So what exactly is a reverse image search engine?

Well, in the case of TinEye you give it an image to search for, and it will find you similar images scattered across the web. You can use the engine by either uploading a JPG or typing in the URL of the image on the web you want similar results for.

While this might sound a little silly, it isn’t. Searching for images using images rather than keywords makes sense as long as you already have the image you’re looking for. Hmmm.... we assure you this all makes perfect sense. More interesting is finding out where an image originated, how it is being used and if modified versions of the image exist.

Their search index isn’t exactly very big right now, so don’t expect excellent results. Still, an interesting concept.

http://tineye.com/