I checked the comments on Google's blog post about this disaster. Turns out, someone started a petition against Google. Click here to sign.

Honestly I have lots of problems with Google's "new and improved" image search. First of all, I don't like how it shows the full image. It shouldn't do that. That just makes it easier for people to steal our wallpapers and other graphics that we worked so hard to make. I see a lot of problems with this new image search from Google. I don't like it, it doesn't do the image or artist any justice and it makes us a bigger target for art thieves.
~Judai

Yeah!! I didn't like the new Google image search and now I have more reason not to... Thankyou so much for posting this, Adam! We all definitely have to get the word out and stand against art theft like this >3<
By the way, ya blocking google's image search seems like a good idea in this case...

I was surprised to see how quickly Google had made changes to it's image search. I still don't like the new setup and like it even less when I'm taken directly to the source rather than the actual portfolio/website. So, I can totally see why most artists would find this sort of thing annoying and unfair. I think that smaller sites will have to periodically change their image links and/or host images privately (logging in to view images wouldn't be such a bad idea on a smaller scale).

We'll just have to see where Google takes this in the future.

Well, if I ever needed something to kill my desire to start up a webcomic... this would nearly do it (still not completely, though). That, and I need to still compile ideas and figure out what the heck I want to do with it, but STILL...

Huh, I guess my image search habits are very different from others. Even with the old layout, I almost always clicked "View Original Image" and only clicked "View Page" if I actually wanted to visit the site in question. The new layout has had no effect on that habit at all. (Bigger thumbnails don't cut it.) Though I can definitely understand why people would be pissed about the hotlinking.

I posted on Google's blog with the link to your article, Adam. I see several people beat me to it.

Thanks for bringing this up. I'm sorry I ever doubted theO's stance on art theft.

Oh yeah, the new changes gets on my nerves too. I help run a site that reviews comic books and video games and the like and I noticed we get a lot of hits from people google image searching. Back then, they'd notice the image and click on the review but nowadays like it's mentioned here they largely don't even bother to click to visit the site anymore so we just have people looking at the images we have and then splitting.

What I'm saying basically is it isn't just hurting artists here, but people who make content in general. Yeah, there are other search engines of course but the majority find these images and sites through Google.

I don't even use Google anymore, since using it got me a virus on my old laptop... I use Yahoo, or Bing, now...

Oh, Google... just one bad decision after another... *sigh*

its like google want you to just stay on google and never go any ware else! and the direct linking is going to kill bandwidth and make adam pay more $$$
DAMN YOU GOOGLE DAMN YOU

Yeah, I just noticed that yesterday while trying to look for the source of some unsourced art on tumblr D:
There's been quite a few pixiv artists upset about not having their works credited/sourced over the past several months, and I feel the hotlinking might make it worse :c
And this isn't just about pixiv artists, but people from all sites in general D: People get uncomfortable when their art is on another site without so much as a link back to the original page, afterall.

Thank you for the info. Actually, I already dislike Google's new Image search because it takes away the "Images like" option, and is actually more tedious. Now I dislike it even more. (Come to think of it, the old way kept me from using images from DA and other art sites by accident.)

Oh, so that's why it does that now. I noticed the change yesterday while searching for wallpapers to try and update a world background. I'm on a different laptop now though so I thought it was just what I was using.

If most people find that unsettling, especially artists, it won't be long before google changes it back or makes some extra work at adding credits to respectful sources.

Edit: I searched through some comments and it seems that most people who don't understand how before you could actually see the original site and from where the image comes, find this new feature actually good.
As for that I am not sure how this will end.

I just tried it. and to me it seems a little easier to
click through to the hosting site(theO), by just clicking
on the image, whereas the old way you had to click the X
to close out the image to get to the hosting site..

Another thing I thought was cool, when I search my username,
the GIF's I have posted to my word show up, and they play
in google when I click on it, and the image clicks through to
my world.

I hadn't even realized it was changed until I saw this post,
and went and checked it out..

the hotlinking sounds wrong, just doesn't seem fair
at all

I've realized that.
Even though I'm not tech-savvy, I'm not stupid.
Hotlinking? Charges? Seriously, Google is just looking for it!
That's insane!

This makes me sort of upset at google. How can they get away with this. Isn't there some sort of copyright law? Oh right! That probably doesn't apply to major sites like google.

This is why I use Yahoo! Image Search. They give full credit to the site and make sure it is prominently displayed alongside the image. In addition, you have to visit the site to see the full-size image. If this information is correct, I recommend using it in the future.

@Adam:

Ah, I see. So even if Google was hotlinking the image then, there was a good chance that it would still be compensated through a visit in the site.

I'm starting to read more complaints from other websites as well. And it looks like other international versions of Google have adopted the new layout as well. So this is really becoming a problem.

Oh my. I just realized that now.
It really is awful but for some people (who doesn't care for the creator of the work he/she is viewing) the new feature is easier to use. For me, it is not good though it is just nearly the same as the old feature.
I also found out that even if you opened the image in another tab/window, the real site still wouldn't be seen. That's awful.
~tafu-chan ♥

I'm not really sure what to say here. When I look back in the past, didn't Google have a separate page to display the image, while loading the actual site in a dimmed background? That being said, isn't that a bit similar to what is happening here with Google?

Just wondering.

Wow, at 1st I didn't think anything of it. It was just there and I hardly use Google Images anyways, but yeah. This is awful. ><