As you might have noticed, Google has done a lot of changes in all it’s products and services. From launching a new browser to adapting a new favicon for it’s super-search portal. While the Chrome browser is proving to be a huge hit among web developers (save the Firefox), the not-so-childish favicon is getting rave reviews across the internet. The reason of it’s getting so much media attention is the fact that Google is not known for changing it’s interfaces (except it’s occasion based logos, from time to time). In fact, maybe it’s the first time ever that Google has started making changes in such a massive scale.

The Search Engine giant has recently implemented a new feature in it’s image search portal. Now Google image users can filter their image search results based on their color preferences. Since the Neven Vision team is now part of Google, we can expect more innovative techniques in Google’s proprietary image search technology.

Here is what I saw in Google yesterday -

I quickly started testing whether the thing worked. I tried different colors for the same keywords and I was astonished by the accuracy of the result. When I searched my own name in Google images, my happy-little mascot popped up, along with some other results. The color search filter was set to show all colors by default. Then when I started experimenting with different colors, I was amazed at the technology Google had used to filter the results. My mascot was shown in the searched results only when I chose red, black and white, which happen to be the dominant colors in my mascot image. And no mascot when I chose colors like yellow and blue which were not present in the mascot.

This technology is very useful for designers like me who are heavy users of Google Images for their daily use. I no longer have to type idiotic keywords like “blue rose” or “black heart”. Two simple clicks will do the trick! But then there is another side of it. It will give the design-rippers more vent to steal images. I personally have no mercy for those who violate online copyrights shamelessly. But that’s a different topic altogether. Maybe for another blog post

Coming back to the topic, Google images is a sure-shot hit. It is a technology none of it’s immediate competitors are using yet. Try searching for some color-specific images guys and tell me your experiences.