Google Changes Image Search

I search stuff out on Google dozens of times a day. In fact, I probably spend more time sifting through Google search results each day than I do eating. It's that much a part of my day-to-day. So anything Google does to make that job easier or more enjoyable, is always met with a Muppet-esque scream. Yesterday, I had a nice moment when I discovered they'd changed the way they deliver images back to you in an image search. [note: The redesign is being slowly rolled out to all users by the end of the week, and currently only works on PCs running Chrome, Safari, Firefox 3.0 (and up), and Internet Explorer 7 and 8.] If you click here, you'll see what I mean. The two images below show you the big difference, namely, that all the image info has been stripped off the page, making it easier to browse.

But you can still get the info if you want it by hovering over the photo, like this:

Another nice function, which isn't entirely new, but new-ish, is that you can browse by size. Need something larger than 1024x768 - use the drop down menu on the left side bar and narrow your search.

All in all, the images pop more than they used to, especially on my brand new 27" iMac, which gives me more than 2500 pixels in width!

More details from PCMag.com:

When you click on an image result, instead of viewing the originating Web page with a frame at the top, you'll see a blown up image in the forefront of the screen with the Web page dimmed in the background. To the right of the page you'll see the URL of the Web page and a link to the full-sized image. In addition to the images dimensions next to the link for the full-sized image is text telling you how much bigger the full-size image is than blown up image shown on the page. Clicking the "X" on the blown up image will take you directly to the originating Web page. I like this layout better than the framed page used by the older Google images format, because you get a much better idea for the size of the image (plus, you may not want to click on the full-image link). It would also be nice if clicking the image would take you to the image's position on the originating page—neither the old or new versions of Google Image Search has this ability. Google managed to display more and larger image results without slowing load times, and made it faster to find images for which you're searching.