Google’s Search By Image feature is currently not functioning for many searchers.
The search by image feature allows a searcher to take an image from their computer or plug in an image source URL into Google Images and Google will return related images, with web pages that may have more information about the image. The feature launched in June 2011 and has been a pretty big hit since.
Now, it appears, that many searchers who are trying to use it are being sent away. When you upload an image, Google returns the message “The image must be in one of the following formats: .jpg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .tif, or .webp.” Google returns this message even if you do upload an image in those formats.
Here is a picture of me trying this myself today:
A Google spokesperson in the Google forums responded to the complaints this past Friday, saying “The team is aware of the issue and is currently working on a fix. Things should be back to normal soon.” As of this morning, the issue is still around for many.
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