Google grows with Similar Images and News Timeline

by Stevie Smith - Apr 21 2009, 15:40

Despite its continuing dominance in the online search arena, the steady procession of Google Labs enhancements to the hugely popular search experience clearly shows that Google Inc. is not one to sit on its laurels. Bearing that in mind, meet News Timeline and Similar Images.

First up for user appraisal is News Timeline, which is touted as a Web application that organises information chronologically and allows users to view their news and other data sources on a graphics-based and zoom-friendly timeline.

“You can navigate through time by dragging the timeline, setting the “granularity” to weeks, months, years, or decades, or just including a time period in your query,” outlines Google through its official release.

In bolstering the reach and effectiveness of its latest search-enhancing application, available data sources include recent and historical news, scanned newspapers and magazines, blog posts, Twitter status messages, sports scores, and various other media forms such as music albums and movies.

Then there’s Similar Images, which, much as it sounds, allows users to search for further images through actual picture reference as opposed to text-based input. The new feature returns images with attached links that root out other images closely resembling the original search result.

“Your new results will be tailored based on whatever image you select,” explains Google. “So if you see an image you like but you’re stumped on how to describe it, just click the similar images link to see ‘more like this.’”

According to Google, its Similar Images tool will come into its own when searching out queries with multiple meanings such as ‘jaguar’, comparison shopping searches such as ‘hairstyles’, or just standard browsing selections such as ‘New York’.

First-time reaction to Similar Images seems positive, with one user enthusing that, “this is a real breakthrough and drills down to what I need in minutes instead of hours… THANKS.”

However, not everyone is so obviously enthused and some of the constructive feedback points out that file size and dimensions are neglected, while scalable thumbnails, user-rated picture results, and an ability to upload personal pictures would all be definite pluses.

Similarly, while some have said News Timeline is a “great product,” and an “interesting concept,” that will “make life extremely interesting,” other initial users have said “the UI is clunky,” and that the service could be more streamlined.

Want to sample the worth of Google’s latest search additions? Click on News Timeline and Similar Images to do just that.

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