21 April 2009 | Author: J. Cave SEO Consultant

Google Labs unveils Similar Images and Google News Timeline

Google Labs has revealed two of the latest projects that are trialling their way into the world of search. Although only announced yesterday, both Google Similar Images and Google News Timeline have already gained a considerable amount of positive feedback from testers.

The two projects were spawned from the famous Google Twenty Percent Time, a business approach that has previously been responsible for projects like Gmail, Google News and Google Talk.

Google Similar Images is summed up fairly well by its name. Typically when searchers are looking for an image, they will continually refine their search until they find the image most similar to the one they are thinking of. Google Similar Images makes the process of refining search queries a lot easier - and the whole process of sifting through images a lot more enjoyable.

In a post on the official Google Blog yesterday, Googlers behind the new innovation demonstrated how an image search for 'jaguar' might work.



For those searchers not looking for the jungle cat, the obvious choice might be to type 'car' afterwards. Instead, by clicking 'similar images' under one of the pictures of the car, users can quickly narrow down their search to just Jaguar cars before continuing to focus on a favourite picture of the car.

The second of Google's rollouts, Google News Timeline, provides users with a chronological navigation panel for news stories. A topical news query - such as 'Barack Obama' - shows a sliding chronological display of stories from newspapers, magazines and video sites spanning across the entire 2008 election period, the start of his presidency and even before the beginning of his campaign.

The feature is especially useful for people who want to research a news story in depth, or take a more detailed look at how the media covers a particular figure or issue over time.



While recent news stories may have highlighted the effects of the financial crisis on Google, these new developments reveal that - in spite of any potential trouble at Google HQ - the world's economic problems have not stopped Googlers from dedicating time and resources to innovative new projects.

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