Google recently added some new features to it’s Image Search, which makes searching for images a lot simpler. And when I say a lot simpler, trust me, the next time you want to find a particular image on a certain topic this new feature will help you a lot.
So what is this new feature that I’m talking about? Well, Google Image search now gets a new sorting feature known as ‘Sort by Subject’. You know when you normally search for something on Google, the usual sorting criteria is by Relevance and you get all the images jumbled up on the same page. It’s difficult to find something specific unless you use the exact terms to search for what you’re looking for, even then the images are all in a huge clutter.
Here’s where the new sorting algorithm comes in handy, and sorts what you searched for in a more clean and easy to look way. For example, I searched for the terms ‘1967 Mustang Fastback’ and ended up with about 10 pages of images that are in no way sorted out for my needs. I wanted some wallpapers, now I could’ve added the term wallpaper to my search but then what would be the point of this new feature. In the images below you’ll understand what Sort by Subject is all about.
This is how sort by relevance looks like, the normal way image results show up when you search on a topic. You’re all familiar with this, but you can now notice a new Sort by Subject criteria right below sort by relevance. Now this is what happens when you click on it.
Sort by Subject sorts the images that you searched for in a more stacked manner, meaning you can find what you’re looking for in a single page grouped under different subjects such as you can see the above picture. Now you can click on these topics to get more related results which would make my search for 1967 mustang fastback wallpapers really easy. This Sort by Subject feature can also be used to search for things that you’re not sure of, for example if you want to know the name of a certain monument in a country, but don’t know how to. You can use this feature and it will show you a separate category titled ‘Country Monuments’ or the Monument that you’re looking for and thus help you find what you’re looking for. Watch the video after the break to understand it better.
Sorting by subject uses algorithms that identify relationships among images found on the web and presents those images in visual groups, expanding on the technology developed for Google Similar Images and Google Image Swirl. By looking at multiple sources of similarities, such as pixel values and semantic relationships, and by mining massive amounts of data, we can make meaningful connections and groupings among images.
That’s all there is to the new Sort by Subject feature in Google Image Search. Tell us what you think of it and how useful it will be for you.
[ Google Blog ]
→ 
→
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice post i read it also in googleblog.With this feature we can find what images we want easily and quickly too….Thanks for sharing:-)
Awesome update! I searched for “google” and the results were… google logo, google girl, google earth, google office and google wallpaper!
A very good feature by google indeed!
Well that’s nice isn’t it?
Yes a really nice feature!!
Definitely some exciting features added
Wow.. Google image Search Features Very Nice, Thanks for Information
Wow…Grt I checked on google. Amazing feature of google. Thanks man.
Good feature. I am sure we will be able to search for the images we want more easily now with this new feature!
Yeah , google is really adding new features to its system . Lot more to come .
That’s good
It’ll make search easier & quicker.
Seems to be a nice feature. However, the way Google has named it is slightly confusing because as such “sort by relevance” and “sort by subject” sounds a bit similar. After all relevance is also about being relevant to subject. It should rather be “group by subject” because it is actually grouping them based on subject.
Great, Google rolling out new updates like every day. Thanks for sharing the info.
this is another cool feature added by Google…
Nice article….now searching images will be much more easier
This is very good feature from google
this is amazing, google keeps having new features that rock!