Determining unambiguous geographic references
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving a search query that includes a plurality of search terms;
determining whether at least one of the search terms corresponds to a name of a geographic area;
when at least one of the search terms corresponds to a name of a geographic area, determining that the name unambiguously corresponds to a particular geographic area, the determining being based on the name occurring together with a particular term in a threshold percentage of documents in a collection of documents; and
performing a local search, based on one or more of the search terms, to identify documents associated with the geographic area when the name unambiguously corresponds to the particular geographic area.
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Abstract
A system receives a search query that includes a set of search terms, determines whether at least one of the search terms corresponds to the name of a geographic area, and determines whether the geographic area corresponds to an unambiguous geographic area when at least one of the search terms corresponds to the name of the geographic area. The system performs a local search, based on one or more of the search terms, to identify documents associated with the geographic area when the geographic area corresponds to an unambiguous geographic area.
40 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving a search query that includes a plurality of search terms; determining whether at least one of the search terms corresponds to a name of a geographic area; when at least one of the search terms corresponds to a name of a geographic area, determining that the name unambiguously corresponds to a particular geographic area, the determining being based on the name occurring together with a particular term in a threshold percentage of documents in a collection of documents; and performing a local search, based on one or more of the search terms, to identify documents associated with the geographic area when the name unambiguously corresponds to the particular geographic area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system, comprising:
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means for receiving a search query; means for determining whether the search query includes the name of a city; means for determining whether the name of a city unambiguously corresponds to a particular city when the search query includes the name; and means for performing a local search to identify documents associated with businesses in or near a geographic area associated with the city when the name of a city unambiguously corresponds to a particular city. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A system, comprising:
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a memory to store instructions; and a processor to execute the instructions in the memory to; receive a search query that includes one or more search terms and a geographic reference, determine whether the geographic reference corresponds to a city, determine whether the name of a city unambiguously corresponds to a particular city when the geographic reference corresponds to a city, and perform a search, based on the one or more search terms, for documents relating to businesses located near or within a geographic area associated with the city when the city corresponds to an unambiguous city. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A computer-readable memory device that stores computer-executed instructions, comprising:
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instructions for receiving a search query that includes a plurality of search terms via a single search box; instructions for analyzing the search query to determine whether at least one of the search terms corresponds to the name of a geographic area; instructions for determining whether the name of a geographic area unambiguously corresponds to a particular geographic area when at least one of the search terms corresponds to the name of a geographic area, the determining being based on the name of a geographic area occurring together with a particular term in a threshold percentage of documents in a collection of documents; and instructions for performing a local search, based on one or more of the search terms, to identify documents associated with the geographic area when the name of a geographic area unambiguously corresponds to a particular geographic area. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. A method, comprising:
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receiving a search query that includes a plurality of search terms; determining whether at least one of the search terms corresponds to the name of a geographic area; determining whether the name of a geographic area unambiguously corresponds to a particular geographic area when at least one of the search terms corresponds to the name of the geographic area, based on the name of a geographic area occurring together with a particular term in a threshold percentage of documents in a collection of documents; and presenting an advertisement associated with a business located near or within the geographic area when the name of a geographic area unambiguously corresponds to a particular geographic area. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A system, comprising:
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means for receiving a search query; means for determining whether the search query includes the name of a city; means for determining whether the name of a city unambiguously corresponds to a particular city when the search query includes the name of a city; and means for providing an advertisement associated with a business located in or near a geographic area associated with the city when the name of a city unambiguously corresponds to a particular city. - View Dependent Claims (41)
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42. A system, comprising:
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a memory to store instructions; and a processor to execute the instructions in the memory to; receive a search query that includes one or more search terms and a geographic reference, determine whether the geographic reference corresponds to a city, determine whether the city unambiguously corresponds to a particular city when the geographic reference corresponds to the city, and provide an advertisement relating to a business located near or within a geographic area associated with the city when the city unambiguously corresponds to a particular city. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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44. A computer-readable memory device that stores computer-executed instructions, comprising:
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instructions for performing a first web search based on the name of a city in a list of cities to identify a first set of search results; instructions for counting a number of documents in the first set of search results; instructions for performing a second web search based on the name of the city and the name of a state in which the city is located to identify a second set of search results; instructions for counting a number of documents in the second set of search results; and instructions for identifying the city as an unambiguous city when the number of documents in the second set of search results is at least X % of the number of documents in the first set of search results, where X is a number greater than zero. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46)
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47. A computer-readable medium memory device that stores computer-executable instructions, comprising:
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instructions for performing a web search based on the name of a city in a list of cities to identify a set of search results; instructions for counting a number of documents in the set of search results; instructions for counting a number of documents in the set of search results that include postal codes associated with the city; and instructions for identifying the city as an unambiguous city when the number of documents in the set of search results that include postal codes associated with the city is at least X % of the number of documents in the set of search results, where X is a number greater than zero. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
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Specification