You would be forgiven for believing that this is the latest experiment from search giant, Google. But, it is in fact the latest search engine extension launched by China’s most popular search engine, Baidu.

Baidu is reportedly working on a new image search feature that will centre on facial recognition to bring accurate results to searchers.

The new search engine will allow users to upload an image and then run an image search for that person based on the face. However, reports so far aren’t too promising. They indicate that the facial recognition feature works well for well-known celebrities, but not so well for the likes of you and I.

Baidu hopes the feature will be used for good. It already has a customized version powered by technology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Computing Technology, with the aim of finding missing people in China.

Google already has a similar feature called Search By Image, which has been available since 2011. Google also does have a feature in Google+ named “Find My Face” that helps users locate images of themselves, however the search giant has avoided implementing a facial recognition search engine because of the possibility that it could be misused. Chairman Eric Schmidt said last year that he is concerned about potential misuses of the technology and predicted that some companies would “cross the line.”

What do you think? Has Baidu crossed the line by launching such a “public” search function or is Google just behind the times?