Google has been working to better integrate its Google Lens visual search tools into your browser to enable new types of searches that can identify what you see, not just search for the things you type. Today, Google is launching a new way to use Google Lens on your desktop. Instead of opening a new search tab, you can use Lens on the same page as your Chrome browser to do things like translate text in an image, identify an object in an image, or get the original source of an image. .
Google had previously offered Lens image search capabilities and Google Photos on the web, but its most complete offering was on mobile devices. This April, Google also launched Lens-powered multifunctional mobile search capabilities that allow users to search with both text and combined images, hinting at the company’s broader plans to invest more in Lens technology for make searches feel more natural.
Earlier, the company had announced that it would integrate Lens with Chrome on the desktop in the “coming months” as well.
Today’s update will allow users of the Chrome browser on their desktop to right-click on any image on a webpage and then go to the new “Search Image with Google Lens” menu option. This is the same menu where today you can save or copy the image or open it in a new tab.
Image credits: Google
This will open a set of search results in a new dashboard next to the web page with more information about the photo. You can then choose to click a button to find the source of the image, which will allow you to see other web pages that include the same image. You can also translate the text of the image or use Lens to help you identify what is in the photo.
Image credits: Google
In other words, enter a way to use the image as a starting point for a new search from the webpage you are on, instead of requiring you to start a new image query from the image search from Google or by typing a standard. text-based search on Google.com.
The feature is similar to a reverse image feature found in Microsoft’s latest web browser, Microsoft Edge, which also allows users to perform a reverse image search in a sidebar without leaving their current tab. The searches themselves are done by Bing, though.
Google says the new feature is available to all Chrome users starting today, and is part of its larger efforts to help people search more intuitively.