Google launches experimental Similar images, News timeline features
The News Timeline feature presents Google News results chronologically in a timeline view. You can zoom in and out, or navigate through the timeline by dragging or adjusting the time scale to days, weeks, months, years, or decades.
The Similar Images feature feels like something that could (and perhaps should) be added to the main Google Images site in the future. When you search for any picture using Similar Images, you'll see a link below each search result. When you click it you'll see more images that are "similar."
It's not entirely clear what information Google is using to determine what images are similar. But for the most part it works. For example, if you search for a particular actor from a TV show, like Battlestar Galactica and click on the similar images link, you'll find more pictures of that actor and of other actors from the show. If you search for something more general like "netbook" and click on a picture, you'll probably find more netbooks that are positioned similarly in the image frame. And if you search for something like "duck" and click on a picture of a yellow rubber ducky instead of an actual animal, your screen will be filled with yellow ducks.
It would be nice if you could select the criteria you want to use to compare images though. For instance, what if you weren't looking for netbooks that are photographed from the same angle, but rather laptops from the same company?
