Google will now give you more context about an image’s origins

Given how easy it is to find images and repost them on social media, sometimes images can be taken out of context leading to misinformation. Thankfully, Google is finally doing something about it with a new Google Search tool that they are rolling out.

This new tool is called “About this image”. Basically what it does is that it gives users the option to find out more about an image you saw online. It will attempt to give you the origins of the image, so if someone posted something claiming it to be their photo, this tool can help you check against those claims.

It will also be able to provide metadata where available, which can be useful in finding out more about an image like where it was taken, what camera was used, what camera settings, and so on. The tool can also provide you context by showing you how an image was described by news and fact-checking websites.

So if an image was taken out of context, you can trace it to other websites that might have used it in its proper form to get a better idea. This tool was initially announced at Google I/O earlier this year and it looks like it is now rolling out to English users as we speak, so you can take it for a spin if this is something you might find useful.

Source: The Verge