reverse Image Search upon right click and ‘Search image with Google’. Now it's all just Google Lens. However, the functionality is still there (for now), you just need a way to access the URLs. Search by Image provides this.
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/cnojnbdhbhnkbcieeekonklommdnndci
https://github.com/dessant/search-by-image
It actually does a whole lot more than just Google Images, but if you disable all the other searches, you can once again easily Google Reverse Image Search upon right click with ‘Search Google Images for image’. (If you don't disable the others then you'll have to go into a submenu.)
A couple other notes:
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Make sure to give it the file URL permission in Chrome's extension settings so that it can search downloaded images.
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If you are in the EU and subject to the DMA, you may need to make Google Search a linked service in your Google Account. As an American I didn't have to deal with this, but there was a whole issue thread about it. If it works without you doing this, then don't worry about it I guess.
Edit: Ah, yes, alternatively you can enable the flag that restores this flag and others, but those always get taken away in another 1 or 2 updates. IMO better to find a working solution like the above now. Of course, this solution may also stop working soon (maybe as soon as those flags are unrestoreable), but this is working for me for now, and that's what matters.