Google Cloud Vision API Product Search vs Search by Image

Google Cloud Vision API Product Search lets retailers build catalogs from products and reference images, organize them into product sets, and find visually or semantically similar items from query images. Supported categories include homegoods, apparel, toys, packaged goods, and general. Query images can come from Google Cloud Storage, a web URL, or a base64 string. Optional product-label filters support AND or OR expressions under documented rules. Calls are available through REST, RPC, and Google Cloud client libraries, while CSV import can create product sets, products, and reference images in bulk. The free plan covers prediction and storage for 0–1,000 images monthly. Listed paid storage starts at $0.10 per 1,000 images; prediction is $4.50 or $1.80 per 1,000 at higher tiers. Index updates occur approximately daily. Limits include 20 MB images, 10 MB JSON objects, and 16 images per request.

Search by Image is a free website and browser extension for finding products from pictures or image links. Its artificial-intelligence visual recognition searches for similar images across AliExpress, Alibaba, Amazon, and eBay. You can upload a photo from a computer or mobile device, paste an image URL, or use an extension for Chrome, Edge, Opera, Firefox, Whale, or Yandex. In a browser, right-click an image and choose “Find product by image,” or enter its URL in the extension popup. The site also describes finding products shown in YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram videos by uploading a screenshot. It says shoppers can compare marketplace and online-store prices. The Free plan is free, covering the website and browser extensions. Results can fail when images are low quality, contain too many objects, or product servers are overloaded; cropping or trying another image may help.