Firefox Will Offer Visual Searching on Images With AI-Powered Google Lens (webpronews.com) 39
"We've decided to support image-based search," announced the product manager for Firefox Search. Powered by the AI-driven Google Lens search technology, they promise the new feature offers "a frictionless, fast, and a curiosity-sparking way to (as Google puts it) 'search what you see'."
With just a right-click on any image, you'll be able to:
- Find similar products, places, or objects
- Copy, translate, or search text from images
- Get inspiration for learning, travel, or shopping
Look for the new "Search Image with Google Lens" option in your right-click menu (tagged with a NEW badge at first). This is a desktop-only feature, and it will start gradually rolling out worldwide. Note: Google must be set as your default search engine for this feature to appear.
We'll be listening closely to your feedback as we roll it out. Some of the things we're wondering about:
Does the placement in the context menu align with your expectations?
Would you prefer the option to choose your visual search provider?
Where else would you like entry points to visual search (e.g. when you open a new tab, in the address bar, on mobile devices, etc.)
We can't wait to hear your thoughts as the rollout begins!
Some thoughts from WebProNews: Mozilla emphasizes that this is an opt-in feature, giving users control over activation, which aligns with the company's longstanding commitment to privacy and user agency.
Yet, for industry observers, this partnership with Google raises intriguing questions about competitive dynamics in the browser space, where Firefox has historically positioned itself as an independent alternative to Chrome... This move comes at a time when browsers are increasingly becoming platforms for AI-driven enhancements, as evidenced by recent updates in competitors like Microsoft's Edge, which integrates Copilot AI. Mozilla's decision to leverage Google Lens rather than developing an in-house solution could be seen as a pragmatic step to accelerate feature parity, especially given Firefox's smaller market share. Insiders note that by tapping into established technologies, Mozilla can focus resources on core strengths like privacy protections, potentially attracting users disillusioned with data-heavy ecosystems... While mobile users might feel left out, the phased rollout over the next few weeks allows for feedback loops through community channels, a hallmark of Mozilla's open-source ethos.
Data from similar integrations in other browsers suggests visual search can boost engagement by 15-20%, per industry reports, though Mozilla has not disclosed specific metrics yet... Looking ahead, Mozilla's strategy appears geared toward incremental innovations that bolster user retention without alienating its privacy-focused base. If successful, this could help Firefox claw back some ground against Chrome's dominance, estimated at over 60% market share. For now, the feature's gradual deployment invites ongoing dialogue, underscoring Mozilla's community-driven model in an industry often criticized for top-down decisions.
- Find similar products, places, or objects
- Copy, translate, or search text from images
- Get inspiration for learning, travel, or shopping
Look for the new "Search Image with Google Lens" option in your right-click menu (tagged with a NEW badge at first). This is a desktop-only feature, and it will start gradually rolling out worldwide. Note: Google must be set as your default search engine for this feature to appear.
We'll be listening closely to your feedback as we roll it out. Some of the things we're wondering about:
Does the placement in the context menu align with your expectations?
Would you prefer the option to choose your visual search provider?
Where else would you like entry points to visual search (e.g. when you open a new tab, in the address bar, on mobile devices, etc.)
We can't wait to hear your thoughts as the rollout begins!
Some thoughts from WebProNews: Mozilla emphasizes that this is an opt-in feature, giving users control over activation, which aligns with the company's longstanding commitment to privacy and user agency.
Yet, for industry observers, this partnership with Google raises intriguing questions about competitive dynamics in the browser space, where Firefox has historically positioned itself as an independent alternative to Chrome... This move comes at a time when browsers are increasingly becoming platforms for AI-driven enhancements, as evidenced by recent updates in competitors like Microsoft's Edge, which integrates Copilot AI. Mozilla's decision to leverage Google Lens rather than developing an in-house solution could be seen as a pragmatic step to accelerate feature parity, especially given Firefox's smaller market share. Insiders note that by tapping into established technologies, Mozilla can focus resources on core strengths like privacy protections, potentially attracting users disillusioned with data-heavy ecosystems... While mobile users might feel left out, the phased rollout over the next few weeks allows for feedback loops through community channels, a hallmark of Mozilla's open-source ethos.
Data from similar integrations in other browsers suggests visual search can boost engagement by 15-20%, per industry reports, though Mozilla has not disclosed specific metrics yet... Looking ahead, Mozilla's strategy appears geared toward incremental innovations that bolster user retention without alienating its privacy-focused base. If successful, this could help Firefox claw back some ground against Chrome's dominance, estimated at over 60% market share. For now, the feature's gradual deployment invites ongoing dialogue, underscoring Mozilla's community-driven model in an industry often criticized for top-down decisions.
Can I use it to... (Score:2)
...search for AI generated fake images and block them?
No Google (Score:2)
>"We can't wait to hear your thoughts as the rollout begins!"
I don't use Google Search. I am sure some people will find this interesting/useful, but I prefer my searching to be on things not directly using/informing Google- like DuckDuckGo and StartPage, if I can help it.
Now cue the posts about how this isn't a feature anyone wants and why they are wasting time on this. I do think Mozillia needs to keep up with such stuff, or some segments of the "market" will dismiss Firefox as second-rate (which it i
Re: (Score:2)
user_pref("browser.search.visualSearch.featureGate", false);
Re: (Score:2)
Privacy invading features should always be opt-out by default.
Re: (Score:2)
I think you meant to write that they should be opt in.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, my bad, thanks for picking it up.
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Until the next time Google renames the preference variables ...
To be clear, that was the Firefox preference setting.
Re: (Score:2)
It's a Firefox setting, not a Google Chrome setting. And you can already enable it with Firefox 143.
Is Mozilla getting distracted again via (Score:1)
...gee-whiz shit? The first time is how Chrome stole their ball.
