Is SocialCatfish the Best for Face Search?
Thoroughly Evaluated: 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 SocialCatfish 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
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish found 708 pictures of men in suits with glasses, but only one was a positive match for the celebrity. This shows its poor performance in recognizing faces from a side view.
Score: +2 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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!
Social Catfish returned a few results of this stolen photo with a lead to an anti-scam website.
Score: +5 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish returned numerous match results of this killer even from a couple of different angles.
Score: +5 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish provided many exact match results of this predator.
Score: +5 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish returned several exact match results of this man.
Score: +5 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish found a few matches of the actress without a mask. It found her pics just by matching her eyes and forehead. But not many matches and also false positive on the very top, so we're giving only 4 points.
Score: +4 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish displayed plenty of results of brunette women; however, none of the women matched the obscure singer.
Score: 0 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish produced results of open-mouth women in glasses and marked them as exact matches. But in fact, none of them matched the searched person.
Score: 0 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish yielded numerous results of Japanese women; however, none of the women matched the searched person.
Score: 0 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish returned the original picture match; however, it was not able to find the person in her older years.
Score: +1 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish delivered numerous results of the soldier; however, the top results did not match.
Score: +4 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish found many results of red-haired women; however, none of the women matched the searched person.
Score: 0 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish returned plenty of results of the soccer player even with a couple of different facial expressions.
Score: +5 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish discovered some AI-generated pics of women; however, none of them was really too similar to the source person.
Score: +1 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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.
Social Catfish found lots of photos of the president, having no problem with the blurred pic.
Score: +5 Points
Can SocialCatfish 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?
Social Catfish provided a plethora of brunettes; however, none of them matched the Iraqi fitness model.
Score: 0 Points
SocialCatfish - Bottom Line Comparison
Pros
Bottom Line
Social Catfish's reverse image search is an add-on to their primary email and phone lookup services. Since image search is not their main focus, it feels like an afterthought. The technology appears outdated, resulting in inconsistent facial recognition performance. While it delivers good results occasionally, it often falls short. However, their YouTube channel excels in raising awareness about romance scams.
Entertaining YouTube Videos
Strong Brand Name
Effective in Some Cases
Cons
Poor Face Recognition
Questionable Marketing Tactics
Slow App and Aged User Interface
Total Score: 42 Points
Top Facial Recognition Search Engines: A Comprehensive Test
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 |
The Ultimate Reverse Image Search Engines Comparison
- 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
On the subject in other languages
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