Systems and Methods to Determine the Current Popularity of Physical Business Locations
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Accused Products
Abstract
In general, the invention relates to methods and systems that record the location of a user and transmit targeted content to a user based upon their current and past location information. A network includes a server programmed with a database of location information, a database of user information, and a wireless communication system capable of communicating with the user'"'"'s mobile device. The location of the mobile device is ascertained and recorded. The location information is analyzed to determine the businesses visited by the user, and other behaviors of the user. The system has access to the reported locations of a plurality of mobile devices. This aggregate location information is used in order to determine which business locations are currently popular, busy, or not busy.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A method, used by a location based service system including at least one server having at least one network interface, of identifying the current popularity of a physical named location to a user of a wireless device having a wireless communication interface and a geographic location sensor, comprising the acts of:
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a) receiving, from the wireless device, geographic location information corresponding to the geographic location of the wireless device based at least in part on information from the geographic location sensor of the wireless device; b) transmitting, to the wireless device, the names of a plurality of physical named locations near the geographic location of the wireless device and a measure of the current popularity of at least one of the plurality of the physical named locations based on;
(i) a database including named locations and associated geographic location information describing physical named locations, and (ii) information relating to at least one other user of the system recently indicating that the user is visiting at least one of the plurality of physical business locations;c) receiving, from the wireless device, an indicated named location, selected from the plurality of named locations, corresponding to the physical named location visited by the user of the wireless device to verify the physical named location visited by the user of the wireless device; and d) storing information indicating that the user of the wireless device visited the physical named location. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method, used by a location based service system including at least one server having at least one network interface, of identifying a physical named location visited by a user having a first wireless device with a wireless communication interface and a geographic location sensor, and of identifying the current popularity of the physical named location to a user of a second wireless device having a wireless communication interface and a geographic location sensor, comprising the acts of:
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a) receiving, from the first wireless device, geographic location information corresponding to the geographic location of the first wireless device determined based at least in part on information from the geographic location sensor of the first wireless device; b) transmitting, to the first wireless device, a plurality of named locations near the geographic location of the first wireless device based on a database including named locations and associated geographic location information; c) receiving, from the first wireless device, a first indicated named location, selected based on the plurality of named locations, corresponding to the physical named location visited by the user of the first wireless device to register the physical named location the user of the first wireless device is currently visiting; d) storing information indicating that the user of the first wireless device visited the physical named location at a time relating to the receipt of the first indicated named location from the first wireless device; e) receiving, from the second wireless device, geographic location information corresponding to the geographic location of the second wireless device determined based at least in part on information from the geographic location sensor of the second wireless device; f) transmitting, to the second wireless device, a second plurality of named locations near the geographic location of the second wireless device including the named location corresponding to the physical named location visited by the user of the first wireless device along with information indicating that at least one user of the system is visiting the indicated named location. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A system, implemented by a location based services system, that identifies a physical named location visited by a user of a first wireless device, and communicates an indication of the current popularity of the physical named location visited by the user of the first wireless device to a user of a second wireless device, comprising:
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a) a system including at least one server including a central processing unit, network interface, and memory; b) a memory of the system containing the names and geographic location information of a plurality of named locations; c) the system configured to use a network interface to receive data corresponding to the geographic location of the first wireless device based at least in part on information from a geographic location sensor of the first wireless device; d) the system configured to use a central processing unit to generate data containing a plurality of named locations corresponding to physical named locations near the received geographic location of the first wireless device; e) the system configured to use a network interface to transmit the plurality of named locations to the first wireless device; f) the system configured to use a network interface to receive an indicated named location from the first wireless device based on the plurality of the named locations corresponding to the physical named location visited by the user of the first wireless device to register that the user of the first wireless device is visiting the physical named location; and g) the system configured to store information in a memory of the system indicating that the user of the first wireless device visited the physical named location at a time relating to the receipt of the indicated named location from the first wireless device; h) the system configured to use a network interface of the system to receive data corresponding to the geographic location of the second wireless device based at least in part on information from a geographic location sensor of the second wireless device; i) the system configured to use a central processing unit to generate data containing a second plurality of named locations corresponding to physical named locations near the received geographic location of the second wireless device; and j) the system configured to use a network interface to transmit the second plurality of named locations to the second wireless device including the named location corresponding to the physical named location visited by the user of the first wireless device and information indicating the current popularity of the indicated named location based on the stored information indicating that the user of the first wireless device visited the physical named location. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40)
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Specification