Which is Better for Face Search:
FaceCheck or Google?

Top-Rated Reverse Image Search Engines Put to the Test

Disclaimer: This is not an independent review. These tests were conducted in May 2024 as part of internal competitive analysis by an expert paid by FaceCheck.ID.

Which is Better for Face Search: <br>FaceCheck or Google?

Below tests evaluate the effectiveness of FaceCheck and Google for searching the Internet using a photo of someone's face. We used various criteria to match different practical use cases. You should test the search engines yourself to see which one works best for your needs. Each search test is awarded 0 to 5 score points based on how well the search performed. Points are summarized and charted at the end.;

FaceCheck.ID 99% PimEyes.com 71% SocialCatfish.com 52% Yandex.com 35% Tineye.com 22% Google.com 18% Bing.com 16%
Versus
FaceCheck.ID 99% PimEyes.com 71% SocialCatfish.com 52% Yandex.com 35% Tineye.com 22% Google.com 18% Bing.com 16%
FaceCheck
VS
Google

16 Search by Face Tests

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Best Alternative to Google Reverse Image Search

Explore the Best Alternative to Google for Image Searching - FaceCheck.ID Find Matches with FaceCheck

FaceCheck vs Google

FaceCheck.ID and Google approach reverse image search with distinct focuses and capabilities, making them suitable for different types of users. FaceCheck.ID specializes in identifying individuals, providing detailed matches from a variety of sources, including social media and news websites. It flags potential safety concerns, such as fake profiles and sex offenders, making it a robust tool for user safety and scam detection. This platform can recognize people even in low-quality images and tracks changes in appearance over time, which is especially useful for verifying identities and uncovering fraud.

In contrast, Google's reverse image search limits its effectiveness with people, often displaying "Results for People are Limited" and focusing predominantly on identifying commercial products. It lacks facial recognition and generally only finds exact matches, which restricts its utility for personal identification. Google is ideal for users needing to identify objects and products from images, thanks to its fast search capabilities and extensive index of commercial content. Thus, while FaceCheck.ID excels in personal safety and detailed human recognition, Google is better suited for commercial image searches and not for identifying or verifying individuals.

Can FaceCheck and Google Recognize a Side Facial Profile?

Side Facial Profile Can FaceCheck and Google Recognize a Side Facial Profile? This screenshot from a recent video interview shows the side profile of a famous person. The goal is to test the search engine to see if it can recognize the person and find front-facing photos of them.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID easily recognized this side profile and found plenty of front-view matches of the person. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited". Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find Romance Scammers?

Romance Scam Photo Can FaceCheck and Google Find Romance Scammers? This picture of a handsome unsuspecting doctor has been stolen by scammers and published on dating apps and used in many online romance scams. The goal of this test is to see if the search engine can help the user uncover that this pic is associated with a scam operation. The doctor is innocent!
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many fake social media profiles and scam reports and warned the user with red flags: Scam Alert, Scam Reports, and Many Accounts. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Google displayed zero matches and showed a message saying, "Results for People are Limited." This suggests that Google is intentionally blocking searches by a photo of a person. Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Work with Poor Quality Photos?

Bad Photo of a Killer Can FaceCheck and Google Work with Poor Quality Photos? A low-quality photo of a serial rapist, murderer, and ex-colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The goal is to test the search engine's ability with a bad quality image with .jpeg artifacts where the person isn't facing the camera directly.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points Even though the source image quality is very poor, FaceCheck.ID found lots of matching photos of this smiling convicted killer from various angles. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited". Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find Child Abusers?

Child Molester on the Run Can FaceCheck and Google Find Child Abusers? This is a photo of someone on the offender list for molesting kids. His status is 'Absconded,' meaning he ran away from his registered address without telling the authorities. The goal is to see if the search engine is able to find high-risk offenders.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many matching photos of this child predator in offender databases as well as on news websites. It warned the user with a red flag icon: Sex Offender. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 3 Points Google finds one result for this child predator which is the registered offender's website. Score: +3 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find Recent News?

