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Google search removes 'view image' button in attempt to stop people stealing pictures

There's an easy way to get the feature back – though the change has been made to stop people breaking the law

Monday 19 February 2018 10:35 GMT

A neon Google logo is seen at the new Google office in Toronto, November 13, 2012 (Reuters)

Google has removed one of the most important parts of image search.

The company has got rid of the button to "view image" on its own. That means that people can no longer easily navigate to the picture they'd searched for – or download it for later use.

It means that people will only be given the option to see the picture on the page that hosts it. That means clicking into the website and complying with its rules, rather than making it easy for people to look at only the picture.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

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1/1111 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Easter Eggs

There are a lot of Easter Eggs hidden in Chrome, and more and more are discovered each year. One of our favourites is the dinosaur game. The next time you fail to connect to the internet on Chrome, tap the spacebar. It’s also worth Googling “barrel roll”, “zerg rush”, “super mario bros” (and clicking the question mark graphic), “festivus”, “recursion”, “askew” and “atari breakout” (and then clicking Images).

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Pin tabs

If you tend to browse with a lot of tabs open at once, you can clear up the clutter by pinning the ones you’re least likely to close. Right-click them and select Pin Tab. They’ll automatically shrink and slide left.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Save battery

You can save some battery life by sacrificing performance. In Settings, scroll down to the System section and uncheck the box reading Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed. We wouldn’t recommend having this feature enabled all the time, but it could come in handy if you’re nowhere near a charger.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Browse faster

There are loads of Chrome Extensions available, but one of the most useful is Google’s Data Saver. It compresses the pages you visit to reduce data usage and speed up loading times.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Make multiple profiles

If you use multiple Google accounts, for work and for personal use, for instance, you can keep your bookmarks and browsing history for each account separate by creating individual profiles. Go to Settings, Manage People and Add Person. This is also handy for when you lend your computer to a friend, and you don’t want them to have access to your internet history.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Downloads

Many users would prefer it if Chrome downloaded files straight to the desktop, but by default it sends them to your Downloads folder. You can change this by going to Settings, opening the Show Advanced Settings menu, clicking Downloads and choosing your preferred destination.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Extra info

To see cookies and permissions for every site you visit, click the View Site Information symbol on the left-hand edge of the omnibar. It will also let you quickly control things like Popup and Location settings.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Task manager

You can quickly find out which pages are using up the most memory and slowing down your browsing experience by opening the burger menu, going down to More Tools and opening the Chrome Task Manager.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Calculator

When you’re online and need to do a quick sum, you don’t have to hunt down your computer calculator or whip out your phone. Just type it into the Chrome omnibar and hit Enter.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Startup

If there’s a certain set of pages you always open when you turn your computer on, you can get Chrome to open them automatically when you launch the browser. In Settings, click Set Pages in the On Startup section, and choose the ones you want.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed

Search Gmail from omnibar

You can search your gmail inbox directly from the omnibar by going to Settings, Manage Search Engines, scrolling to the bottom and pasting https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/#apps/%s into the box on the right-hand side.

That appears partly to be the reason that Google made the change. The new site discourages people from being able to steal pictures that they ordinarily wouldn't be able to download, or to link to pictures without people seeing whatever is surrounding them on a page.

Google initially said that the change had been made "to help connect users and useful websites", and stressed that the view on page button would still be around. But it said later that the change had been made in part because of an agreement with Getty to make it harder to steal the image agency's pictures.

"They are designed to strike a balance between serving user needs and publisher concerns, both stakeholders we value," Google said on its "search liaison" page.

At least for now, it's possible to get the feature back by adding a Chrome extension. One of them – called, helpfully, "View Image" – adds the buttons back into Google.

It's also possible to get to the actual image fairly easily, despite the fact the button has disappeared. To do that, just right click on the image in the results and select to view it in a new tab – that will open up the picture and you'll be free to do whatever you want with it.

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