By Jimmy Rogers (@me)
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

If you’ve ever written a blog post or made a website, one of the most onerous tasks is finding good graphics without copy protection.  Text-only content is generally frowned upon because the increased popularity of the internet has somewhat “raised the bar” for the average blogger.  Readers expect some sort of layout.

Well fear not, Google has FINALLY come around and, according to the Google Blog, offers Creative Commons search within Google Image Search.  Other search services for CC have been created in the past (such as the one provided by Creative Commons itself), but many bloggers prefer using Google’s simple Image Search.  Now the only question is: How does it work?

• First, go to Google Image Search.
• Next, go into the “Advanced Image Search” menu.
• Scroll down to “Usage Rights” and select one of the options.  For most people, “labeled for reuse” is the best option, because if you are not going to mashup the work or try to sell it, the simple reuse option will yield the most search results.
• Finally, hit Search and you’re DONE!

Try it and you might get something as cute as this (a CC image)!

After testing out the service a little bit, I find it a little lacking.  The search results don’t seem as robust as other searches for CC I’ve tried in the past.  I’m guessing that like most new Google things, this will eventually work better than the rest, but right now they are still fleshing out their algorithm.  I still anticipate that this will be a GREAT tool for bloggers all over!

[“Red squirrel with pronounced winter ear tufts in the Dusseldorf Hofgarten” image from Ray Eye, Wikimedia Commons, CC]