Google now lets you peek inside image-only PDFs, searching any text they happen to contain. This opens up a whole new class of documents to searching. For example, try this search: steady success in a volatile world. Check out the “view as HTML.” Download the PDF and try to select the text.
Now, imagine Google starts doing this to all image files. License plates? Business cards? Name tags? Sites like EverNote already offer this functionality. How long before it is part of search as well?