Recently Arrested Can FaceCheck and Google Find Recent News? A photo of a serious sexual offender involving a child, who fled from the police and was hunted down and arrested, was all over the Australian news two weeks ago. The goal is to check if the search engine can find recently published images in its database.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many matching photos of this perpetrator on news websites, confirming that FaceCheck is continuously indexing new content. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 2 Points Google finds only one exact match for this person. Score: +2 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Recognize a Person wearing a Mask?

Masked Celebrity Actress Can FaceCheck and Google Recognize a Person wearing a Mask? This is a B-list celebrity wearing a face mask, only showing her eyes and forehead. The test is to see if the search engine can recognize faces even when they're covered by a mask. There is thousands of images of this celebrity all over the Internet, so finding a few matches should not be a problem.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID was able to easily recognize this actress just by her eyes and forehead and found many matching pictures of her. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited". Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find Obscure Foreign Celebrities?

Unknown Singer from Laos Can FaceCheck and Google Find Obscure Foreign Celebrities? A picture of a not-so-famous singer from the country of Laos. Hardly anyone outside of Laos knows her. The goal of this test is to see if the search engine can find info on obscure public figures from other countries.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many matching pictures on social media of this obscure beauty influencer from Laos. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 2 Points Google finds only one exact match for this person. Score: +2 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find an OnlyFans Model?

Random OnlyFans Model Can FaceCheck and Google Find an OnlyFans Model? A photo of a random woman on OnlyFans who lives in Vietnam. The goal is to see if the search engine can find OnlyFans profiles.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found her OnlyFans profile as well as many social media profiles. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Instead of finding a person, Google finds similar hairbands to what the OF girl is wearing on her head. Google reverse image search is made for searching commercial products, not for people searching. Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find an Adult Actress by Low-Res Pic?

Low-Res Pic of Adult Actress Can FaceCheck and Google Find an Adult Actress by Low-Res Pic? A low-resolution picture of an obscure Japanese adult film actress. The goal is to see if the search engine can find Asian adult film stars using low-resolution photos.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 4 Points FaceCheck.ID found several matching photos of this Japanese adult performer. We were able to find positive matches with even smaller test picture (65x65) where her face is measuring only 23x29 pixels! Score: +4 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited". Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find an Old Person by Their Young Pic?

Find Old Person by Young Pic Can FaceCheck and Google Find an Old Person by Their Young Pic? This photo is from 1976, showing a woman who was 27 years old at the time. The goal is to see if the search engine can find a more recent photo of the same person.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many matching photos of this person in her older years. One of the photo is when the subject was 65 years old prooving FaceCheck's ability to find an older face by a young face. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited". Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find a Profile of a War Criminal?

War Criminal Soldier Can FaceCheck and Google Find a Profile of a War Criminal? A picture of a Russian soldier who filmed himself committing terrible war crimes. The goal is to see if the search engine can find this soldier's social media profiles.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many matching photos of this soldier, including social media profiles. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 2 Points Google finds only one exact match for this person. Score: +2 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find Escort Ads?

Brazilian Escort Ad Can FaceCheck and Google Find Escort Ads? A photo from a Brazilian escort ad. We blurred it on this page for privacy. The goal is to see if the search engine can find images on escort ads websites.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many matching photos of this person on escort sites as well as social media. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited". Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Handle Facial Expressions?

Exaggerated Expression Can FaceCheck and Google Handle Facial Expressions? The camera captured a soccer player with a funny facial expression in this photo. The goal is to see if the search engine is robust enough to find images of the same person with a normal facial expression.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many photos of the soccer player with various facial expressions, demonstrating its robustness and reliability in recognizing the person despite variations in their appearance. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 5 Points This is the only case in our tests when Google actually finds the person in the picture and delivers useful results. Score: +5 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find AI Generated Images?

AI Generated Girl Can FaceCheck and Google Find AI Generated Images? This image was generated by an artificial intelligence app. The goal is to test if the search engine can find similar AI images.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many similar images of AI-generated women. FaceCheck also raised a red flag: "AI-Generated Face" to alert the user that AI face was detected. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Again, instead of finding a person, Google finds similar hairbands to what the AI girl is wearing in her hair. Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Work with Blurred Photos?

