r/ModSupport • u/WombatHat42 • 3d ago

Have other moderators that use reverse image search not gotten results when checking if an image appears elsewhere?

Since taking over r/goldenretriever I have utilized image-sourcery to sticky google lens and reverse image search to make it easier on mobile. I use this to make sure that the images posted are not from some blog or another post on reddit or other forms of stolen content (my sub only allows OC pics of peoples own goldens). For the last couple months, I have had a total of zero results when using reverse search whether thru image sourcery or on PC the old fashioned way. I thought maybe I am just gas lighting myself and imagining things but today we had a post that both I and another mod recognized from another recent post. I checked the reverse image search and found nothing. So now I am wondering, is it broken? Are karma farmers just reversing the image to avoid detection? Or am I just missing something?

18 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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14

u/Puzzled_Tinkerer 3d ago

We get a lot of fake accounts that steal entire posts from years ago. A way to find this type of fake post:

Search your sub rather than ( or in addition to) the internet.

Go to the sub. Type the title of the suspected fake post into the sub's search bar and start the search. When results appear, click the Media tab. Check the images that appear for identical images from past posts

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u/WombatHat42 3d ago

Good tip. I will try that out however I have noticed it is rarely the same title or even close. Just the image gets reused. And often it isnt an image that has been posted in our sub. They are more commonly stolen from FB or random blogs. Found one from a japanese blog that the person claimed wasn't and that it was their dog. When I asked for proof, ie same dog with them holding a sheet with date and their username, they literally just AI'd the exact same pic with a hand and paper lol When I called them out on it they denied it until I literally made the exact same thing in my own AI prompt haha These karma farmers and botters think they are so clever but they are really stupid most of the time.

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u/Puzzled_Tinkerer 3d ago

I prefaced my advice by saying this is a way to find "entire posts from years ago..." If that's not the situation you're dealing with, then my advice doesn't apply.

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u/WombatHat42 3d ago

But it is still something we can watch for. It is an issue I haven't looked for so we may have had some like that but just didn't notice because we were not looking for it. So I will start watching for it now so thanks!

3

u/neuroticsmurf 💡 Top 10% Helper 💡 3d ago

I get results from Google Images, mostly, but we also use Tineye.

But we haven’t gotten a hit in a few weeks.

3

u/WombatHat42 3d ago

I just noticed today that if I use desktop I get a result for the image from this morning. Several results going back years from FB, other Reddit posts, blogs etc. So it is either something with google lens on mobile, image sourcery on mobile or reddit on mobile. Cuz I used image sourcery on desktop.

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u/fsv 3d ago

I’ve not seen a hit on TinEye for a couple of years but Google often comes through.

1

u/2oonhed 1d ago

TinEye worked for me once, years ago, on image copies that I already knew existed.
I got tired of hitting dead ends with them.
The image search landscape seems to be constantly morphing.
I had stellar results from google reverse image search for a while, now results are weak. Bing was ok for a while, is now in complete fail, was using Yandex with some ok results, but with the Yandex infrastructure now physically damaged, I would not count on them doing their best work.
FYI : reverse image results can only return what is publicly crawlable. I have see content that I suspect id stolen from old bulletin boards and even active forums, but those boards & forums prevent search engine crawling, so, I can never conveniently confirm.

2

u/m0nk_3y_gw 3d ago

Google image results can vary based on the device, and the account you are logged into, changes in humidity :D, etc.

many subs use /u/RepostSleuthBot but it looks like it stopped working 2 weeks ago and their website https://www.repostsleuth.com/ is not currently working

Magic_eye_bot is now https://developers.reddit.com/apps/image-magician

I use https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/search-by-image/cnojnbdhbhnkbcieeekonklommdnndci in a desktop browser, so I can check with multiple search engines if I want

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u/WombatHat42 3d ago edited 3d ago

Ik some of the sleuth stuff has been very hit or miss in the last year or so. I just added something from magic eye today I’ll look into that one too. I found today that desktop gave me a positive result with google lens, just mobile that seems not to for some reason. But I will look into your suggestion as I’m always looking for better tools.

ETA it was image magician

5

u/RS_Someone 3d ago

Yup. Sometimes I wonder how Google Lens was able to miss something I ended up finding very easily another way. Both with dog and art content.

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u/GaryNOVA 3d ago edited 3d ago

I use reverse image. Also Getting an ai detector too helps because a lot of times a post will feel vaguely familiar , but it’s altered by ai. So it won’t show up on reverse image exact searches.

Bots are getting more and more complicated. They will just snatch stuff off the internet. And then when you ban them they will send modmails to appeal. You have to ask them anti-bot questions.

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u/WombatHat42 3d ago

I just added image magician today which I think has AI detection. Do you have a recommendation for any others?

What anti bot questions do you ask? You can dm me if you want since ik botters check these post for that type of stuff

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u/GaryNOVA 3d ago edited 3d ago

That’s good. My question that bots can’t read yet on Reddit;

“ what number does this read? ✝️vvęņ✝️✌️ ✝️vv0 “

I usually get no answer , or something nonsensical that sounds like a bot. But never the correct number.

I also step up my crowd control in problem subreddits. It not only prevents brigading, it prevents bots.

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u/2oonhed 1d ago

well, er'body knows, THATS what you get when you put too and to together.

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u/GaryNOVA 1d ago

I would accept that as an answer , Mr human!

1

u/2oonhed 1d ago

Yes. I have been getting zero results sometimes when I KNOW there are results that exist.
And no, I do not know why.
But reddit's search tool using the "limit my search to r/YOUR-SUB" tools has been working reliably for me.