"Today we're launching some changes on Google Images to help connect users and useful websites. This will include removing the View Image button. The Visit button remains, so users can see images in the context of the webpages they're on," Google SearchLiaison tweeted on Friday.
In another tweet, Google SearchLiasion clarified, "For those asking, yes, these changes came about in part due to our settlement with Getty Images this week [..]. They are designed to strike a balance between serving user needs and publisher concerns, both stakeholders we value."
Google last week signed a multi-year global licensing deal with Getty Images, allowing it to use Getty's content within its various products and services.
The search giant will make copyright attribution and disclaimers more prominent in image search results. Now, users have to wait for a website to load and then scroll through it to find the image.
Websites sometimes disable the ability to right-click, too, which would make it even harder for someone to grab a photo they're looking for.
In addition to removing the 'view image' button, Google has also removed the 'search by image' button that appeared when people opened up an image. "Reverse image search *still works* through the way most people use it, from the search bar of Google Images," Google SearchLiason added.
Explaining the motivation behind the move, the Google SearchLiason account added "Ultimately, Google Images is a way for people to discover information in cases where browsing images is a better experience than text. Having a single button that takes people to actionable information about the image is good for users, Web publishers and copyright holders."
