Google Image doesnt use my ALT tags (WTF?!?)

[phattrance]

I have a problem that i need help with. It seems that google doesnt use the image ALT tags that i have on my blog. The setup i have is like this:

Images are named after the page title, so the images ALT tag will look like this:

<?php the_title(); ?> bla bla bla

So if a image is named "hello.jpg", the title will be Hello and the ALT will automatically be "hello bla bla bla"

But when google image indexes my images, the it seems to skip the "bla bla bla" and only index the image as "hello". Anyone knows why this is happening? I did not have any problem with this before the theme change that i did a few months back. I have also tried a few "SEO image plugins" and they doesnt seem to be working with my theme (probably something thats missing on the theme)

Code im using:

<img src="<?php echo $feature_img; ?>" alt="<?php the_title(); ?> bla bla bla" title="<?php the_title(); ?> - Funny Pictures, LOL, Jokes and MEME updated hourly by Funny Pictures Blog" style="max-width: 600px;"/>

Blog URL: Funny Pictures Blog - MEME, Funny Pictures, LOL and Jokes

[Chedders]

And why do you think Google should use the ALT tag ?
The alt tag is for browsers / users who do not want to see the image but see a text description of what the image is. ALT = Alternative not ALT = Keywords.

I am sure google looks at the tag to help understand what the image is but it also uses the text around / close by the image to help index it.

[phattrance]

And why do you think Google should use the ALT tag ?
The alt tag is for browsers / users who do not want to see the image but see a text description of what the image is. ALT = Alternative not ALT = Keywords.

I am sure google looks at the tag to help understand what the image is but it also uses the text around / close by the image to help index it.

because google image always uses the keywords i write in the ALT tag, until i did the theme change

[realityhack]

Google image search has been rapidly changing, even in the last month or so there have been changes.

Where exactly was Google using said alt text.
Does that place even still exist?
As stated so well above: Why the frak should Google care about your precious keyword stuffed alt tags? Google cares about users, and a reasonable assumption is that people using image search ARE NOT BLIND. So they will never see your alt text. Better to show what Google thinks might be a description or subtitle for the image.

Remember, Google doesn't owe you crap. Somehow I don't think Getty Images is really concerned with whether Google picks up alt text or something else. That should tell you something.

[wisnuops]

Google still using alt tags definitely. Matt Cuts said so. And my experiments said so.

Wanna see examples of alt tags on action? Type "completely wrong" on Google Images. Look what SEOs have done there

[Chedders]

I did the search as requested with speech marks and took the #1 image to look at

The URL contains "completely wrong" and the title of the page and the H1 tag and in the text above the image, even the jpg name is completely-wrong.jpg
and then if you look at the image tags itself the ALT tag is set to nothing but the title tag is set.

alt="" title="COMPLETELY WRONG"

So Assuming your on about the first image that is returned it does not back up the ALT text is what is causing this image to be in #1, its exactly as I said before, its the other elements that is giving it the strength to rank high.

[seodeviner]

Google only use Alt tag to understand about your image. Google does not guarantee that your site will appear at top position in SERPs by using Alt tag. Alt tag is also browser specific and some browsers show it and some don't show it when user moves mouse on the image.

Google use Alt tag to simply understand your image and make your web images Google friendly.

[atentat]

so the "bla bla bla" doesnt show up in the alt tag? you should check the generated html code, if this is a theme problem.

[kundi]

You should try to escape the text with html_encode_string() in case there are any symbols that mess up the HTML.