What is a Visual Search?

Visual Search

Visual searches are the way of the future. Online giants like Google and Pinterest have rolled out this new feature to help their users even more precise searches. With how new this feature is, many people still don’t even know it’s an option.

So, what is a visual search? It’s where a user can upload an image to conduct a search and get more specific results.

Here’s an example: you walk into a friend’s house and see they have a gorgeous new TV stand. You snap a photo and can upload it right to Google. From there, Google crawls the internet to see if they can find that item for you. Next thing you know, you’re right on the website where you can order that exact TV console.

Pinterest Lens

Visual searches on Pinterest are slightly different. They have their own feature called Pinterest Lens, allowing you to turn your phone’s camera into a search bar. Here you can use the search function to find the exact or very similar items, or you can use it to take you to find pinboards with related or similar content.

Since its launch, Pinterest Lens has seen a 140% increase in searches, with 600 million all-time searches. The latest stats show that it recognizes over 2.5 billion home and fashion objects. When you think about it, visual searches are perfect for Pinterest and its community of users.

This incredible feature is available to use directly through Pinterest. If you have the Pinterest app, open it and begin enjoying this incredible feature,

Google Lens

Clearly, these companies have gotten very creative when it comes to naming their visual search capabilities. Google Lens is Google’s big version (with smaller competitors like Bing releasing its own). We have to say Google has definitely done a fantastic job developing its system. It offers so many ways to use it, including the following:

Home goods and clothing: Find similar products and where to buy them.

Books: Get a quick summary and read reviews.

Translation: Scan text to translate it into another language

Barcodes: Use a barcode to find info about a product and where to purchase it.

Event flyers or billboards: Add the event to your calendar.

Homework Help: Get step-by-step homework help by scanning a math problem or question.

Plants or animals: Discover more about species and even identify breeds.

Landmarks or buildings: See historical facts, hours of operation, and more.

All you have to do is download the Google Lens app to start using it!

The world of visual searches is rapidly growing and changing. All the major visual search engines are releasing updates and new capabilities regularly. Its soaring popularity and ease of use is a big factor in this. Experts project that this will become a major player in the search engine world as it grows.

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