METHOD AND SYSTEM OF GENERATING AND USING A GEOGRAPHICAL HIERARCHY MODEL

• US 20160034564A1
• Filed: 07/29/2014
• Published: 02/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shamma, David Ayman, Kafsi, Mohamed, Cramer, Henriette
• Granted Patent: US 10,409,857 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5866 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries

Abstract

Geographical regions are each characterized using a distribution of terms, tags, etc. A model may be generated that identifies characteristics of each geographic region. The geographic regions may be organized using a geographical hierarchical model.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by one or more processing units, a plurality of probability distributions, each probability distribution of the plurality corresponding to a geographic region of a plurality of geographic regions, each region of the plurality is associated with a level of a geographic region hierarchy, the geographic region'"'"'s probability distribution comprising, for each tag of a plurality of tags, a probability that the tag is descriptive of the geographic region, the plurality of probability distributions being used to identify the level of the geographic region hierarchy to assign the tag;

receiving, by the one or more processing units, a request to identify at least one geographic region of the plurality of geographic regions; and

using, by the one or more processing units, at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the at least one geographic region of the plurality for a response to the request.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the one or more processing units and in the geographic region hierarchy formed using the plurality of geographic regions, at least one tag of the plurality of tags that is shared by a number of nodes at a child level of the geographic hierarchy, the number of nodes at the child level having a common node at a parent level of the geographic hierarchy; and

assigning, by the one or more processing units, the at least one tag of the plurality of tags to the common node at the parent level of the geographic hierarchy.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the one or more processing units and in the geographic region hierarchy formed using the plurality of geographic regions, at least one tag of the plurality of tags that is unique to a child node of a number of child nodes at a child level of the geographic hierarchy; and

identifying, by the one or more processing units, the at least one tag of the plurality of tags as belonging to the child node.

4. The method of claim 1:

the receiving further comprising receiving a request to identify two similar geographic regions; and

the using further comprising comparing at least one pair of probability distributions of the at least some probability distributions to identify a similarity between a pair of geographic regions as the two similar geographic regions.

5. The method of claim 4, the comparing further comprising:

determining, for each pair of the at least one probability distribution pair, a cosine similarity between the pair.

6. The method of claim 1:

the receiving further comprising receiving a request to identify a geographic region of the plurality with unique local character; and

the using further comprising examining the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the geographic region of the plurality with unique local character, relative to other geographic regions of the plurality, the geographic region with unique local character having a higher proportion of local tags identified using its probability distribution.

7. The method of claim 6, the examining further comprising:

determining, for each geographic region corresponding to a probability distribution of the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions, a proportion of local tags using a mixture coefficient.

8. The method of claim 1:

the receiving further comprising receiving a request to identify a geographic region associated with a content item, the content item having one or more associated tags; and

the using further comprising comparing each probability distribution of the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions with the content item'"'"'s associated tags to identify the geographic region associated with the content item.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

identifying the geographic region associated with the content item using the identified geographic region'"'"'s probability distribution identifying one or more tags local to the geographic region and the one or more tags associated with the content item.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

identifying an object depicted in the content item using the identified geographic region.

11. The method of claim 1:

the receiving further comprising receiving a request to identify a locality in connection with a search comprising at least one search term; and

the using further comprising comparing each probability distribution of the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions with the at least one search term to identify a geographic region as the locality of the search.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the probability that the tag is descriptive of the geographic region represents an estimated likelihood of the tag being used in a description of the region.

13. The method of claim 1:

the receiving further comprising receiving a request to identify'"'"' a geographic region of the plurality having a generic local character relative to other geographic regions of the plurality; and

the using further comprising examining the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the geographic region of the plurality with a greater generic local character, relative to other geographic regions of the plurality, the geographic region with the greater generic character having a lesser proportion of local tags identified using its probability distribution.

14. The method of claim 1, the geographic region hierarchy accounts for a mutual influence occurring among two or more geographic regions sharing common boundaries.

15. The method of claim 1:

the receiving further comprising receiving the request to identify a geographic region of the plurality for use in determining a level of confidence in an image recognition result for an image; and

the using further comprising examining the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the geographic region of the plurality as a likely location of an object depicted in the image.

16. A system comprising:

at least one computing device comprising one or more processors to execute and memory to store instructions to;

determine a plurality of probability distributions, each probability distribution of the plurality corresponding to a geographic region of a plurality of geographic regions, each region of the plurality is associated with a level of a geographic region hierarchy, the geographic region'"'"'s probability distribution comprising, for each tag of a plurality of tags, a probability that the tag is descriptive of the geographic region, the plurality of probability distributions being used to identify the level of the geographic region hierarchy to assign the tag;

receive a request to identify at least one geographic region of the plurality of geographic regions; and

use at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the at least one geographic region of the plurality for a response to the request.

18. The system of claim 16, the instructions further comprising instructions to:

determine, in the geographic region hierarchy formed using the plurality of geographic regions, at least one tag of the plurality of tags that is unique to a child node of a number of child nodes at a child level of the geographic hierarchy; and

identify the at least one tag of the plurality of tags as belonging to the child node.

19. The system of claim 16:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify two similar geographic regions; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to compare at least one pair of probability distributions of the at least some probability distributions to identify a similarity between a pair of geographic regions as the two similar geographic regions.

20. The system of claim 19, the instructions to compare further comprising instructions to:

determine, for each pair of the at least one probability distribution pair, a cosine similarity between the pair.

21. The system of claim 16:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify a geographic region of the plurality with unique local character; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to examine the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the geographic region of the plurality with unique local character, relative to other geographic regions of the plurality, the geographic region with unique local character having a higher proportion of local tags identified using its probability distribution.

