The best image search engines enable you to sort through and find a great selection of images for your online store. An image search engine is a database of images that can be searched by typing in keywords to find valuable images.
Google’s image search engine is currently the most popular and comprehensive image search engine today. The company launched it on July 12, 2001. It all began when there was a huge search demand for Jennifer Lopez’s green Versace dress. Google recognized that an image result would be much better than text results for such queries.
20 years later and the market now contains many search engines. Some of them are very broad while some are niche and confined. However, all of these websites provide databases of images that people can search for by using tags, topics, and keywords. This article lists down the best image search engines you can use.
Google Images
Google Images provide an extensive collection of pictures you may use for commercial purposes. As mentioned, this is the best image search engine today as it has the largest database among any other platform. Furthermore, it enables you to search for specific products and niches, which you may use in your business.
However, like other image search engines, you cannot commercially use all images from Google without permission. Sort images by their license by clicking Tools then Usage Rights. You’ll want to use pictures that are labeled for reuse.
Yahoo Images
Whatever your niche is, you’ll find great images in Yahoo Images. Simply type your niche into the search bar and Yahoo will return you a variety of images. Likewise, you’ll want to change the license if you want to share and modify the images in any way. Moreover, Yahoo provides professional lifestyle images, images with white backgrounds, and more for your business.
Bing Images
This is another great search engine you may use to source images. Type keywords that describe what you’re looking for in the search bar. On the far right-hand side, you’ll see a Filter button. When you click it, it will display a dropdown menu. You may want to pick the images that are free for commercial use.
Yandex
Although it is the most popular search engine in Russia, Yandex is relatively small compared to its competitors. If its large database can’t satisfy your exact search, it will display similar images you may use.
Pinterest Visual Search Tool
Pinterest isn’t just a social media platform. What makes Pinterest unique is it enables you to zoom into a section of an image and reverse search to find similar “pins”. This is quite interesting as you don’t need to search the whole image. However, you need to sign in to Pinterest to use this tool.
Flickr
What makes Flickr unique is the majority of its mages come from amateur and professional photographers. These photographers share their work on Flickr. You may even follow people on Flickr or join groups.