System and method for associating a geographic location with an Internet protocol address

• US 20080244046A1
• Filed: 03/28/2007
• Published: 10/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Patel, Devesh, Riise, Soren, Campbell, Bruce
• Granted Patent: US 8,621,064 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/222
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

Systems and methods for associating a geographic location with an IP address are disclosed. Generally, an IP address from which each of a plurality of users accesses a network is recorded. A geo tag is associated with each of the plurality of users and a subset of the plurality of users is identified, the subset including users associated with a first IP address. The subset of the plurality of users is clustered into a spatial cluster including users associated with geo tags located with a defined distance of a geo tag of at least one other user of the cluster. A geographic location associated with a geographic center of the cluster is then associated with the first IP address.

Claims

1. A method for associating a geographic location with an internet protocol (“

IP”

) address, the method comprising the steps of;

recording an IP address from which each of a plurality of users accesses a network;

associating a geo tag with each of the plurality of users based on a geographic location associated with the user;

identifying a subset of the plurality of users, the subset comprising users associated with a first IP address;

clustering the subset of the plurality of registered users into a spatial cluster comprising users associated with geo tags identifying locations that are located within a defined distance of a location identified in a geo tag of at least one other user of the cluster; and

associating a geographic location associated with a geographic center of the cluster with the first IP address.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a number of users in the subset of the plurality of users exceeds a quorum threshold.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

adding one or more users of the plurality of users that are associated with an IP address adjoining the first IP address to the subset so that the number of users in the subset exceeds the quorum threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

normalizing a weight associated with at least one user of the plurality of users based on a population density of the geographic location associated with the at least one user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein associating a geographic location associated with a geographic center of the cluster with the first IP address comprises:

determining a geographic location associated with a geographic center of the cluster; and

associating the determined geographic location associated with the geographic center of the cluster with the first IP address.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining an accuracy score of the association on a zip code level based on a number of users in the cluster located in the same zip code as the geographic center of the cluster and a total number of registered users in the cluster.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining an accuracy score of the association on a city level based on a number of users in the cluster located in the same city as the geographic center of the cluster and a total number of registered users in the cluster.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining an accuracy score of the association on a designated market area (“

DMA”

) level based on a number of users in the cluster located in the same DMA as the geographic center of the cluster and a total number of registered users in the cluster.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining an accuracy score of the association on a state level based on a number of users in the cluster located in the same state as the geographic center of the cluster and a total number of registered users in the cluster.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

exporting the association between the geographic location and the first IP address to a search engine.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

exporting the association between the geographic location and the first IP address to an online advertisement service provider.

12. A computer-readable medium comprising a set of instructions for associating a geographic location with an Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) address, the set of instructions to direct a processor to perform the acts of;

identifying a plurality of users associated with a first IP address;

clustering the plurality of users into a spatial cluster comprising users associated with locations within a defined distance of a location associated with at least one other user of the cluster; and

associating a geographic location associated with a geographic center of the cluster with the first IP address.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising a set of instructions to direct the processor to perform the acts of:

recording an IP address from which each of the plurality of users accesses a network.

14. A system for associating a geographic location with an Internet protocol (“

IP”

) address, the system comprising;

an IP address to location module, operative to process at least one search log to identify a plurality of users associated with a first IP address, to cluster the plurality of users into a spatial cluster comprising users associated with locations within a defined distance of a location associated with at least one other user of the cluster, and to associate a geographic location associated with a geographic center of the cluster with the first IP address.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

a search engine in communication with the IP address to location module, the search engine operative to receive search queries from the plurality of users and to record information associated with the received search queries to generate at least a part of the at least one search log.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

an online advertisement service provider in communication with the IP address to location module, the online advertisement service provider operative to serve digital ads to the plurality of users and record information associated with the served digital ads to generate at last a part of the at least one search log.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the IP address to location module is operative to determine an accuracy score associated with the association of the geographic location and the first IP address on at least one of a zip code level, a city level, a designated market area (“

DMA”

) level, and a state level.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the IP address to location module is further operative to associate a geo tag with each of the plurality of users.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the geo tag associates at least a longitude and latitude with a user.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the IP address to location module is further operative to export the association of a geographic location with the first IP address to at least one of a search engine and an online advertisement service provider.