Micro-geographic aggregation system
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of displaying household information relating to and facilitating presentation of the information in a way that satisfies a minimum threshold of household granularity on a graphical user interface, the method comprising:
- under control of a computing device configured with specific computer-executable instructions;
receiving, from a requesting entity, at least one indication associated with a geographic area;
displaying a map of the geographic area based on the at least one indication;
receiving, from the requesting entity, a minimum threshold indicating a quantity of households required in aggregated groups of households, the minimum threshold indicating the minimum number of individual households included in the aggregated groups;
accessing a list of one or more target geographic units and related attribute data, wherein each of the target geographic units includes one or more households associated with a location on the displayed map;
determining one or more combinable geographic units within a particular geographic distance of a target geographic unit, the target geographic unit having a target number of households within the target geographic unit;
identifying one or more candidate geographic units for potential aggregation with the target geographic unit;
applying one or more filter criteria to the one or more candidate geographic units to remove candidate geographic units that do not meet the one or more filter criteria;
determining, for each remaining candidate geographic unit after application of the filter;
a score based at least in part on similarity of a household data attribute associated with the remaining candidate geographic unit and the target geographic unit;
determining a best candidate number of households associated with a best candidate geographic unit having a highest score;
updating an aggregated group to include the best candidate geographic unit and the target geographic unit;
determining an aggregated group sum as a sum of the best candidate number of households and the target number of households;
determining whether the aggregated group sum is below the minimum threshold; and
automatically repeating until the aggregated group sum is not below the minimum threshold;
determining a best candidate geographic unit for aggregation into the aggregated group, the best candidate geographic unit having a best score;
updating the aggregated group sum to include a best candidate number of households;
determining whether the aggregated group sum is below the minimum threshold;
orin response to determining that the aggregated group sum is not below the minimum threshold;
determining an aggregated value of household data attributes of households within the aggregated group;
associating the aggregated group with a distinct visual indicator;
determining locations of each of the geographic units within the aggregated group on the map; and
updating the map to depict the distinct visual indicator at each of the determined locations on the map,wherein the individually identifiable household data attributes of the individual households in the aggregated group are concealed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure describes systems and methods for automatically rolling-up data associated with one or more geographic units, such as ZIP+4 codes, such that the rollup comprises a minimum number of households to protect anonymity and ensure compliance with privacy regulations, while preserving variance of the underlying data associated with the geographic regions. Data attributes may include demographic data, socio-economic data, lifestyle segmentation, psychographic data, behavioral data, credit data, and other data. The rollup process may involve identifying one or more geographic units with a number of households below a minimum or threshold amount, applying filters to find candidate geographic units for rollup, scoring candidate geographic units to select best pairings for rollup, and repeating until the rollup group has at least the minimum number of households. The process may make trades off between granularity (e.g., number of households), proximity, and similarity of data attributes associated with each geographic unit.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of displaying household information relating to and facilitating presentation of the information in a way that satisfies a minimum threshold of household granularity on a graphical user interface, the method comprising:
under control of a computing device configured with specific computer-executable instructions; receiving, from a requesting entity, at least one indication associated with a geographic area; displaying a map of the geographic area based on the at least one indication; receiving, from the requesting entity, a minimum threshold indicating a quantity of households required in aggregated groups of households, the minimum threshold indicating the minimum number of individual households included in the aggregated groups; accessing a list of one or more target geographic units and related attribute data, wherein each of the target geographic units includes one or more households associated with a location on the displayed map; determining one or more combinable geographic units within a particular geographic distance of a target geographic unit, the target geographic unit having a target number of households within the target geographic unit; identifying one or more candidate geographic units for potential aggregation with the target geographic unit; applying one or more filter criteria to the one or more candidate geographic units to remove candidate geographic units that do not meet the one or more filter criteria; determining, for each remaining candidate geographic unit after application of the filter; a score based at least in part on similarity of a household data attribute associated with the remaining candidate geographic unit and the target geographic unit; determining a best candidate number of households associated with a best candidate geographic unit having a highest score; updating an aggregated group to include the best candidate geographic unit and the target geographic unit; determining an aggregated group sum as a sum of the best candidate number of households and the target number of households; determining whether the aggregated group sum is below the minimum threshold; and automatically repeating until the aggregated group sum is not below the minimum threshold; determining a best candidate geographic unit for aggregation into the aggregated group, the best candidate geographic unit having a best score; updating the aggregated group sum to include a best candidate number of households; determining whether the aggregated group sum is below the minimum threshold;