Blurred Photo Can FaceCheck and Google Work with Blurred Photos? Even though this photo is heavily blurred, almost anyone would recognize the iconic president in the photo. A good reverse image search engine should be able to recognize this person too.
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID had no problem with this blurred photo and found many matches of the president. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited". Score: 0 Points

Can FaceCheck and Google Find Social Media Profiles?

Social Media Model Can FaceCheck and Google Find Social Media Profiles? This person is a social media fitness model from Iraq. The test is: can the reverse image search engine find social media profiles of a person from an Islamic country?
FaceCheck.ID Test result: 5 Points FaceCheck.ID found many social media accounts of this Iraqi fitness model such as TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Clubhouse and more. Score: +5 Points
VS
Google.com Test result: 0 Points Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited". Score: 0 Points

FaceCheck and Google - Bottom Line Comparison

FaceCheck.ID
Pros
Searches Social Media Profiles
Red Flag Warnings
Indexes Lots of Quality Websites
Cons
Slower than Other Sites
Less Indexed Images than Others
Not as Many Explicit Adult Images
Bottom Line Although FaceCheck.ID is relatively new and has a smaller image database than its competitors, it excels thanks to its state-of-the-art face search algorithm and indexing of images from high-quality websites. FaceCheck.ID shines in matching low-quality, blurred images and recognizing people in masks, and faces from various angles, not just frontal views. Focused on user safety, it’s particularly effective at uncovering catfishing and identity theft. It also detects photos used by scammers, searches social media profiles, and identifies mugshots and suspects mentioned in the news.
Total Score: 79 Points
VS
Google.com
Pros
Fast Image Search
Free Search
Fresh Index
Cons
No Facial Recognition
Results for People are Limited
Not Useful when Searching by Face
Bottom Line Google is not effective for reverse image searching by face. It does not use facial recognition and intentionally blocks searches by a person's image, displaying a "Results for People are Limited" message. While this feature worked in the past, as of 2024, it is now entirely useless for this purpose. Google has focused its reverse image search on identifying commercial products rather than people, and it excels in this area. If you need to find a product by image, Google is perfect for that.
Total Score: 14 Points

Best Facial Recognition Search Engines: Head-to-Head Comparison

Test FaceCheck PimEyes SocialCatfish Yandex Tineye Google Bing
Side Facial Profile 5 0 2 0 0 0 0
Romance Scam Photo 5 5 5 5 0 0 0
Bad Photo of a Killer 5 0 5 2 3 0 0
Child Molester on the Run 5 5 5 2 2 3 0
Recently Arrested 5 5 5 0 3 2 0
Masked Celebrity Actress 5 0 4 0 0 0 0
Unknown Singer from Laos 5 5 0 0 0 2 0
Random OnlyFans Model 5 5 0 0 0 0 0
Low-Res Pic of Adult Actress 4 5 0 3 0 0 0
Find Old Person by Young Pic 5 5 1 1 2 0 0
War Criminal Soldier 5 4 4 4 4 2 3
Brazilian Escort Ad 5 5 0 0 0 0 0
Exaggerated Expression 5 5 5 5 4 5 5
AI Generated Girl 5 5 1 1 0 0 0
Blurred Photo 5 0 5 5 0 0 5
Social Media Model 5 3 0 0 0 0 0
 
Total Points
79
57
42
28
18
14
13
FaceCheck PimEyes SocialCatfish Yandex Tineye Google Bing

Best Single Alternative to Google Reverse Image Search

The Best Alternative to Google for Reverse Image Searches - FaceCheck.ID Start Face Search with FaceCheck

All Reverse Image Search Engines: A Complete Comparison

Single Test Results

On the subject in other languages

Siti is an expert tech author that writes for the FaceCheck.ID blog and is enthusiastic about advancing FaceCheck.ID's goal of making the internet safer for all.