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For those of you using search engines on a daily basis you will be familiar with Google Image Search. Paste in your image URL or upload a picture and Google find visually similar images for you. A great tool particularly if you’re looking to measure coverage or ‘take up’ on any campaigns your brand may have run such as an infographic.

Whilst this tool is undoubtedly useful for marketers, it may also poke a serious hole in some online marketing campaigns.

Take Vouchercloud for example, who are currently running their Christmas comp (we all LOVE a Xmas viral) where you have to “spot the snowball” from a picture which has been airbrushed – to remove the snowball.

Voucher Cloud Snowball Comp

Unfortunately for them, using the google image search tool, you can are able to find the original picture – COMPLETE with snowballs, on Shutterstock.

Shutterstock Snowball Comp

So the real question here is, intentional move by the marketing department to embrace the image search functionality or not? We’ve all seen the TV competition questions which are so easy, it guarantees entrants. Is this the case? As a marketer I’d like to think so, but then again……

…..Hope I win!

Update: Apparently the original picture is not what counts here – according to Voucher Cloud, the winner will be the one closest to where the judges think the snowball(s) is(are). Sounds a little strange to me, but check out item 15 on the terms and see what you think!

Voucher Cloud Tweet

Brought to you by the epic combination of Matthew Jackson and Liam Stilgoe.

Mike Jeffs

Author Mike Jeffs

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