Google Chrome extension brings 'View Image' button back to life

Google's move of removing the 'View Image' button from Google Image Search created ripples across the globe. Now, less than 24 hours later, several extension for Chrome and Firefox browsers have popped up that will bring the button back. It comes with a name 'Make View Image button great again.'

Google's decision of removing the button is said to be due to a recent deal it made with one of the biggest stock photo agency - Getty Images. Getty Images stocks photos depicting almost everything from world news events to commercial stock images to a cat playing in the park.

The search giant will now use Getty images within its services, but part of the deal was the removal of View Image button from the search.

After the removal of the button, users will no longer be able to download images directly. Although Google didn't give any explanation on why the change was made, this could be a move to cut down on image theft and ad revenue loss, apart from the deal.

Although the button has been removed, it doesn't really stop users to download the image, there are just a few more steps to perform the same action. Users just have to search for the image, click on the Visit button, and look for a high-resolution image on the page, and then save it to the computer just like before.

But why go through the long procedure when we already have the browser extensions that can bring back the 'View Image' button. However, the validity of these extensions is yet to determined. Google will probably take the extensions down for Chrome at least since the Getty deal is huge for the company. But for the time being, these extensions seem like an easy solution.

With the infringement on the rise, sites are already making it harder for users to download the images. Many sites are converting the traditional image formats like JPEG and PNG to other formats that do not allow users to download the image easily.

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Earlier, users would be given the option to 'Save image as..' when right-clicked on an image, but the new formats do not provide users with such option. Although it's easy to open the browser's code and find the raw image link, for a huge number of users, it would be rocket science.