Automated Location Check-In for Geo-Social Networking System

• US 20120233158A1
• Filed: 03/07/2011
• Published: 09/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Papakipos, Matthew Nicholas, Braginsky, David Edward, Popov, Lev
• Granted Patent: US 9,083,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/724
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

In one embodiment, a geo-social networking system determines a user'"'"'s current location, generate a list of places near the user'"'"'s current location, rank the list of places based on distance, relevancy and a configurable rule set, and automatically checks in the user at the top ranked place.

Claims

1. A method, comprising

determining, at a computer system, a user'"'"'s current location;

accessing one or more data stores of places based on the current location;

selecting a place from the data store of places;

determining whether to automatically check the user in to the selected place relative to a geo-social networking system; and

automatically checking the user in to the selected place based on the determination.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting a place from the data store of places further comprises:

generating a list of places near the user'"'"'s current location;

ranking the list of places based on distance, relevancy and a configurable rule set; and

selecting a place from the ranked list of places.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the selecting a place from the ranked list of places comprises selecting the top ranked place of the ranked list of places.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining whether to automatically check the user in to the selected place relative to a geo-social networking system comprises:

determining whether the selected place is configured for automatic check-in.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining whether to automatically check the user in to the selected place relative to a geo-social networking system comprises:

presenting the selected place to the user; and

in response to the user'"'"'s input, determining whether to automatically check the user in to the selected place relative to a geo-social networking system.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein, if the selected place is determined, in response to the user'"'"'s input, for automatic check-in for the user relative to a geo-social networking system, further comprises:

configuring the selected place for future automatic check-in; and

storing the configuration in a data store.

7. A method, comprising

accessing, at a computer system, location data of a user;

accessing one or more data stores for one or more places in close proximity to the user'"'"'s location data;

ranking the one or more places based on relevancy;

creating a check-in configuration for one or more top ranked places; and

storing the check-in configuration in a data store.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the one or more top ranked places is configured for future automatic check-in.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the one or more top ranked places is configured for future recommendation for automatic check-in.

10. A system, comprising:

a memory;

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory, storage medium storing computer-readable instructions operative, when executed, to cause the one or more processors to;

determine a user'"'"'s current location;

access one or more data stores of places based on the current location;

select a place from the data store of places;

determine whether to automatically check the user in to the selected place relative to a geo-social networking system; and

automatically check the user in to the selected place based on the determination.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein to select a place from the data store of places, further comprising instructions operable to cause the one or more processors to:

generate a list of places near the user'"'"'s current location;

rank the list of places based on distance, relevancy and a configurable rule set; and

select a place from the ranked list of places.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein to select a place from the ranked list of places, comprising instructions operable to cause the one or more processors to select the top ranked place of the ranked list of places.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein to determine whether to automatically check the user in to the selected place relative to a geo-social networking system, comprising instructions operable to cause the one or more processors to:

determine whether the selected place is configured for automatic check-in.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein to determine whether to automatically check the user in to the selected place relative to a geo-social networking system, comprising instructions operable to cause the one or more processors to:

present the selected place to the user; and

in response to the user'"'"'s input, determine whether to automatically check the user in to the selected place relative to a geo-social networking system.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein, if the selected place is determined, in response to the user'"'"'s input, for automatic check-in for the user relative to a geo-social networking system, further comprises instructions operable to cause the one or more processors to:

configure the selected place for future automatic check-in; and

store the configuration in a data store.

16. A system, comprising:

a memory;

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory, storage medium storing computer-readable instructions operative, when executed, to cause the one or more processors to;

access location data of a user;

access one or more data stores for one or more places in close proximity to the user'"'"'s location data;

rank the one or more places based on relevancy;

create a check-in configuration for one or more top ranked places; and

store the check-in configuration in a data store.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the one or more top ranked places is configured for future automatic check-in.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the one or more top ranked places is configured for future recommendation for automatic check-in.