What a thrill it is to see Google’s recent announcement of its new “similar image” search! One couldn’t ask for better publicity. Free, too! First, it further validates the huge interest people have in finding and using images online, either for personal or business uses. When people search for images, they are most likely looking to use them for some purpose that very well may require licensing. If Google is helping people do that faster, all the better!

While Picscout has been a leading innovator in image-recognition technology, its business is not to help people find images. It’s to help them manage their copyrights. If you’re thinking that you could use Google’s new image-search to do that on your own, consider these points:

FINDING YOUR IMAGES

• First you have to get Google image search to come up with one of your images in a search (not as easy as it looks), before you can even start with a “similar” search. And then your luck goes downhill faster. As reported by Plagiarism Today, the search isn’t really all that good. But, that’s almost beside the point. Even if it were perfect at finding exact matches, you have to do this for every image you own, one by one. Do you really have that much time on your hands?
• Picscout tracks entire collections of works… Every day.

FINDING “RELEVANT” USAGES

• Do you know the difference between a “relevant” use of your images and a big waste of time?
• Picscout does. And we deliver detailed reports that include the name of the company, a screenshot of the web page that used your image, contact information, and more.

RESOLUTIONS

• Do you know what to do if you find a match? Most people have no expertise or wherewithal to resolve usage disputes. If you try to contact the company yourself, chances are that you’ll be either ignored or treated poorly. And you’ll discover this only after weeks or months of trying.
• Picscout works with a select network of specially qualified copyright lawyers that can not only handle your case professionally with the other party, saving you valuable time, but also come up with a satisfactory resolution that doesn’t alienate business relationships.

Sure, there are ways to “find” your images, ranging from dumb luck to brute force searching. But that doesn’t mean a whole lot if nothing is happening. In the end, Picscout is far more than just a great image-recognition tech company. We provide full-service solutions that actually return results.