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Ars Technica

Google revamps image search for its 25th anniversary with more images and more AI

Believe it or not, there was a time when searching the web for images was not possible. Twenty-five years ago, Google launched image search, and it's celebrating by looking back at its biggest visual milestones and refreshing the experience for today's searchers. The celebration also includes expanded AI because that's just how Google rolls in 2026. Google claims the impetus for image search a quarter-century ago was the green Versace dress Jennifer Lopez wore to the 2000 Grammy Awards. If you were alive at the time, you probably remember the one. Google engineers understood that people searching for the dress didn't want to read about it—they just wanted to see it. The company got to work building image search, launching the first version in July 2001. Twenty-five years later, it's easy to take for granted that you can search for Lopez's green dress or whatever else strikes your fancy. Currently, going to the Google image search site shows a plain search bar for finding images. It's a refreshingly minimalist interface for the modern web. Even Google's search homepage has a smattering of AI buttons and drop-down menus. That will change when the new Google Images rolls out. Read full article Comments

Believe it or not, there was a time when searching the web for images was not possible. Twenty-five years ago, Google launched image search, and it's celebrating by looking back at its biggest visual milestones and refreshing the experience for today's searchers. The celebration also includes expanded AI because that's just how Google rolls in 2026.

The new Google image search will use your “unique interests” to create an always-updated gallery.

Soon, Google Image search will feature a gallery of images from across the web before you’ve even searched for anything. Google says this gallery will be updated continuously based on your interests. Your “interests” in this context means your web and search history on Google. So the things you look up and interact with online will inform what content Google suggests in this new interface.

Google is also using this update as an opportunity to resurface Collections, a feature of image search you probably don’t use. As you browse Google’s suggested images and search for more, you can add items to your Collections. These will appear in a menu at the top of the main gallery for easy access.

By Ryan Whitwam
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