22. The system of claim 21, the instructions to examine further comprising instructions to:

determine, for each geographic region corresponding to a probability distribution of the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions, a proportion of local tags using a mixture coefficient.

23. The system of claim 16:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify a geographic region associated with a content item, the content item having one or more associated tags; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to compare each probability distribution of the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions with the content item'"'"'s associated tags to identify the geographic region associated with the content item.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising instructions to:

identify the geographic region associated with the content item using the identified geographic region'"'"'s probability distribution identifying one or more tags local to the geographic region and the one or more tags associated with the content item.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising instructions to:

identify an object depicted in the content item using the identified geographic region.

26. The system of claim 16:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify a locality in connection with a search comprising at least one search term; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to compare each probability distribution of the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions with the at least one search term to identify a geographic region as the locality of the search.

28. The system of claim 16:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify a geographic region of the plurality having a generic local character relative to other geographic regions of the plurality; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to examine the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the geographic region of the plurality with a greater generic local character, relative to other geographic regions of the plurality, the geographic region with the greater generic character having a lesser proportion of local tags identified using its probability distribution.

29. The system of claim 16, the geographic region hierarchy accounts for a mutual influence occurring among two or more geographic regions sharing common boundaries.

30. The system of claim 16:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive the request to identify a geographic region of the plurality for use in determining a level of confidence in an image recognition result for an image; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to examine the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the geographic region of the plurality as a likely location of an object depicted in the image.

17. The system of claim 116, the instructions further comprising instructions to:

determine, in the geographic region hierarchy funned using the plurality of geographic regions, at least one tag of the plurality of tags that is shared by a number of nodes at a child level of the geographic hierarchy, the number of nodes at the child level having a common node at a parent level of the geographic hierarchy; and

assign the at least one tag of the plurality of tags to the common node at the parent level of the geographic hierarchy.

27. The system of claim 116, wherein the probability that the tag is descriptive of the geographic region represents an estimated likelihood of the tag being used in a description of the region.

31. A computer readable non-transitory storage medium for tangibly storing thereon computer readable instructions that when executed cause at least one processor to:

determine a plurality of probability distributions, each probability distribution of the plurality corresponding to a geographic region of a plurality of geographic regions, each region of the plurality is associated with a level of a geographic region hierarchy, the geographic region'"'"'s probability distribution comprising, for each tag of a plurality of tags, a probability that the tag is descriptive of the geographic region, the plurality of probability distributions being used to identify the level of the geographic region hierarchy to assign the tag;

receive a request to identify at least one geographic region of the plurality of geographic regions; and

use at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the at least one geographic region of the plurality for a response to the request.

32. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31, the instructions further comprising instructions to:

determine, in the geographic region hierarchy formed using the plurality of geographic regions, at least one tag of the plurality of tags that is shared by a number of nodes at a child level of the geographic hierarchy, the number of nodes at the child level having a common node at a parent level of the geographic hierarchy; and

assign the at least one tag of the plurality of tags to the common node at the parent level of the geographic hierarchy.

33. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31, the instructions further comprising instructions to:

determine, in the geographic region hierarchy formed using the plurality of geographic regions, at least one tag of the plurality of tags that is unique to a child node of a number of child nodes at a child level of the geographic hierarchy; and

identify the at least one tag of the plurality of tags as belonging to the child node.

34. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify two similar geographic regions; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to compare at least one pair of probability distributions of the at least some probability distributions to identify a similarity between a pair of geographic regions as the two similar geographic regions.

35. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 34, the instructions to compare further comprising instructions to:

determine, for each pair of the at least one probability distribution pair, a cosine similarity between the pair.

36. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify a geographic region of the plurality with unique local character; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to examine the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the geographic region of the plurality with unique local character, relative to other geographic regions of the plurality, the geographic region with unique local character having a higher proportion of local tags identified using its probability distribution.

37. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 36, the instructions to examine further comprising instructions to:

determine, for each geographic region corresponding to a probability distribution of the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions, a proportion of local tags using a mixture coefficient.

38. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify a geographic region associated with a content item, the content item having one or more associated tags; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to compare each probability distribution of the at least sonic of the plurality of probability distributions with the content item'"'"'s associated tags to identify the geographic region associated with the content item.

39. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 38, further comprising instructions to:

identify the geographic region associated with the content item using the identified geographic region'"'"'s probability distribution identifying one or more tags local to the geographic region and the one or more tags associated with the content item.

40. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 39, further comprising instructions to:

identify an object depicted in the content item using the identified geographic region.

41. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify a locality in connection with a search comprising at least one search term; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to compare each probability distribution of the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions with the at least one search term to identify a geographic region as the locality of the search.

42. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify a locality in connection with a search comprising at least one search term; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to compare each probability distribution of the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions with the at least one search term to identify a geographic region as the locality of the search.

43. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31, wherein the probability that the tag is descriptive of the geographic region represents an estimated likelihood of the tag being used in a description of the region.

44. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive a request to identify a geographic region of the plurality having a generic local character relative to other geographic regions of the plurality; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to examine the at least some of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the geographic region of the plurality with a greater generic local character, relative to other geographic regions of the plurality, the geographic region with the greater generic character having a lesser proportion of local tags identified using its probability distribution.

45. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31, the geographic region hierarchy accounts for a mutual influence occurring among two or more geographic regions sharing common boundaries.

46. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 31:

the instructions to receive further comprising instructions to receive the request to identify a geographic region of the plurality for use in determining a level of confidence in an image recognition result for an image; and

the instructions to use further comprising instructions to examine the at least sonic of the plurality of probability distributions to identify the geographic region of the plurality as a likely location of an object depicted in the image.