The Google blog announced today a new approach to finding related images called "image swirl".

The technology uses a flash-based approach to enable users to click through related images, starting with a simple display of images, e.g. those from searching for "castle" below:

Clicking on individual images shows circles or "clusters" containing related images, with lines linking images that the system has determined are related:

Google claim that the experimental system will show relationships for 200,000 search queries. The queries that are available will appear as the user begins to type into the search box.

Image search is an expanding area, as computer technology capable of processing images improves, and users demand more user-friendly approaches to locating images.