Question from Byron L.: I’m a photographer and I use Google Images a lot to check out photos taken by other photographers. I get a lot of inspiration from looking at their photos.
I’ve always heard that it’s safer to view the photos in Google Images by clicking on the “View Image” button instead of visiting the websites directly, and that’s what I always do.
But this morning I noticed that the “View Image” button is no longer available on Google Images.
Why is it missing, and is there any way to get it back?
Rick’s answer: Lots of other folks have noticed the missing “View Image” button as well, Byron. In fact, you’re the third person who’s asked me about it today.
I wasn’t aware that the button is missing until I started started receiving these messages, but I did a little digging around and found out why Google removed it.
They’ve apparently entered into some kind of business partnership with Getty Images, and one of the conditions of their agreement was for Google to remove the extremely popular “View Images” button from their image search results.
You also asked if there was a way to get the button back, and unfortunately the answer is no.
If the partnership between Google and Getty Images ever comes to an end they might possibly put the button back on there, but that’s far from certain.
However, you do have other options…
Most modern search engines have a “View Image” button on the “Images” section of their websites.
For example, one of the largest Google Images alternatives is Bing Images, and they offer a “View Image” button that works just like the one Google just removed.
Here’s how to use the “View Image” button on Bing:
1 – Visit www.Bing.com and type in a search term.
2 – Click the Images link at the top of the page.
3 – Scroll through the images on the page and click on an image you wish to view.
4 – Click the More link in the lower-right corner of the window, then select View Image from the pop-up menu.
As mentioned earlier, most modern search engines offer a “View Image” button on the images they display in their image search results. In other words, you don’t have to use Bing if you’d rather use a different search engine to view other photographers’ photos.
I hope this helps, Byron. Good luck!
Bonus tip: If privacy is your number one concern, check out a fantastic alternative search engine called StartPage!
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