Google gives image search a makeover, puts your results front and centre

Google has given image search a fresh new look in what it says is a bid to put your search results first.

So, in the next few days you’ll see your image search results displayed in an inline panel, which you’ll be able to flick through using your keyboard. According to Google, the changes ensure that the results are “faster, more beautiful, and more reliable”.

Instead of redirecting you to a separate landing page, the search results will now display detailed information about the image (the metadata) right underneath the image in the search results. Google also says that some key information will now be featured more prominently next to the image including the title of the page hosting the image, the domain name it comes from, and the image size. The domain name meanwhile is now clickable, and Google has also added a new button to visit the page the image is hosted on.

The source page will no longer load up in an iframe in the background of the image detail view. This, claims Google, speeds up the experience for users, reduces the load on the source website’s servers, and improves the accuracy of webmaster metrics such as pageviews.

The internet giant says it decided to make the changes based on feedback from ordinary users and webmasters alike. Based on the preview, the new way of doing things looks pretty good and while it may not be a revolution in search, it’s definitely a useful bit of evolution.