A similar picture identification method is described. According to the method, processing circuitry of a device obtains n first local regions of a first picture, the n first local regions being a first set of regions that is affine invariant, and obtains m second local regions of a second picture, the m second local regions being a second set of regions that is affine invariant. The processing circuitry obtains n first characteristic values respectively corresponding to the n first local regions, and obtains m second characteristic values respectively corresponding to the m second local regions. The processing circuitry further determines, according to a comparison result of the n first characteristic values and the m second characteristic values, whether the first picture is similar to the second picture, where n and m are positive integers.