Google Search rolls out ‘About this Image’ tool to fight misinformation, provide more context on visual content

Google Search is rolling a new feature to help users verify the origins of images they find online. This feature, called “About this image”, is designed to provide essential background information and context about images in Google Search. The feature was first introduced earlier this year but it is now being rolled out to more users. Google has announced that the new ‘About this image’ feature is rolling out to English language users globally.  

Here’s how it works:

When you come across an image on Google Search or Google Images, you can click on the three-dot menu that appears on the image. From there, select “About this image”. This will show you important information about the image.

Here are the key details you can get about the images: 

1. Image’s History: This feature lets you see when Google Search first spotted the image or similar ones. It also shows if the image was published on other webpages before. This is useful when an old image is wrongly associated with a recent event.

2. Usage and Description by Other Sites: You can see how other pages use the image and what they say about it. This includes information from news and fact-checking sites. This helps you evaluate the claims made about an image and see evidence and viewpoints from other sources.

3. Image’s Metadata: If available, you can see additional information added to an image by its creators or publishers. This includes details that may indicate if the image was created or modified by AI. All images created by Google’s AI will have this information in the original file.

The “About this image” tool is part of Google’s ongoing efforts to combat misinformation online. According to a 2022 Poynter study, 62% of people believe they come across misinformation daily or weekly. This tool aims to help users quickly evaluate content and better understand the context of what they’re seeing.

However, it’s important to note that while this feature can be a helpful tool in verifying the source of an image, it still relies on users proactively taking steps to do so. So next time you come across an image that seems suspicious or out of context, you can use the “About this image” tool just to be sure of its origins.

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