Google’s come up with a new way to link ads with sites that doesn’t require any extra information encoded on the image, leveraging the image-search technology behind Google Goggles.

Pick up any recent magazine and there’s a good chance you’ll spot a QR code or two in advertisements; the 2D barcodes have been popping up all over, from newsstands to posters. You can use your smartphone to scan one of the glyphs and connect to a site giving you more info about whatever the code’s attached to. While that works just fine, Google’s method of linking-up ads seems a little less intrusive.

A small notice in the corner of ad lets you know that Goggles will recognize the image. Snap a pic and Google’s app will direct you to the website the company has recorded as linking-up with that ad. Some of the first companies to get on board with the system include Disney, Buick, and T-Mobile. Google had already enabled Goggles to recognize company logos, so expanding that connection to recognizing a company’s ads does seem like a logical extension.

Goggles has already pulled off some impressive feats in its first year of life, such as gaining the ability to perform OCR on foreign text and run it through a quick Google Translate. The main image-based search component is trained to recognize certain images, like famous landmarks or works of art, and connect you with further information on them.

If you’re interested in checking out the results of this experiment in advertising, you can download the Google Goggles app for both the iPhone and Android devices.

Source: Google Mobile Blog

Via: Geek Word