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How to reverse video search on Google?

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  • 3 min read

So you’ve stumbled across a video and want to find its source? Or are you just curious to find out what happens next in that new meme video you saw? Well, search engines have become powerful enough now to answer questions without words. 

Google, probably the most popular search engine to ever exist, allows users to search using images and text. However, reverse video search is something that hasn’t come to the search engine yet. But that doesn’t mean all is lost.

In this article, we’re going over how you can reverse video search on Google.

Also read: How to merge cells in Google Sheets?


Reverse searching a video on Google

As mentioned above, reverse video search hasn’t come to Google yet. You see, reverse searching an image is actually rather easy as we already have technologies that can process images and find out what’s on in them.

However, with a video, you’re talking about quite a few images per second. So, for example, if you’re reverse searching a video that runs at 24 FPS, the search engine has to process 24 frames per second of the video for however long the video is and then accumulate all the processed data into a legible search query. 

The engine will also need to do with each search result or just about any video it comes across. So, as you can see, the process is actually quite complicated and might take some time actually to arrive. 

In the meantime, what you can do is take a screenshot of the video you’re trying to search and use that with Google Images instead.

Step 1: Play the video in your browser or locally and take a screenshot. You can use the Snip and Sketch tool in Windows for this. Ensure that all the extras are cropped out and only the video frame is included in the screenshot.

How to reverse video search on Google? | Candid.Technology

Step 2: Head over to Google Images and click on the camera icon in the search bar. 

How to reverse video search on Google? | Candid.Technology

Step 3: Now, you can either paste an image’s URL or upload the image you want and search for the desired results.

How to reverse video search on Google? | Candid.Technology

You can also check out our detailed guide on how to reverse search images on Google here.

Also read: How to add a border in Google Docs?

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Yadullah Abidi

Yadullah is a Computer Science graduate who writes/edits/shoots/codes all things cybersecurity, gaming, and tech hardware. When he's not, he streams himself racing virtual cars. He's been writing and reporting on tech and cybersecurity with websites like Candid.Technology and MakeUseOf since 2018. You can contact him here: yadullahabidi@pm.me.

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