Investigate: Stolen pictures

School's starting in a week, so I'm trying to draft as many posts as possible to use during school semester. And of course, put some useful posts on Onsugar. Do let me know what sort of entries you prefer to read!

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Today's entry is entirely due to Lacquerized. For someone who spents most of her time using Google services, I'm utterly shameful I never knew this service existed until her entry. I really could have used this 8 years back, when I had to do some Biology homework.

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Google Images is my go-to URL when I'm searching for pictures, clip art, and more. When you enter a keyword, and click on "images", you are in fact being redirected to Google Images.

However, did you know that Google Images serves to allow you to search for pictures online? Using whatever unknown algorithms, Google allows for a fuss-free upload of your picture, and matches it against the billions of pictures online. Which is cool, for a blogger.

This means that Google Images gives you the ability to detect any unauthorized usage of your picture. Every picture (swatches, LOTD, product pictures etc) takes a whole lot of effort to edit, crop, and upload. I hate it when people 'borrow' pictures without proper credit. It has happened to me, hence the nasty watermark on every single picture i put on Onsugar (except when I forget, or, when the picture doesn't belong to me). I wouldn't mind less if a link to my site is available, but when people do copy your pictures, they normally 'forget' to do so.

So you're asking, how can I do that?

1. Enter "http://images.google.com" in the URL box

2. Drag the picture file from your hard disk into the search box(sorry there's no screenshot, Windows doesn't allow me to do so!)

3. Google Images automatically uploads the picture file, and scans against their database

4. Viola, I found a match! (to my site, so that's good)

Of course, if the person intentionally attempts to steal your picture, he/she may go to the extent of cropping out your watermark, editing the lighting a little, then re-uploading it on their site. Google Images does scan for similar pictures, so you might also want to try cropping out your watermark and re-scanning.

This isn't a foolproof method for finding the culprits. In fact, it's a really tedious method. But if you're concerned that someone out there is using your pictures, this could be the best way for you to write him/her a nice letter to remove the pictures.

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I hope this has been a useful entry for everyone. Do remember to let me know what sort of entries you would prefer to read!

Have a great weekend ahead!