Google Image Search Gets Into Fashion With "Style Ideas"

In case you didn't get the memo, Google Search can do more than search for text. It can also do image sources, which can be a prime source for inspiration as well as procrastination. It can be easy to get lost in the rabbit hole of results that may or may not be helpful to your end goal. To help you search smarter, Image Search is also getting smarter. At least when it comes to clothes, apparel, and accessories. Image Search's new "style ideas" feature will let you see not only what looks good but also what looks good together.

If you search, say, for a handbag, Google Image Search will notice you are searching for a piece of fashion. Instead of just suggesting related or similar images, it will surface a grid of images that show how that bag might look when used in real-life, whether it will clash with the clothes and shoes you have, or vice versa.

Of course, Image Search will still show related images, but it will be smarter about those as well. It won't just surface other bags but other bags that might suit your fashion tastes or at least similar in style to the one you're looking for.

More than just showing off Google's fashion sense, it is yet another opportunity for the tech giant to showcase its machine learning prowess in analzying images and grouping them into similar styles, something that's more subjective than quantitative. Curiously, this puts Google Image Search almost at odds with Pinterest, whose primary use case is something similar.

Google Image Search style ideas is available on the Android Search app. iOS users need not worry because it will also be available on the mobile web. Desktop users, however, seem to be left out of the fashion party this time around.

SOURCE: Google