Remember the “View Image” link from Google Images? Well, you better say goodbye to it because it’s being removed by Google. The company announced a few changes to image search today, one of those changes being the removal of the option to see the image without visiting the website that its being used on.
This might be quite the bummer for some, but it’s a condition of Google’s settlement with Getty Images, so it was only a matter of time before this change would be implemented. In a tweet, Google said today that the changes “are designed to strike a balance between serving user needs and publisher concerns, both stakeholders we value.”
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 Search by Image button is also being removed. Reverse image search *still works* through the way most people use it, from the search bar of Google Images.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 15, 2018
In 2016, Getty Images had filed a complaint against Google to the European Union stating that the company image search was promoting piracy. Getty Images also told Time that having easy access to high-resolution photos through Google search meant that “there is little impetus to view the image on the original source site.” To add, Getty Images’ general counsel Yoko Miyashita at the time said, “Google’s behavior is adversely affecting not only our contributors, but the lives and livelihoods of artists around the world, present and future.”
Since then, the company had been going back and forth to come to an agreement that would be beneficial for both sides. Earlier this month, the two companies announced that they had reached a deal. Per the agreement, Google will obtain a multi-year license to use Getty photos in its products, but also agreed to change on how images were handled on image search. One of the changes was the removal of “View Image” as well as a note about copyright would be much more noticeable.
“Ultimately, Google Images is a way for people to discover information in cases where browsing images is a better experience than text,” Google said. “Having a single button that takes people to actionable information about the image is good for users, web publishers and copyright holders.”
