Google, Microsoft Experiment With Visual Search

LOS ANGELES — Two of the world's leading tech companies are looking to the eye for their latest innovations in search.

Industry king Google rolled out a new way to search news articles yesterday called Google Fast Flip. It works like this:

On the landing page, users encounter a grid of scrollable snapshots of web pages. They can then visually scan which stories look interesting. Users also have the option of looking at a larger thumbnail of a prospective page before clicking through. Fast Flip offers content from 40 familiar news sources.

But that's the drawback, too. Fast Flip only searches the inventories of those 40 news sources. Google hasn't revealed whether it plans to expand the service to cover the entire web.

For now, though, it looks like Google has taken out another minor competitor, the visual search-engine SearchMe.com. Now defunct, SearchMe.com provided similar functionality, except with a flashier style that emulated Apple's scrollable album covers in iTunes.

Simple searches for "porn" and "sex" returned plenty of results from Fast Flip, but because of its limited scope, it doesn't yet return adult results.

One tantalizing possibility built into Fast Flip is its intelligence.

"The more you use Google Fast Flip, the smarter it will get to things you like," tech analyst MG Siegler said.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has added a new function to its upstart search engine Bing that echoes Fast Flip's limited scope but potential as an adult search engine.

It's called visual search, and it presents users with a matrix of categories to choose from. Users can then scroll through an animated, interactive gallery of images.

But as with Fast Flip, the library of images is limited by Bing itself, which only offers about 40 categories to search. Adult is not among them.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Adult Industry Educational, Networking Platform 'Imperfectly You' Launches

Imperfectly You, an educational and networking platform for adult industry workers, has officially launched.

Segpay to Launch News Network for High-Risk Merchants

Segpay has announced that it will launch the Segpay News Network (SNN) on April 15.

Age Verification Watch: Patching the Holes

This roundup provides an update on the latest news and developments on the age verification front as it impacts the adult industry.

Pineapple Support to Host Autism Spectrum Support Group

Pineapple Support is hosting a free online support group for performers and creators who are, or suspect they may be, on the autism spectrum.

ImLive Launches Revamped Member Loyalty Program

Cam platform ImLive has revamped its member loyalty program.

GoFundMe Set Up for Danny Ferretti's Medical Expenses

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for Fangear founder Danny Ferretti, who requires extensive lung surgery.

Byborg Acquires Cuties AI

Byborg Enterprises has acquired adult artificial intelligence startup Cuties AI.

Irish Government Releases Report on Sex Work Decriminalization Legislation

The Irish government has released a report reviewing a 2017 law that decriminalized sex work across the country.

Texas Bill Would Require Age Verification for Online Sex Toy Sales

A new bill in the Texas state legislature would require online retailers to implement age verification of purchasers before selling “obscene devices” to anyone in that state.

New York Assemblyman Proposes Banning the Term 'Sex Work'

Republican New York Assembly Member Brian Maher has introduced a bill to prohibit the use of the term "sex work" in government documents.

Show More