Google removed the ‘View Image’ button from Image Search – but you can get it back with a Chrome Extension

In a controversial move Google has removed the ‘View Image’ button from image searches. The good news is that you can bring it back with a new Chrome Extension.

The move to remove the ‘View Image’ button is thanks to a partnership with Getty Images announced last week. The partnership with Getty Images is part of a ‘multi-year global licensing partnership, enabling Google to use Getty Images’ content within its various products and services’.

The removal of the View Image button as part of the partnership is ostensibly to improve copyright attribution by making users go to the website hosting the image. From a user perspective though it’s been received as a hostile move – but there is a way around it.

Developer and reddit user Haruka-sama has created a Chrome Extension with a single purpose (that works really well) which brings back the View Image and Search by Image buttons.

Called simply ‘View Image’ you can install the extension from the Chrome Web Store, and if you want to look at the code underneath it’s available on Github as outlined in the extension description:

The extension works, and works well, so if you’re lamenting the removal of the View Image button then head over to the Chrome Web Store and get it back!