Google Revamps Its Search Mechanisms

Two of Google’s biggest new developments are on the desktop. Android-style Voice Search is headed to Chrome (with support for English only, initially), and it will be joined by a new Search by Image feature (also available in Chrome, or Firefox with an extension).

To use that latter feature, you simply drag and drop an image or cut and paste an image URL in the search box, and then Google tries its best to recognize it and deliver relevant results -- including identifying the location in an old vacation photo, for instance (though Google notes it isn’t doing face recognition).

Google also announced Instant Pages, which promises to speed up browsing by pre-rendering results when its “confident you’re going to click them.” It’s available in the latest developer version of Chrome and will also be included in the next public beta.

And the company also made some revisions to its mobile search offerings, including a new set of shortcut icons, enhanced search options, and faster local results when browsing on a phone, as well as some revamped search and image results that have been specifically tailored to tablets.

The three new ways to search by image are: (1) drag and drop; (2) upload an image; and (3) copy and paste the URL for an image.

For more information, visit the Google Website.

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