Patent ID: 8825660

Claim:
A computer system comprising: a receiving module configured to receive a listing query related to a network-based marketplace which includes an item listing database, the listing query including a query image; a processing module configured to process the query image, using one or more processors, to generate a plurality of index sets image fingerprints by performing operations comprising: dividing the query image into a grid of sub-portions, each sub-portion comprising a respectively corresponding pixel set having multiple image pixels, assigning to each sub-portion an index value based on attribute values of the corresponding pixel set, to generate a grid of index values, and compiling the plurality of image fingerprints from the grid of index values, each image fingerprint comprising a set of index values corresponding to a respective grid portion selected from the grid of index values, the grid portions for the plurality of image fingerprints being identical in shape, with at least some of the grid portion overlapping; a comparison module configured, for separately comparing each of the plurality of image fingerprints for the query image to pre-compiled image fingerprints in an index database, each pre-compiled image fingerprint being associated with at least one listing image corresponding to an associated item listing and forming part of a database of listing images, each listing image being associated with multiple pre-compiled image fingerprints in the index database, ranking the listing images according to the number of matching image fingerprints between, on the one hand, the plurality of image fingerprints generated in respect of the query image, and, on the other hand, the image fingerprints associated in the index database with the respective listing images, and based at least in part on the ranking, identifying at least one image result from the database of listing images; and a result module configured to provide at least one result item listing, the at least one result item listing being based on a respective result image.