Using extracted image text

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving an input of one or more search terms;

identifying one or more keywords from the received one or more search terms;

searching a collection of keywords including keywords extracted from image text;

retrieving an image, the image being associated with extracted text corresponding to one or more of the search terms, and the image being associated with location data corresponding to a location associated with the image;

presenting the image; and

generating a map of the location associated with the image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location data are determined by: receiving a plurality of images, and, for each image;

extracting text from within the image;

indexing the extracted text; and

associating the extracted text with a mapping application.

3. The method of claim 2 , where the location data comprises a set of GPS coordinates for each image.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the extracting is constrained based on values in a database.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the extracting is constrained to a numeric pattern.

6. The method of claim 1 , where the keywords extracted from the image text are extracted using a text recognition process including:

processing the image to divide the image into one or more regions;

detecting one or more features in each region;

determining for each region whether it is a candidate text region potentially containing text using the detected features;

enhancing the candidate text regions to generate an enhanced image; and

performing optical character recognition on the enhanced image.

7. The method of claim 1 , where the keywords extracted from the image text are extracted using a text recognition process including:

receiving a plurality of images;

processing the images to detect a corresponding set of regions of the images, each image having a region corresponding to each other image region, as potentially containing text;

combining the regions to generate an enhanced region image; and

performing optical character recognition on the enhanced region image.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing images of businesses located nearby the location; and identifying the locations of the businesses on a map.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a data processing apparatus, cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations including:

receiving an input of one or more search terms;

identifying one or more keywords from the received one or more search terms;

searching a collection of keywords including keywords extracted from image text;

retrieving an image, the image being associated with extracted text corresponding to one or more of the search terms, and the image being associated with location data corresponding to a location associated with the image;

presenting the image; and

generating a map of the location associated with the image.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the location data are determined by:

receiving a plurality of images, and, for each image;

extracting text from within the image;

indexing the extracted text; and

associating the extracted text with a mapping application.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , where the location data comprises a set of GPS coordinates for each image.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the extracting is constrained based on values in a database.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the extracting is constrained to a numeric pattern.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , where the keywords extracted from the image text are extracted using a text recognition process including:

processing the image to divide the image into one or more regions;

detecting one or more features in each region;

determining for each region whether it is a candidate text region potentially containing text using the detected features;

enhancing the candidate text regions to generate an enhanced image; and

performing optical character recognition on the enhanced image.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , where the keywords extracted from the image text are extracted using a text recognition process including:

receiving a plurality of images;

processing the images to detect a corresponding set of regions of the images, each image having a region corresponding to each other image region, as potentially containing text;

combining the regions to generate an enhanced region image; and

performing optical character recognition on the enhanced region image.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising the operations of:

providing images of businesses located nearby the location; and identifying the locations of the businesses on a map.

17. A system, comprising:

one or more processors;

a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors and that upon such execution cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receive an input of one or more search terms;

identify one or more keywords from the received one or more search terms;

search a collection of keywords including keywords extracted from image text;

retrieve an image, the image being associated with extracted text corresponding to one or more of the search terms, and the image being associated with location data corresponding to a location associated with the image;

present the image; and

generate a map of the location associated with the image.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the location data are determined by: receiving a plurality of images, and, for each image;

extracting text from within the image;

indexing the extracted text; and

associating the extracted text with a mapping application.

19. The system of claim 17 , where the keywords extracted from the image text are extracted using a text recognition process including:

processing the image to divide the image into one or more regions;

detecting one or more features in each region;

determining for each region whether it is a candidate text region potentially containing text using the detected features;

enhancing the candidate text regions to generate an enhanced image; and

performing optical character recognition on the enhanced image.