A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, over a network, by a search system, from a client device: (i) a pixel map corresponding to one or more characters that have been drawn on a display of the client device, the pixel map comprising an array of coordinates of sampled points of the display along the one or more characters that have been drawn on the display; and (ii) data identifying one or more other characters that were previously recognized by the search system using one or more other pixel maps; recognizing, by the search system, the one or more characters that correspond to the pixel map based on the received pixel map and the one or more other characters; formulating, by the search system, a search that includes the one or more characters and the one or more other characters as a query term; communicating, by the search system, to the client device:(i) one or more search results for the search, (ii) data identifying the one or more characters that correspond to the received pixel map, and (iii) data identifying the one or more other characters that were previously recognized by the search system using the one or more other pixel maps; and discarding, by the search system, (i) the one or more search results, (ii) the received pixel map, and (iii) the data identifying the one or more other characters that were previously recognized by the search system using the one or more other pixel maps, wherein the recognizing includes using the one or more other characters to eliminate character combinations that do not frequently occur in a particular language. receiving, over a network, by a search system, from a client device: (i) a pixel map corresponding to one or more characters that have been drawn on a display of the client device, the pixel map comprising an array of coordinates of sampled points of the display along the one or more characters that have been drawn on the display; and (ii) data identifying one or more other characters that were previously recognized by the search system using one or more other pixel maps; (i) a pixel map corresponding to one or more characters that have been drawn on a display of the client device, the pixel map comprising an array of coordinates of sampled points of the display along the one or more characters that have been drawn on the display; and (ii) data identifying one or more other characters that were previously recognized by the search system using one or more other pixel maps; recognizing, by the search system, the one or more characters that correspond to the pixel map based on the received pixel map and the one or more other characters; formulating, by the search system, a search that includes the one or more characters and the one or more other characters as a query term; communicating, by the search system, to the client device:(i) one or more search results for the search, (ii) data identifying the one or more characters that correspond to the received pixel map, and (iii) data identifying the one or more other characters that were previously recognized by the search system using the one or more other pixel maps; and discarding, by the search system, (i) the one or more search results, (ii) the received pixel map, and (iii) the data identifying the one or more other characters that were previously recognized by the search system using the one or more other pixel maps, wherein the recognizing includes using the one or more other characters to eliminate character combinations that do not frequently occur in a particular language.