Video: We put Google Goggles to the test

If a picture is word a thousand words, why would you waste time searching the web using just a small subset of keywords? Sometimes, a text search isn’t the best way to search for information on your smartphone. That’s where Google’s new Google Goggles visual search app comes into play. Using your camera-enabled smartphone (Android only, for now), Google Goggles takes photos of just about anything that you’d want more information on – gadgets, books, barcodes, landmarks, stores, etc. – and searches the web for any relevant information. In theory, the new search service could open up a new way to conveniently search the web on your mobile phone.

But, does it really work? Has Google mastered the dark art of visual search? We’ll put it this way: when it works, it works well, but it doesn’t always work. Check out our test of six everyday objects to see for yourself.