Google Goggles lets you use pictures taken with your mobile phone to search the web. It is ideal for things that are not easy to describe in words. There is no need to type or speak your query all you have to do is open the app, snap a picture, and wait for your search results. Google Goggles works better with certain types of queries. Try taking pictures of books & DVDs, landmarks, logos, contact info, artwork, businesses, products, barcodes, or text. Currently, it’s not so good when taking pictures of animals, plants, cars, furniture, or apparel. For the best results when taking pictures, hold your phone in “left landscape” mode, as shown below, and press the on-screen shutter button with your right thumb.
Tips for Better Search Results
Follow these tips to take pictures that will produce better search results:
- Take photos in areas with good lighting.
- Zoom in as much as possible.
- Use your phone in “left landscape” orientation (with your right thumb pressing the shutter).
- Hold your hands steady, and use the on-screen shutter button.
Remember that Google Goggles works best on books & DVDs, landmarks, logos, contact info, artwork, businesses, products, barcodes, or text. Right now, it’s not so good at pictures of animals, plants, cars, furniture, or apparel.
Search Results Page
The search results page will show you Web Results, text matches, Similar images, Other Matches, and suggested results. If you take a picture of a business card, you’ll get links to search for the person, email or call them directly, visit their company URL, or add them as a contact on your phone. Barcode matches will provide a link to Google Product Search so you can quickly compare prices.
Nearby Places Overlay
Google Goggles can provide you with information about the points of interest near you, without even conducting a search. To use the nearby places overlay, open Goggles and hold your phone in landscape view (holding the phone in portrait view will turn off the overlay). Make sure that the camera faces forward not up to the sky, or down to the ground. Keep Goggles in camera mode, and pan around your surroundings.
It may take a bit of time to acquire your location, but once your GPS signal is locked, you’ll see labels tagged to the nearby businesses, and a pin icon with a number in it at the bottom right corner of the screen. The number in the icon indicates the number of businesses nearby. You can either click the pin to see all places near you listed by proximity, or select a specific label to see more information about that particular business.
The performance of the nearby places overlay is dependent on a good GPS lock, as indicated by the satellite icon. Make sure that the camera faces forward (not up to the sky, or down to the ground). If you aren’t getting results, then the location either hasn’t been locked, or there aren’t any businesses close by (in which case the pin icon will display zero). If your location hasn’t been locked, it may because the GPS signal at your current location is weak. GPS signals are typically weak indoors, so avoid using the nearby places overlay while inside.
Sharing Photos
You can use Google Goggles to share the photos you’ve taken through Bluetooth, Facebook, Gmail, Android Messaging, or Picasa. From the search results page, just press Menu, then Share Photo, and select your desired method.
Note: In order to use Goggles to share photos through Facebook, you must have the Android Facebook app installed.
Search History
With Search History, you’ll be able to view and manage saved copies of the pictures you take. Your images will be retained by Google to help improve our service. Learn more.
The first time you run Google Goggles, you’ll be guided through several instructional screens, one of which presents you with the option to Enable history or Disable history. If you choose to enable history, and you have multiple Google accounts set up on your Android phone, Goggles will default to the primary account.
Currently, you can have 1000 pictures in your Google Goggles Search History. You’ll receive a notification if you’re getting close to the max. If you’ve reached the max and continue to take more pictures, the oldest photos in your history will be deleted to make space for new ones.
You can remove items from your Search History at any time. Just press Menu, then Search History from the camera screen or the search results page. Press Remove Items and choose the pictures that you want to remove. You can also disable search history at any time by selecting Menu then Disable History from the camera screen or the History page. When history is disabled, the pictures are discarded as soon as the search is done.
Note: Google Goggles Search History is unrelated to Google Web History
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