10 July 2009 | Author: Y. Sulaiman Search Copywriter

Google tweaks simplify searches for royalty-free images

From fledgling blogs to well-established newspapers, the confusion over image copyright on the web has been raging for some years now. And while sites like Wikipedia, Flickr and various other subscription-based image libraries offer people royalty-free images, there's never really been a search engine dedicated to providing users with a way to find these images easily.

Google Image Search, however, has come one step closer to this goal. The latest tweaks to its features mean users can now filter their search results in order to see images that are labelled for reuse, commercial reuse, reuse with modification and commercial reuse with modification. To do this, simply click on 'advanced image search' next to the search bar and select the relevant filter under usage rights towards the bottom of the page.

Say, for example, you wanted an image of a Blackpool Tower to accompany an online article on the iconic attraction in North West England's most popular seaside resort. By applying a filter to a Google Image Search for 'blackpool tower', you'll be able to get images that are labelled for commercial reuse, meaning you can use them with your article legally.

Google tweaks simplify searches for royalty-free images

Unsurprisingly, many of the images included in the results for one of these searches are predominantly from Wikimedia.org and Flickr, as they are specifically tagged with Creative Commons licenses - i.e., they can be built on and shared legally. However, there is one catch: while Google Image Search will return those images available for reuse relevant to your query, it makes no guarantees that the licensing information it has picked up is accurate.

Nevertheless, Google's modifications are a big step forward. Some commentators are even predicting that the changes could put companies that offer royalty-free stock images for a fee out of business, as companies can now simply turn to Google Image Search with (relative) confidence that they are legally reusing an image. Together with recent changes like the ability to search images by colour, it looks like Mountain View is attempting to make Google Image Search the number one place to find great, and available, images on the web.