Google continues to make the freshness of content a key focus all areas of their search business and today we learn they’ve added relative dates to Google Image searches, showing how recently an image was uploaded to the web. Take for example this search for the Samsung Droid Charge, an Android Phone set to soon release on Verizon’s network:

Interesting to note that all of the pictures featured were posted within the past 4 days. Sure, the reviews have been pouring in lately, but look what happens if you search for other keywords that web surfers have been seeking for much longer than the past couple weeks. How about searching Osama Bin Laden which is a decade long popular search but just recently resurgent (pun not intended):

Only one item shows it was recently uploaded: a picture from ABC News that shows it was added 18 hours ago. Searching for items that are more immune to fluctuation and current events don’t often feature “new” images in the google search index, for example a search for “Chicken Recipes” shows delicious food that has long since been digested.

The point here is that Google continues to realize the importance of relative dates and when they don’t help fresh content rise to the top of their searches through news, video, social network results and other new features and formatting, they’re at least visually highlighting fresh content to draw your eye as if to say, “Hey… you lookin’ for me?”

Have you seen the relative dates in Google Image Search? Do you like them, dislike them or are you indifferent? Web publishers should be thinking long and hard about the importance of including fresh content on their site, but anyone who hasn’t at least THOUGHT of this is already light years behind.

[Thanks Danny!]