Which is Better for Face Search:
PimEyes or Google?
Expert Analysis: Best Reverse Image Search Engines
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.
Below tests evaluate the effectiveness of PimEyes 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.;
Versus
16 Search by Face Tests
VS
Find a Better Reverse Image Search Tool Than PimEyes or Google
PimEyes vs Google
Google and PimEyes each have their unique strengths in the realm of reverse image searching, tailored for different needs. Google, while incredibly fast and efficient, focuses its image search primarily on identifying products, not people. It often displays messages like "Results for People are Limited," making it less helpful for those trying to identify individuals. This makes Google ideal for shopping or finding information about objects, but not for personal identification.
PimEyes, on the other hand, shines in its ability to dig deep into image databases to match faces and personal images, even those of a sensitive nature, like adult content or potentially misused images on less reputable websites. It can unearth a wealth of details from various angles, proving invaluable for users concerned with privacy or image misuse. However, PimEyes' specialization in adult content and its struggle with very low-quality images might narrow its appeal.
In essence, if you're looking to identify a product or a non-personal item, Google is your go-to. But if your focus is on personal image security or uncovering the broader use of an individual's images across the web, PimEyes offers the necessary tools, despite its specific niche focus. Each platform caters well to its respective audience, with Google perfect for shoppers and PimEyes for those guarding against image misuse.
Can PimEyes and Google Recognize a Side Facial Profile?
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.
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.
PimEyes failed this test showing a message "The photo appears to be low quality, making it difficult to identify facial features."
Score: 0 Points
VS
Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited".
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Find Romance Scammers?
Romance Scam Photo
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!
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!
PimEyes found plenty of matching pictures of this doctor. After clicking thru the results, the user would find out this pic is used in many scams.
Score: +5 Points
VS
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 PimEyes and Google Work with Poor Quality Photos?
Bad Photo of a Killer
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.
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.
PimEyes failed to find the face in this poor-quality image and displayed the message "Face not found. Make sure the face on the photo is clearly visible."
Score: 0 Points
VS
Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited".
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Find Child Abusers?
Child Molester on the Run
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.
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.
PimEyes found five matching photos of this child predator.
Score: +5 Points
VS
Google finds one result for this child predator which is the registered offender's website.
Score: +3 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Find Recent News?
Recently Arrested
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.
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.
PimEyes found many matching photos on news websites, showing that it regularly updates its image database with new content.
Score: +5 Points
VS
Google finds only one exact match for this person.
Score: +2 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Recognize a Person wearing a Mask?
Masked Celebrity Actress
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.
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.
PimEyes failed to find the face in this photo and displayed the message "Face not found. Make sure the face on the photo is clearly visible."
Score: 0 Points
VS
Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited".
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Find Obscure Foreign Celebrities?
Unknown Singer from Laos
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.
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.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this obscure celebrity from Laos.
Score: +5 Points
VS
Google finds only one exact match for this person.
Score: +2 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Find an OnlyFans Model?
Random 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.
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.
PimEyes found explicit images of this OnlyFans girl on many shady copyright-infringing "leak" websites. PimEyes seems to be focused on helping users fighting "revenge" kind of content.
Score: +5 Points
VS
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 PimEyes and Google Find an Adult Actress by Low-Res Pic?
Low-Res Pic of Adult Actress
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.
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.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this Japanese adult performer. PimEyes shines when it comes to searching for adult film stars.
Score: +5 Points
VS
Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited".
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Find an Old Person by Their Young Pic?
Find Old Person by 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.
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.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this person in her older years. However the photos seem to be limited to the subject in her 30s and 40s.
Score: +5 Points
VS
Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited".
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Find a Profile of a War Criminal?
War Criminal Soldier
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.
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.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this soldier; however, it did not find any of his social media.
Score: +4 Points
VS
Google finds only one exact match for this person.
Score: +2 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Find Escort Ads?
Brazilian Escort Ad
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.
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.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this person.
Score: +5 Points
VS
Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited".
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Handle Facial Expressions?
Exaggerated Expression
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.
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.
PimEyes found many memes with an exact match of this facial expression, and also found the player with other facial expressions.
Score: +5 Points
VS
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 PimEyes and Google Find AI Generated Images?
AI Generated Girl
This image was generated by an artificial intelligence app. The goal is to test if the search engine can find similar AI images.
This image was generated by an artificial intelligence app. The goal is to test if the search engine can find similar AI images.
PimEyes found many similar images of AI-generated women.
Score: +5 Points
VS
Again, instead of finding a person, Google finds similar hairbands to what the AI girl is wearing in her hair.
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Work with Blurred Photos?
Blurred Photo
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.
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.
PimEyes failed to find a face in this blurred photo and displayed the message "Face not found. Make sure the face on the photo is clearly visible."
Score: 0 Points
VS
Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited".
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Google Find Social Media Profiles?
Social Media Model
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?
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?
PimEyes found many matching photos of this Iraqi model. However found zero profiles from the top social media sites. Because this is a social media test, we are lowering the test score to 3.
Score: +3 Points
VS
Google displayed zero matches and showed a message "Results for People are Limited".
Score: 0 Points
PimEyes and Google - Bottom Line Comparison
Pros
Bottom Line
PimEyes is a powerful search engine with a vast image database. It focuses on indexing shady, copyright-infringing websites with "leaked" adult content, specializing in helping users combat revenge porn. It is highly effective at finding adult content. However, its effectiveness for other purposes is limited by the lack of social media indexing and its inability to search blurry or low-quality images. Despite these drawbacks, PimEyes is a highly recommended reverse image search engine.
Excels in Adult Oriented Searches
Large Image Database
Decent Facial Recognition Algorithm
Cons
No Social Media Images
Does not work with Low Quality Photos
Lots of Low Quality Adult Website Results
Total Score: 57 Points
VS
Pros
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.
Fast Image Search
Free Search
Fresh Index
Cons
No Facial Recognition
Results for People are Limited
Not Useful when Searching by Face
Total Score: 14 Points
The Top Facial Recognition Search Engines: An In-Depth Comparison
| Test | FaceCheck | PimEyes | SocialCatfish | Yandex | Tineye | 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 | |||||||
| FaceCheck | PimEyes | SocialCatfish | Yandex | Tineye | Bing |
Best Alternative to PimEyes or Google Reverse Image Search
The Best Reverse Image Search Engines: Comprehensive Comparisons
- PimEyes.com vs FaceCheck.ID
- PimEyes.com vs Google.com
- PimEyes.com vs Tineye.com
- PimEyes.com vs Bing.com
- PimEyes.com vs SocialCatfish.com
- PimEyes.com vs Yandex.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs Google.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs Tineye.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs Bing.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs SocialCatfish.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs Yandex.com
- Google.com vs Tineye.com
- Google.com vs Bing.com
- Google.com vs SocialCatfish.com
- Google.com vs Yandex.com
- Tineye.com vs Bing.com
- Tineye.com vs SocialCatfish.com
- Tineye.com vs Yandex.com
- Bing.com vs SocialCatfish.com
- Bing.com vs Yandex.com
- SocialCatfish.com vs Yandex.com
Single Test Results
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