# Why did Chrome change image search to Google Lens? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493 "2021-12-22T21:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/1 "2021-12-22T21:14:11Z")
I’m talking about the right click \> search Google for image that was changed to right click \> search using Google Lens. I tried it for a few days but was less than impressed, so I switched it back. I didn’t get a single image match from Lens, while a regular image search on Google returned all kinds of matches. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/2 "2021-12-22T21:28:53Z")
I don’t like it either, however, there usually is a “_Didn’t find what you were looking for? Retry with Google Images_.” statement at the bottom with a “_Try It_” button. That will get you what you want. You say you switched it back, how? I could not find a setting for that. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/3 "2021-12-22T21:35:41Z")
I can understand moving to Lens. They’ve been talking about it for a while. But it only makes sense if Lens can in fact do everything Image Search can, or integrates Google Image search into its results. There’s no value in making searching images worse. I actually had been under the impression this was exactly how Lens worked: that it would send actual images through Google Image search after it tried to parse any text and such. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/4 "2021-12-22T21:36:54Z")
Found out how to switch it. 1. In Chrome browser, go to chrome://flags 2. Search for ‘lens’ 3. Change drop-down to ‘Disabled’ 4. Restart browser ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/5 "2021-12-22T21:37:48Z")
[This](https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/229003/how-can-i-turn-off-google-lens-search-permanently#:~:text=Basically%20type%20chrome%3A%2F%2Fflags,of%20the%20items%20that%20appear.) is for Chrome on PC, but it seems to work on phones also. > Basically type chrome://flags in your chrome browser, which give you a “search flags” prompt, type in lens, then disable each of the items that appear. Type Relaunch (to relaunch Chrome); close Chrome; Lens will still be there. Re-boot phone; Lens is gone! > [@BigT](#): > > I actually had been under the impression this was exactly how Lens worked: that it would send actual images through Google Image search after it tried to parse any text and such. I had thought people mostly used it to ID plants tec. from photos they take on their phones. All I can say is it’s crappy compared to Google image search. Curses! Foiled again! :shakes fist at @J-P_L : ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/6 "2021-12-22T21:38:27Z")
This is the first I’ve heard that Lens is not the same as Image. Why is it worse? (I haven’t used either of them very much.) ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/7 "2021-12-22T21:45:06Z")
For me, image search would return exact matches to the image I searched for, or tell me there were no matches. It would then have dozens of similar images to look at. Lens **never** turned up an exact image match, and would list about a dozen pictures of other things, with a prompt to see more. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/8 "2022-03-20T02:45:30Z")
And surprise! As of March 7 the disable Google Lens flag no longer works. Let me add to the chorus of people saying that Google Lens sucks donkey Richard. Image search let me do exactly what I wanted to; Lens does everything but. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/9 "2022-03-20T06:24:16Z")
Yep, that indeed sucks. I found an add on for Chrome that puts Image Search back on the right click menu, but the Lens option is still there. Works great. > **[Search by Image](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/search-by-image/cnojnbdhbhnkbcieeekonklommdnndci?hl=en)** > > A powerful reverse image search tool, with support for various search engines, such as Google, Bing, Yandex, Baidu and TinEye. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/10 "2022-03-20T15:31:27Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I had thought people mostly used it to ID plants tec. from photos they take on their phones. I think this was probably the goal. Google is getting on the “mobile first” trend. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/11 "2022-03-20T16:42:48Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Yep, that indeed sucks. I found an add on for Chrome that puts Image Search back on the right click menu, but the Lens option is still there. Works great. I’ve tried this and it doesn’t work for me. I click on the ‘camera’ next to the search bar, choose Google, nothing happens. Fucking damn you Google. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/12 "2022-03-20T16:57:59Z")
The icon by the search bar doesn’t do anything and I just unpinned it so it doesn’t appear at all. What you need to do is right click on the image and there will be the camera icon that says “Search google using this image.” Mine shows up a couple of lines down from the google Lens option. > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I think this was probably the goal. Google is getting on the “mobile first” trend. I’m sure you are right. Problem for me is, I have never wanted to use that option on my phone. I use my phone for texting, pictures and an occasional phone call. A little off topic but I only read the SDMB on my desktop. Many posters use their phones, so if they link to something like a Wiki article, it is a mobile link, which doesn’t render well on a desktop. If I want to read the page, I have to edit out the “m” from the address to get a readable page. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/13 "2022-03-20T17:04:23Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > The icon by the search bar doesn’t do anything and I just unpinned it so it doesn’t appear at all. What you need to do is right click on the image and there will be the camera icon that says “Search google using this image.” Mine shows up a couple of lines down from the google Lens option. OK, I see the problem: what you described works for searching an image on the web. But if I open an image from disk in the browser and try to search on it, nothing happens. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/14 "2022-03-20T17:17:00Z")
Are you talking about an image you have on something like a thumb drive? If so, the way I do that is Google\>Images(upper right corner)\> Camera Icon to search your thumb drive. If you already have the image open, you can drag and drop it to the Images page. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/15 "2022-03-20T17:23:56Z")
My use case is to drag a jpeg or whatever directly into the browser window, which opens and displays it. I want to right click on that and do Image Search. So yes, I can go to [images.google.com](http://images.google.com) and drop it on the search prompt, which is what I’ve been doing, but it adds a step. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/16 "2022-03-20T17:34:19Z")
Okay, I finally figured out how to get images.google to display results in the format I wanted. A few extra steps but functionality restored. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/17 "2022-03-20T17:50:01Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > My use case is to drag a jpeg or whatever directly into the browser window, which opens and displays it. I want to right click on that and do Image Search. Okay, I didn’t even know you could do that. > [@Lumpy](#): > > Okay, I finally figured out how to get images.google to display results in the format I wanted. A few extra steps but functionality restored. That’s weird, mine worked right from the get go. Glad you got it figured out. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/18 "2022-03-22T16:30:18Z")
Yeah, if you do that, the addon says it doesn’t work on File URLs, which doesn’t make sense since the addon specifically has an option to enable it on file URLs. I saw that it’s been reported as a bug, but it doesn’t seem any work has been done on it. Fortunately, I don’t search images on my own hard drive all that often. I most likely got them from online, and already did an image search back then to get info about them, which I include in the title. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/19 "2022-08-12T19:50:35Z")
Ugh, they just made it even worse. You used to be able to 1. Go to [images.google.com](http://images.google.com) 2. Drag an on-disk image to the search prompt and do an image search Now it does a Google Lens search. Damn you Google. You’ve broken everything. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493/20 "2022-08-12T19:57:29Z")
If you click the “Find Image Source” link on the top of the Google Lens results, it will open a proper Google Image Search in a new tab. And while I doubt I alone was the reason, I do note that this button got added after I reported the issue with Google Lens not finding all the stuff that Google Image did, and specifically mentioned that my goal was often to find the original source of an image. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-chrome-change-image-search-to-google-lens/956493.md?page=2)