Wow… A9 - search engine by Amazon recently added 20 million "computer-taken" images to their yellow pages…

"Block View" is the technology which brings the Yellow Pages to life by showing a street view of millions of businesses and their surroundings.

Using trucks equipped with digital cameras, global positioning system (GPS) receivers, and proprietary software and hardware, A9.com drove tens of thousands of miles capturing images and matching them with businesses and the way they look from the street.

The whole process (except for the driving!) is completely automatic, making it fast and efficient. Block View allows users to see storefronts and virtually walk up and down the streets of currently more than 10 U.S. cities using over 20 million photographs. We are driving and at some point hope to cover the whole country.

Current List of Cities Having Block View Images:

• Atlanta
• Boston
• Dallas
• Chicago
• New York City (Manhattan)
• Denver
• Los Angeles
• Seattle
• Portland, Oregon
• San Francisco and the Bay Area

Check their site for a video showing how they did it… Yellow Pages on A9.com