Patent ID: 7831387

Claim:
A computer implemented method executed by a computer system, for generating visually-oriented scored waypoints for use in driving directions, comprising: constructing a mapping between business listings and a plurality of images including satellite images and storefront images of a target map area; processing, by the computer system, the images to identify waypoints included in the images, wherein at least one waypoint identified in one of the images is a business building, comprising: processing the images to identify physical structures included in the images, wherein at least one physical structure identified in an image comprises a building; associating the identified physical structures with information from the business listings to obtain business names for the identified physical structures, wherein the identified physical structures and associated business name comprise identified waypoints, and at least one of the identified waypoints is a business building; scoring each of the identified waypoints, based at least in part on the visual distinctiveness of each identified waypoint, producing a distinctiveness score for each waypoint; and storing textual descriptions of scored waypoints in a database, wherein the textual descriptions of scored waypoints are subsequently incorporated into computer-generated driving directions and the stored textual descriptions are based at least in part on the visual distinctiveness of the waypoint.