As a blogger, You probably have spent, so much, on a particular story, or, piece, such that, you have done much to make it to a taste of perfection.
As it is time for publication and having no image at your disposal, you decided to pick an image online and use, as your featured image, then , you publish.
In a matter of minutes, you get comments or calls from people, probably in your circle, asking you about the authenticity of the image you have used, then, reality strikes.
You just remembered that, you obtained the image from a random blog site, without doing a thorough verification.
Your competitors, in the same space, meanwhile, have taken screenshots of the post.
The question here, now, is that, why do you have to put yourself in such a messy situation, when you have the option of doing a Google Reverse Image Search?
Many online writers, especially, the one that seeks their post going viral for the cash, or, traffic, pick random images from other sites and use them, without hesitation.
Whether you are a media personnel, working online, or, just a blogger, a taste of professionalism is required, if you want the industry to take you seriously.
You might be surprised that, the misuse of the image could cost you a lot.
How, then, does one ensure the authenticity of an online image, before use? Below, are simple guides on Google Reverse Image Search:
Step 1
Download the image you need to verify.
You could also copy the URL of the image alone and not the web page, where the image was found.
Step 2
Open another tab on the web browser and type in https://images.google.com
Step 3
Navigate through the browser menu, scroll downwards and select “Request Desktop Site”.
If your web browser is Chrome, the menu can be found by clicking on the three dots at the top right corner of your device.
Step 4
On the same page in your browser, click on the camera icon beside the search bar
Step 5
This will lead you to two options; place the URL of the image you want to verify in the search bar, or, select the “Upload an image”, tab to drop your saved image from step1
Finally the results pop up and you will see where the picture was originally used and the copyright to the picture, if there is any.
Note: If Google Chrome is your default mobile browser, take a long press on the image; a drop-down menu appears. Select “Search Google for this image” to initiate a reverse image search.
Featured Image: hdimages
