Hello all! By now, we’re all probably familiar with reverse image search. It’s a very popular tool – I’ve seen it mentioned everywhere from investigations to TikTok to in-person conversations.
Because it’s so popular, it keeps getting improved on. Here’s one new-ish way to estimate the age of an image.
Google now offers an “About this image” option for results on Image Search. It not only lists where the photo has been published, but links to its sources – plus context on those sources.
The hurricane pic above, for instance, was published by the National Environmental Education Foundation in 2023. Clicking “More about this page,” in turn, takes me to NEEF’s bio as well as mentions of them, like CharityNavigator.
This particular photo shows up as “at least” five years old – meaning, it could be older, but that was the earliest instance Google found of it. Pictures and their context, unfortunately, often get separated – let’s find it, reporters!