A reader writes:
I decided to give Google’s new “Search by Image” a try and ended up being pretty underwhelmed, though quite amused, by the results. While Google correctly identified iconic, famous places such as the Duomo as seen from the Uffizi, the colorful houses on the hills of Positano and the palazzo publico of Siena, it failed miserably (and sometimes hilariously) with some less famous locales. For example, a shot from the Hotel Agave on the cliffs of Positano was deemed very similar to a photo of a large German man in a keg-throwing contest. A pic of a flag-lined side street of Siena resulted in a photo of a leggy lingerie model. And the beautiful buildings on the hills of Montalcino at sunset apparently look very similar to a swamp in the Everglades.
Another writes:
I actually recently tried out TinEye to try to find an image’s original source. I figured it was a matter of time before Google harnessed this.
I also thought about the VFYW contest, but quickly realized it’s not a game killer. First, you can run any potential image through the reverse search before choosing it for the contest. Given the short window between image presentation and submission deadline, if it’s not finding anything on Saturday, it’s probably not going to before Tuesday, either.
Besides, an image search won’t work all that well for most images. As humans, we have specific comparisons in mind when we search through images, a context that is lacking in reverse image searches. Sure, the Gustavia harbor picture might work, because many other pictures exist from that vantage point that are pretty similar. But most of the VFYW shots are unique. We can imagine a different vantage point because we know what we are looking for. A computer, not so much.
If anything, the reverse image search will force the contest to skip the more popular views. The last few images have been really fun, because the clues were more subtle, and weren’t really something that reverse image search (or even browsing through google images) would help with. That makes for a good contest, methinks.
The Dish 