Google v Gazopa

Google pushed their similar image search out of of Google Labs. This just shortly after GazoPa entered open beta and TechCrunch gave the similar image search service a thumbs up. Similar image search is something that has been on the move over the past year. It hasn’t gotten the attention I feel it rightly deserves. Why do I feel that similar image search deserves said attention? Well, if you work in a publishing house, or for a newspaper you have millions of images at your disposal and you pay to use them.

However, if you are like 99% of the online populaiton are one of the “little guys” your image options are often limited to the poublic domain. This is where GazoPa is really cool, and beats Google hands down.

Let’s look at a case. Say I write this blog post, and I want an imgae to go with it… but I have no idea 1) how to find what I am looking for 2) when I find an image, if I can use it. All I need to do is go to GazoPa and upload a sample file of an image that looks like the one I want. I then set it to filter for images licensed under CC and labled for reuse. Viola! I have a image which I am free to use, and it took me less than two minutes!