Google removes ‘View Image’ button as part of settlement with Getty
Google has removed the ‘View Image’ button from search results in a move to prevent users from taking images without properly attributing them.
Google has removed the 'View Image' button from search results
Before the change, users browsing the results of an image search could click ‘View Image’ to view a picture in a window of its own. With that feature gone, users are now prompted to visit the webpage where the image is housed if they want to save it.
Of course, there are workarounds: Chrome users can right click ‘Open Image in New Tab’ to bring up a picture in a separate window. There’s also an extension for Chrome that brings back the defunct button.
Even so, Google is hoping the subtle change will make people think twice about stealing copyrighted material. The popular button’s removal is part of a settlement that Google reached with Getty Images after the stock photo provider filed a complaint with the European Commission in 2016, which accused the search giant of “creating captivating galleries of high-resolution, copyrighted content” that fail to direct users to an image’s original source site.