MULTI-POINT SOCIAL MEDIA GEOTRACKER

• US 20130132808A1
• Filed: 03/15/2012
• Published: 05/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Target Brands Inc. (Target Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Target Brands Inc. (Target Corporation)
• Inventors: Whiting, Jacob A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,215,285 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/202
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/185 by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging

Abstract

A database server stores information about content posted to multiple content storage servers. A client device makes a reading request for information from the database server about content posted to content storage servers within a span of locations selected by a user and within a span of time selected by a user. The database server stores information about content posted to multiple content storage servers in response to a loading request for content posted within a distance of multiple locations.

Claims

1. A computer storage medium having computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform steps comprising:

retrieving a list of multiple preset locations;

for each preset location, requesting a stream of content postings currently being posted to a content storage server from within a limited area around the preset location.

2. The computer storage medium of claim 1 further comprising receiving the streams of content postings for the multiple preset locations and forwarding the content postings for storage in a database such that the database can be searched to locate content postings that were posted during a user-chosen time span.

3. The computer storage medium of claim 1 further comprising receiving the streams of content postings for the multiple preset locations and forwarding the content postings for storage in a database such that the database can be searched to locate content postings that contain a user-chosen term.

4. The computer storage medium of claim 1 further comprising for each preset location in the list of multiple preset locations, requesting a stream of content postings currently being posted to multiple content storage servers from within the limited area around the preset location.

5. The computer storage medium of claim 4 wherein at least two of the multiple content storage servers store different types of content from each other.

6. A method comprising:

receiving information about content postings, wherein the information is limited to content postings that are posted from within a set distance of at least one of a plurality of locations such that information for at least one excluded content posting is excluded from being received because the excluded content posting was posted farther than the set distance from all of the plurality of locations;

storing the received information in a database;

searching the database for information about content postings that were posted within a first time span to identify a plurality of content postings, wherein a first identified content posting was posted within the set distance of a first location in the plurality of locations and a second identified posting was posted within the set distance of a second location in the plurality of locations; and

generating, using a processor, a first web page to display icons for each of the plurality of content postings that were identified during the searching.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein searching the database further comprises searching the database for information about content postings that contain a user-provided term.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first time span is defined by a user.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

receiving a request for a second web page, the request comprising a second time span;

performing a second search of the database for information about content postings that were posted within the second time span to identify a second plurality of content postings; and

generating, using a processor, the second web page to display icons for each of the plurality of content postings that were identified during the second search of the database.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the first time span is longer than the second time span and the first web page comprises more icons than the second web page.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising during a time period between generating the first web page and receiving the request for the second web page:

receiving information about additional content postings, wherein the information is limited to additional content postings that are posted from within the set distance of at least one of the plurality of locations; and

storing the received information about the additional content postings in the database.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the request for a second web page comprises a second user-provided term.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein performing a second search of the database for information about content postings that were posted within the second time span to identify a second plurality of content postings further comprises requiring that the content postings include the second user-provided term.

14. The method of claim 6 wherein the content postings comprise three separate content types consisting of text, photograph, and video.

15. A system comprising:

a database server, storing information about content posted to multiple content storage servers from locations that are positioned within a radius of a plurality of preset locations;

a client device, making a reading request for information from the database server about content posted to the multiple content storage servers within a span of time selected by a user.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein in response to the reading request for information, the database server constructs a web page and returns the webpage to the client device.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein constructing the web page comprises defining positions on the web page for icons representing the content posted to the multiple content storage servers.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein at least two of the multiple content storage servers store different types of posted content.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the reading request comprises a request for posted content that contains search terms provided by a user.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the client device further receives a second span of time selected by the user and in response makes a second reading request for information from the database server about content posted to the multiple content storage servers within the second span of time.