Why Google Image Search Suddenly Stopped Working
I don’t know about the rest of you, but when Google came out with an image search function that would actually let you search by matching images, my life was changed. No more unattributed images I would forever wonder who the photographer or artist was. No more tiny thumbnails, hunting hopelessly for a bigger version.
Yesterday I tried to search for an image and got the error that there were no matching images. Now, anyone who has used Google knows that the incidence of no matching images is about as probable as Jesus Christ coming back to Earth specifically to give you the 23 cents you were short on a burrito. Turns out all those recent updates with the way the Google User Interface is set up are the culprit.
Long Story Short: Image search by match isn’t working because Safe Search has been reconfigured, so you have to reset it. I will show you how.
In the Before Times there were 3 settings for safe search – now it is a binary, safe search is on or off. If you had Safe Search enabled before, currently it is in a funny stasis and basically you have to reboot it.
First step, go to Google.
step 1
Second step: Enter some random search term in the search field. Click on the search icon (magnifying glass in the blue box), That will give you text matches. Then click on “images”. I don’t know why, but you have to access the next step through image search.
step 2
Third step: Go to the far right and click on “SafeSearch”. In the example shown, I have it enabled. If it does not say “SafeSearch on”, it’s not enabled for you.
step 3
Fourth Step: if it just says “SafeSearch”, click on it and select “Filter Explicit Results”. You can turn this off after by clicking on the Safe Search link as shown in Step 3. SafeSearch is simply either on or off now.
step 4
Fifth Step: Now you’re ready to test your image search by matching image. Click on “Images” in the navigation list to the upper right of your Google Search start page.
step 5
Sixth step: Click the wee camera icon, “Search by Image”
step 6
Seventh step: paste the URL of an image or drag it from your desktop when prompted. I used this one I saw on Dangerous Minds. (Audrey Hepburn with a ball gag? No way! I had to know who was responsible for this TRAVESTY)
step 8
Step 9: Results! Now even if you turn SafeSearch on or off, it is reset and you will be able to use search by matching image as before.
Ta daa! Happy searching.
Thanks
Do I need to do this in each web browser?
As long as you’re logged in to your Google account, your settings should be preserved cross-browser. There are ways to sync your devices specific to each browser if that’s what you want to do, though.
thanks for identifying this problem. I’ve noticed the same thing, sort of, except that instead of saying “no matching images” the quality of the image search just doesn’t seem nearly as good any more – it seems to find things by colour and shape whereas in the past it was spookily accurate. Any suggestions for this issue?
I haven’t noticed any change in the quality of matches overall, myself. That said, there have definitely been times where I have done an image search and it only returns colour and shape matches. Google image search is amazingly good – but it’s not flawless.