System and method for displaying images in an online directory

• US 7,756,630 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2008
• Issued: 07/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ha, Huy T., Dorfman, Barnaby M., Caro-Bruce, Timothy, Manber, Udi, Karls, Jason, Gold, Jonathan A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mooneyham; Janice A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THUY-VI THI
• Application Number:
  US12/098,320
• Publication Number:
  US 20080189130A1
• Time in Patent Office: 830 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/006 Representation of non-cartographic information on maps, e.g. population distribution, wind direction, radiation levels, air and sea routes
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system for generating an online listing, such as a yellow pages listing, that includes information about an object, such as a business, and also includes at least one image of the structure containing the object. For example, the image may be a digital image of the store front of a business taken at a street view. Additionally, a user may select an image from a plurality of images that the user perceives as being an appropriate representative image for the business. Based on votes received a default representative image may be identified that is provided in response to a request for information about the business.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for correlating a plurality of images with specific addresses for display to a user, the method comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems, configured with executable instructions, performing at least the following;

obtaining a plurality of images captured at different geographical locations, each image including a substantially street-level view for a particular capture direction at the geographical location at which the image is captured;

defining a first boundary including geographical locations surrounding a first geographic coordinate associated with a first street address, the first boundary defining a first property region associated with the first street address;

defining a second boundary including geographical locations surrounding a second geographic coordinate associated with a second street address, the second boundary defining a second property region associated with the second street address and being a different size than the first boundary;

analyzing the capture direction and a distance from the geographical location of at least a portion of the plurality of images to at least one of the first and second boundaries to determine whether the substantially street-level view of an image includes at least a portion of the first property region or the second property region, each image determined to include at least a portion of the first property region being correlated with the first street address, each image determined to include at least a portion of the second property region being correlated correlating with the second street address; and

in response to a user of a computing device accessing address information including the first street address, providing for display at least one image correlated with the first street address and enabling the user to view at least one substantially street-level view corresponding to at least a portion of the first property region associated with the first street address.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein defining a first boundary includes determining an approximate size of a structure located at the first street address and defining a first boundary surrounding the approximate size of the structure.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a user of a computing device accessing address information including the second street address, providing for display at least one image correlated with the second street address and enabling the user to view at least one substantially street-level view corresponding to at least a portion of the second property region associated with the second street address.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of images include at least one image of a structure located at the first street address or the second street address.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a subset of the images are images of a front of a structure located at the first street address.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first boundary for the first street address overlaps at least a portion of the second boundary for the second street address.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein images having an associated geographic coordinate within both the first boundary for the first street address and the second boundary for the second street address are correlated with both the first street address and the second street address.

8. A computer system for correlating a plurality of images with a street address, the computer system including a processor and memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

obtain a plurality of images captured at different geographical locations, each image including a substantially street-level view of a particular capture direction at the geographical location at which the image is captured;

define a boundary including geographical locations surrounding a geographic coordinate associated with the street address, the boundary representing an approximate size of a structure located at the street address based at least in part on a type of structure associated with the street address, the boundary surrounding the approximate size of the structure; and

analyze the capture direction and a distance from the geographical location of at least a portion of the plurality of images to the boundary to determine whether the substantially street-level view of an image includes at least a portion of the structure located at the street address, each image determined to include at least a portion of the structure being correlated with the street address; and

in response to a user of a computing device accessing address information relating to the street address, provide for display at least one image correlated with the street address and including a substantially street-level view corresponding to at least a portion of the structure associated with the street address.

9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the computer system is further configured to execute instructions that cause the processor to:

identify an image of the plurality of images for the street address; and

associate a geographic coordinate with the street address by associating the geographic coordinate of the identified image with the street address.

10. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the computer system is further configured to execute instructions that cause the processor to correlate a plurality of images with the street address.

11. The computer system of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the images include a substantially street-level view of at least a portion of the structure located at the street address.

12. The computer system of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the images include a substantially street-level view of at least a portion of a front of the structure located at the street address.

13. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the computer system is further configured to execute instructions that cause the processor to define a first boundary surrounding the geographic coordinate associated with the street address such that the first boundary for the address overlaps at least a portion of a second boundary for an additional street address.

14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the computer system is further configured to execute instructions that cause the processor to correlate images, having an associated geographic coordinate within both the first boundary and the second boundary, with both the street address and the additional street address.

15. A computer-readable medium storing executable program code that, when executed, directs a computing system to:

obtain a plurality of images captured at different geographical locations, each image including a substantially street-level view of a particular capture direction at the geographical location at which the image is captured;

define a boundary surrounding a geographic coordinate associated with a street address, the boundary defining an approximate size of a structure located at the street address based at least in part on a type of structure associated with the street address, the boundary surrounding the approximate size of the structure;

analyze the capture direction and a distance from the geographical location of at least a portion of the plurality of images to the boundary to determine whether the substantially street-level view of an image includes at least a portion of the structure located at the street address, each image determined to include at least a portion of the structure being correlated with the street address; and

in response to a user of a computing device accessing address information relating to the street address, provide for display at least one image correlated with the street address and including a substantially street-level view corresponding to at least a portion of the structure associated with the street address.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions stored thereon further direct the computing system to:

identify an image from a plurality of images for the street address; and

associate a geographic coordinate with the street address by associating the geographic coordinate of the identified image with the street address.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions stored thereon further direct the computing system to correlate a plurality of images with the street address.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein at least a portion of the images include a substantially street-level view of at least a portion of the structure located at the street address.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein at least a portion of the images include a substantially street-level view of at least a portion of a front of the structure located at the street address.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions stored thereon further direct the computing system to define a first boundary surrounding the geographic coordinate associated with the street address such that a first boundary for the street address overlaps at least a portion of a second boundary for an additional street address.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions stored thereon further direct the computing system to correlate images, having an associated geographic coordinate within both the first boundary and the second boundary, with both the street address and the additional street address.