Google Acquires Database Like.com; What About Other "Similar Image" and Image Recognition Search Services You Can Use (They're All Free)
The rumor that Google was going to acquire Like.com is accurate and now official. Tom Krazit has the story on CNET.
The Like.com remains online (at least for now and includes a note from the founder) and continues to allow users to use its technology to find similar items (clothing, shoes, jewelry, items for the home, etc.) by creating sets of results based on various details of a of a watch,the color of a pair of shoes,the shape of a handbag, or the pattern of a shirt. Results can be refined by a number of criteria including thinks like price, brand, materials, or the online store.
Like.com developed using Riya.com (and before that Ojos) technology which offered face and image recognition search (used to tag photos) along with the ability to search text "inside of an image." It was around from about 2005 until 2009.
What's important to know and remember is that Riya/Like.com was not and is not the only player in this space. There were and are still several others. Here are three (not including Face.com whose tech is in use on Facebook.)
Has been around for at least 10 years providing visual search and image recognition. Commercial (ex. tracking ads, stock photo houses, intellectual property tracking, etc.) and government users. Here's an interesting use of their technology from last month that powered a scavenger hunt of several candy shops. The technologies section of their web site is very useful.
With TinEye you can learn where an image came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or if there is a higher resolution version. Note: You are searching against their database of more than 1.6 million images. In this example, you'll see more than 2800 uses of the Abbey Road album cover by The Beatles on the Internet. So, not only is thus database helpful in finding the same image at different resolutions but also modified versions and versions that shouldn't be online for one of many reasons. It's a tool IP researchers love or will love soon.
TinEye is a favorite around here. It's useful, fun, and somewhat addictive.
Update: You can use Evernote to search the text inside of any image you upload to the service. Now, restaurant menus of your favorite places can be saved, searched, and shared.
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