Special Report: Online Yellow Pages Provides Photo Directory

Looking for that favorite restaurant or bookstore, but just can't remember the name? Well don't worry - help is now only a mouse click away.

Udi Manber, CEO, A9.com
"We're taking the search beyond just words to enable people to virtually walk the streets of their city. People of Boston are among the first to experience this new technology."

The Amazon subsidiary A9.com has created a new online yellow pages that is actually like a phone directory with pictures.

Udi Manber, CEO, A9.com
"We're doing something that has never been done before, we're showing you the images of the businesses in the Yellow Pages."

Barnaby Dorfman, Product Development, A9.com
"We really cover just about every type of business -- doctors, lawyers, auto repair shops, restaurants."

Using trucks equipped with digital cameras and GPS tracking systems, developers snapped millions of pictures in ten major cities around the country and have since matched those photos with businesses and the way they look from the street.

So say, for instance, you're looking for a lunch spot on Tremont Street, but all you can remember is that it's near a camera shop. Well, with the new yellow pages, no problem.

On your computer, simply type the word photo in the search line. Then, using what they call block view technology, move around the screen to find what you're looking for.

"We allow people, from their computer, to look at the streets, to walk to the left, walk to the right, to see the neighborhood, to see parking, it's virtually like you're there."

The new yellow pages aren't limited strictly to Boston - several surrounding communities like Cambridge and Allston are also covered. And A9 hopes to expand their service to more cities across the country soon.