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By 21 July 2010 | Categories: news

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According to CNET, Google recently announced a new look and major update for its Google Image Search functionality.

Google will now allow for up to 1000 images on the first results page and will implement a new image-based ad format for the system.

This is the first major update to the service since 2001, according to Marissa Mayer, Vice President of search products and user experience at Google.

“The new look is designed to reduce the number of clicks it takes to find the images you’re looking for and to provide more information about a particular image without having to click through to the result,” said Mayer in a briefing to reporters.

When searching for basic or regularly searched terms, Google Image Search will now return up to 1000 images on a single page using a new functionality known as ‘infinite scroll’ to navigate down the page. Microsoft’s Bing Image Search was the first search engine to implement this technology, so users familiar with Bing should know what to expect.

A built-in thumbnail viewer has also been implemented that gives users a preview of the image when hovering over it with their mouse pointer. It will also display additional information such as the URL where the image is located, according to Ben Ling, director of search products at Google.

Advertisers on Google Image Search pages will also now be able to insert an image into their text ads. The idea behind this is that such ads will entice more users to click on the ads, in turn generating more traffic.

At the moment around 10% of Google Image Search users can use the new interface, with the company stating the support for the rest of its users will be implemented over the coming week.

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