orin response to determining that the aggregated group sum is not below the minimum threshold; determining an aggregated value of household data attributes of households within the aggregated group; associating the aggregated group with a distinct visual indicator; determining locations of each of the geographic units within the aggregated group on the map; and updating the map to depict the distinct visual indicator at each of the determined locations on the map, wherein the individually identifiable household data attributes of the individual households in the aggregated group are concealed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14)
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11. A computer system for displaying household information relating to and facilitating presentation of the information in a way that satisfies a minimum threshold of household granularity on a graphical user interface, the system comprising:
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an electronic data store configured to at least store geographic data associated with each of a plurality of geographic units; and a computing system comprising one or more hardware computing devices, said computing system in communication with the electronic data store and configured to at least; receive, from a requesting entity, at least one indication associated with a geographic area; display a map of the geographic area based on the at least one indication; receive, from the requesting entity, a minimum threshold indicating a quantity of households required in aggregated groups of households, the minimum threshold indicating the minimum number of individual households included in the aggregated groups; determine one or more combinable geographic units within a particular geographic distance of a target geographic unit, the target geographic unit having a target number of households within the target geographic unit; identify one or more candidate geographic units for potential aggregation with the target geographic unit; apply one or more filter criteria to the one or more candidate geographic units to remove candidate geographic units that do not meet the one or more filter criteria; determine, for each remaining candidate geographic unit after application of the filter; a score based at least in part on similarity of the household data attributes associated with the remaining candidate geographic unit and the target geographic unit; determine a best candidate number of households associated with a best candidate geographic unit having a highest score; update an aggregated group to include the best candidate geographic unit and the target geographic unit; determine an aggregated group sum as a sum of the best candidate number of households and the target number of households; determine whether the combined number of households associated with the aggregated group sum is below the minimum threshold; and automatically repeat until the aggregated group sum is not below the minimum threshold; determine a next best candidate geographic unit for aggregation into the aggregated group, the next best candidate geographic unit having a next best score; update the aggregated group sum to include a next best candidate number of households; determine whether the aggregated group sum is below the minimum threshold;
orin response to determining that the aggregated group sum is not below the minimum threshold; determine an aggregated value of the household data attributes of households within the aggregated group; associate the aggregated group with a distinct visual indicator; determine locations of each of the geographic units within the aggregated group on the map; and update the map to depict the distinct visual indicator at each of the determined locations on the map, wherein the individually identifiable household data attributes of the individual households in the aggregated group are concealed. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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15. Non-transitory physical computer storage comprising computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a hardware processor, are configured to perform operations comprising:
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receiving, from a requesting entity, at least one indication associated with a geographic area; displaying a map of the geographic area based on the at least one indication; receiving, from the requesting entity, a minimum threshold indicating a quantity of households required in aggregated groups of households, the minimum threshold indicating the minimum number of individual households included in the aggregated groups; accessing a list of one or more target geographic units and related attribute data, wherein each of the target geographic units includes one or more households associated with a location on the displayed map; determining one or more combinable geographic units within a particular geographic distance of a target geographic unit, the target geographic unit having a target number of households within the target geographic unit; identifying one or more candidate geographic units for potential aggregation with a target geographic unit; applying one or more filter criteria to the one or more candidate geographic units to remove candidate geographic units that do not meet the one or more filter criteria; determining, for each remaining candidate geographic unit after application of the filter; a score based at least in part on similarity of a household data attributes associated with the remaining candidate geographic unit and the target geographic unit; determining a best candidate number of households associated with a best candidate geographic unit having a highest score; updating an aggregated group to include the best candidate geographic unit and the target geographic unit; determining an aggregated group sum as a sum of the best candidate number of households and the target number of households; determining whether the aggregated group sum is below the minimum threshold; and automatically repeating until the aggregated group sum is not below the minimum threshold; determining a next best candidate geographic unit for aggregation into the aggregated group, the next best candidate geographic unit having a next best score; updating the aggregated group sum to include a next best candidate number of households; determining whether the aggregated group sum is below the minimum threshold;
orin response to determining that the aggregated group sum is not below the minimum threshold; determining an aggregated value of the household data attributes of households within the aggregated group; associating the aggregated group with a distinct visual indicator; determining locations of each of the geographic units within the aggregated group on the map; and updating the map to depict the distinct visual indicator at each of the determined locations on the map, wherein the individually identifiable household data attributes of the individual households in the aggregated group are concealed. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification