Duplicate images tend to really bother me in certain spots, and I’ve observed that I’m far from the only one. I know it’s difficult sometimes to know if an image has been uploaded into a spot or not when there are 999,483,937 uploads, especially when they’re lacking in the keyword department.

Google has this nice new feature called a Reverse Image Search. With a reverse image search, you are able to upload or link an image into the search bar and you’ll be given a list of web pages containing your selected image.

(I’m about to walk you through the steps. I’ll be using a picture from link)

* First, visit link. (tinyeye.com is also another reverse image search engine, but it doesn’t have Fanpop in its database, so don’t bother.)
* Click on the camera icon located at the end of the search bar.

---A box will pop up. If you have the image saved to your computer, click on the “upload an image” link, and… upload the image. If it’s easier to get the image URL, get the URL and paste it in the textbox.

*Click search and you’ll be taken to a list of results, as Google usually does. In some cases, such as this one, Google will add a word to describe your image.


---In most cases, if the image is already uploaded onto Fanpop, it will be displayed as one of the top results
*If Fanpop doesn’t come up as one of the results,
try erasing Google’s guess and type in “Fanpop”, then click search again.
*By this point, you should have your answer.

The top result will ALWAYS be:

“Fanpop - Fan clubs for everything. What are you a fan of?
www.fanpop.com/
Fanpop is a network of fan clubs for fans of television, movies, music and more to discuss and share photos, videos, news and opinions with fellow fans. 42 images...”


So ignore that.
What you need to look for is the results that follow. If you don't get any Fanpop results, then you’re safe to upload the image without committing the crime of duplication.

If you DO get a Fanpop result, make sure you follow the link and actually check which spot it was uploaded to. (You wouldn’t want to miss out on your opportunity just because someone uploaded the same image to the Random spot 2.5 years ago or because it’s the thumbnail of some video)

If you get more than one Fanpop result, then that most likely means that the image has been uploaded to more than one spot, as demonstrated below.


Or that the image appears on more than one URL in one single spot, which is completely normal (the spot’s homepage, image page, wallpapers page, the page for the image itself, the related images thumbnail, a pick icon, etc.)

Or that a duplicate was added at some point or another.


Here’s to hopes for less duplicate images.
Cheers!