Marketing Pilgrim

Tell me if you spot any similarities between these two announcements:

We’re pleased to announce you that GazoPa enters open beta today. GazoPa is a next generation image search engine that uses image features such as color and shape to search for similar images.

And…

Today, we’re happy to announce that Similar Images is graduating from Google Labs and becoming a permanent feature in Google Images.

Yep, Google’s at it again!

No sooner had GazoPa dared to enter the search arena, Google comes along and says "oh no you di’n't" and takes its Similar Images tool out of Labs. I mean, really, there’s just no subtly when it comes to Google. Dare to enter it’s space, and within hours it’s wrestling the spotlight off any challenger.

As usual, Google’s version is either designed for the masses, or barebones, depending on your point of view. Really, your only option is to enter a search query, then refine it to "Find similar images."

Meanwhile, like most Google challengers, GazoPa offers a fuller experience with its tool. As well as searching by query, you can upload an image or even your own hand-drawn sketch!

Here’s a two minute demo of GazoPa in action:

Now the only question is will searchers flock to GazoPa for its rich feature set or, rather typically, will they stick with the "devil they know" out of convenience or pure laziness?