LOCATION-BASED AND ALTER-EGO QUERIES

• US 20150082183A1
• Filed: 08/19/2014
• Published: 03/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Hale, Tyler James, Payne, Brian William, Tariff, Gregory, Katz, Michael Ari, Souza, Veronica, Norman, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 9,892,200 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/738
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A user at a geographical location may submit a search query and receive results responsive to the search query. The search results provided to the user may be based on the user'"'"'s geographical location. The search results may also be based on one or more attributes of the user or an alter ego. The alter ego may be an individual user or another type of entity, such as a group or a business. A user at a geographical location submitting an alter-ego search query may see the results that would be presented to the alter ego if the alter ego were at the geographical location. Each user'"'"'s interests may be selected through an interest-selection interface, automatically generated as the user interacts with search results, dynamically generated as a user follows or likes search results, or otherwise determined.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting a user interface element operable to request a display of results based on an attribute of an alter ego and a location of a user;

detecting, using a processor of a machine, an operation of the user interface element;

transmitting a query including the attribute of the alter ego and the location of the user;

receiving, in response to the query, results based on the attribute of the alter ego and the location of the user; and

causing a display of the results.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the alter ego is a friend of the user on a social network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the results based on the attribute of the alter ego include items tagged by the alter ego.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting a user interface including elements corresponding to alter ego options;

detecting a selection of one of the elements via the user interface; and

identifying the alter ego as the alter ego option corresponding to the selected element.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the alter ego is the user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the results are further based on a predetermined distance.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining the predetermined distance based on user information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the alter ego is a group to which the user belongs.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the interests of the alter ego are determined based on votes from members of the group.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the attribute of the alter ego is an interest of the alter ego.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the interest of the alter ego was determined based on items liked by the alter ego.

12. A system comprising:

a user interface module configured to;

present a user interface element operable to request a display of results based on an attribute of an alter ego and a location of a user; and

detect an operation of the user interface element;

a query module configured to;

transmit a query including the attribute of the alter ego and the location of the user; and

receive, in response to the query, results based on the location of the user, the attribute of the alter ego; and

wherein the user interface module is further configured to;

cause a display of the results.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the alter ego is a friend of the user on a social network.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the results based on the attribute of the alter ego include items tagged by the alter ego.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the user interface module is further configured to:

present a user interface including elements corresponding to alter ego options;

detect a selection of one of the elements via the user interface; and

identify the alter ego as the alter ego option corresponding to the selected element.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the alter ego is the user.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the results are further based on a predetermined distance.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the query module is further configured to determine the predetermined distance based on user information.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the alter ego is a group to which the user belongs.

20. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

presenting a user interface element operable to request a display of results based on an attribute of an alter ego and a location of a user;

detecting an operation of the user interface element;

transmitting a query including the attribute of the alter ego and the location of the user;

receiving, in response to the query, results based on the attribute of the alter ego, the location of the user; and

causing a display of the results.