Google Removes ‘View Image’ Button from Image Search to Protect Photos

Google has removed the “View Image” button from its Image Search results that had allowed anyone to quickly download the original image file while bypassing the host webpage. This is a step Google is taking to help protect photographers’ copyrights.

Last week, Getty Images announced a new licensing partnership with Google (which Google calls a “settlement”) that put an end to a lengthy legal battle between the two companies over allegations of “anti-competitive” practices — Google’s search made it easy to download high-resolution photos from Getty while bypassing the Getty website.

Google and Getty Images also worked together to address Getty’s concerns, and the search giant agreed to remove the “View Image” button that’s commonly used to directly access image files. That change has now gone live.

Clicking the “Visit” button takes you directly to the webpage that the image is found on.

Google had also agreed to make the copyright notice on copyrighted photos more “prominent” for users, and that’s part of the tweaked design as well — the “Images may be subject to copyright” has been moved from being a tiny gray line of text under the buttons to a more noticeable line right beneath the photo preview.

Today we're launching some changes on Google Images to help connect users and useful websites. This will include removing the View Image button. The Visit button remains, so users can see images in the context of the webpages they're on. pic.twitter.com/n76KUj4ioD

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 15, 2018

The Search by Image button is also being removed. Reverse image search *still works* through the way most people use it, from the search bar of Google Images.

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 15, 2018

For those asking, yes, these changes came about in part due to our settlement with Getty Images this week (see also https://t.co/a5uFldOcih). They are designed to strike a balance between serving user needs and publisher concerns, both stakeholders we value.

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 15, 2018

Ultimately, Google Images is a way for people to discover information in cases where browsing images is a better experience than text. Having a single button that takes people to actionable information about the image is good for users, web publishers and copyright holders.

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 15, 2018

While this latest change may be celebrated by photographers and other copyright holders, others aren’t as pleased with the move.

“While it’s good to see Google protecting photographers and driving traffic to websites, it’s still hard not to be a little annoyed by the changes,” The Verge writes. “There are plenty of legitimate and legal uses for copyrighted images.

“And while it’s fair to ask users to do their due diligence by making sure they’re properly attributing photos, these changes really seem designed to stop images from being grabbed in the first place.”