Re: (Score:2)
Why "again"? Mozilla has lost its way a long time ago.
Re: (Score:2)
...gee-whiz shit? The first time is how Chrome stole their ball.
Is that a typical knee jerk reaction from you for every feature announcement? Google lens style image search is actually incredibly useful.
Re: (Score:2)
Really???
I used Google Image Search, when it was around: It was 10 times better than its replacement, Google Lens (for Google Chrome). How did the same company, using the same database, become less competent finding photos? Now, Google Lens is not on available on Google Chrome: It must be installed as a spyware applet.
I've switched to TinEye, it's better than Google Image Search was.
Re: (Score:3)
Google Image search back in the day found images, Google Lens finds context. There's a difference. As someone who collects coins for example Image Search back in the day identified it as a coin. Whoope de fucking do. At best it showed comparable coins with the same colour, and couldn't even tell a two pound coin from a 1 euro coin. Lens on the other hand provides detailed origin and series information for virtually all my coins including not just country of issue but also if it was part of a special release
Re: (Score:2)
Oh my god, When???? (Score:4, Interesting)
From the article:
Oh my God.... exactly when has Firefox been an independent alternative to Google anything? The majority of Mozilla's funding has been from Google for a long time now. Firefox has been playing follow-the-leader with Chrome since it came out. That's what got them into their mess.
Firefox tried to emulate Chrome's rapid release cycle in a project that was neither technically nor culturally suited to that kind of release sched. They broke plugins on back-to-back-to-back (and so on) releases, and their response to breaking 90% of plugins was to simply cull the ones that no longer worked from their download system. They ignored clear and unambiguous user preferences for the UI, destroyed theming over and over again, and then blamed the users who complained for not supporting their bold directions.
If their board consisted entirely of Google patsies, I can't see how they could better have handed over the marketshare to Google. Anyone who writes "Firefox has historically [been] independent ... to Google" is either themself a Google patsy, or so uninformed about the history of the last ten years of Mozilla's Google pandering as to be an incompetent tech writer.
Re: (Score:2)
Why not both?
Re: (Score:2)
When did they break 90% of plugins? That never happened.
There was the switch from the old plugin system to the new one, which broke 100% of plugins that were on the old API. But that was long planned and announced, not a bug, and greatly improved Firefox.
So? (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
>"Firefox has been such an unusable pile of shit for at least a decade."
That is objectively untrue. At worst, they changed things to be more like Chrom* (which I don't like) but that didn't make it worse than Chrom*, although maybe worse than Firefox used to be (to some people). And they added some features that many users didn't care about (and could all be disabled).
>"Stop changing the UI. Make it possible to modify the UI, easily, from the plain settings menu"
Agreed. Again, please note that happ
Re: (Score:2)
I switched from Chrome to Firefox a few years ago. It's not quite as fast, but it has much better ad blocking and privacy. It's very stable for me. UI is fine, perpetual login is very useful.
I don't know if you consider this new feature to be bloat, but it will be very useful to me and probably adds minimal extra code and memory use to the browser.
Mozilla is grasping (Score:2)
I don't know what Mozilla is doing with firefox but it's worrying me more and more. Recently my browser asked if it could start automatically when my computer boots, the answer is no. Then it disabled all of my extensions claiming they weren't signed and the only way I could run unsigned extensions is by installing the developer release. These things are pushing me away, I've used firefox for 2 decades and this behavior isn't acceptable.
Re: (Score:2)
Pushing you away to where? It's way less bad in this regard than the competition.
It's also not hard to install the developer release. As a person technical enough to ruin plugins that you can verify trustworthiness for yourself, it's a trivial step.
So what's the problem? It's not starting by default and you can run whatever extensions you like. Including powerful as and tracking blockers unlike every other browser.
opt-in isnâ(TM)t firefoxâ(TM)s ethos (Score:2)
Google must be set as your default search engine (Score:2)
I gave up on Google years ago. DDG and Startpage are shit but at least they're not spyware. I'm running search.brave at the moment.
Opt-in (Score:1)
Seriously, why do they keep adding stuff to Firefox? It works. Just update the engine to keep up with standards. No genXYZABCDE++ person is going to use it anyhow (they only know Chrome), regardless of how much crap they add, so keep it functional and stop messing things up!
Can anyone recommend a browser which is not using Chrome as
Re: Opt-in (Score:1)
And yet (Score:2)
Still no checkbox to say never remind me of updates under any circumstance. Something so simple yet so far away.
Re: (Score:2)
>"Still no checkbox to say never remind me of updates under any circumstance."
There never will be.
* If you are using a distro-supplied version of Firefox, it is already disabled.
* If you are using a self-compiled version, you can turn it off.
* Otherwise, you can set a policy to not look for updates:
{
"policies": {
"DisableAppUpdate": true
}
}
Wrong headline (Score:2)
The take on AI is not the relevant part. The relevant part is the deeper integration of Google. Not like in much code, it is probably just a context menu item, but like in making users use Google more.
Now that Google is no longer allowed to pay for default search ... for what are they still allowed to pay?
Orwell Animal Farm Ending for Firefox (Score:2)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
There was an extension called "TinEye" (Score:2)
that did a "primitive" version of this. Instead of propping them up, even infusing them with Open Weights AI if needed, Mozilla went with google...
I wonder if all the funding Google provided Mozilla had anything to do with it.
Then Again, firefox is still better than the alternatives (Multiplatform unlike Safari, less privacy intrusive unlike Chrome, independent Rendering engines, unlike Chromium based browsers)
Can't wait for LadyBird to arrive.
doomed (Score:2)
Firefox is doomed to a tiny market share unless it starts offering free porn. Maybe this is the first step to that goal.