System for geographically contextualizing data items

• US 7,853,270 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2009
• Issued: 12/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Patel, Devesh, Riise, Soren
• Primary Examiner(s): DOAN, PHUOC HUU
• Application Number:
  US12/544,490
• Publication Number:
  US 20100029299A1
• Time in Patent Office: 481 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A system for geographically contextualizing data items may include an interface, a memory and a processor. The memory may store a database which includes structured data types. The processor may receive, via the interface, a data item. The processor may determine whether the data item is a structured or unstructured data item. The processor may parse the data item into components. The processor may determine a geographic component from the components. The geographic component may be determined using an algorithm if the data item is an unstructured data item. Otherwise the geographic component may be determined by comparing the components to the database which includes the structured data types. The processor may determine a geographic region representative of the determined geographic component. The processor may identify results associated with the geographic region and at least one of the components. The processor may provide the results via the interface.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for geographically contextualizing data items, comprising:

receiving a data item;

determining whether the data item comprises a structured data item or an unstructured data item;

parsing the data item into a plurality of components;

determining, with a computer processor, a geographic component of the plurality of components, the geographic component having a geographic relevance, wherein the determining is performed using an algorithm if the data item comprises the unstructured data item, otherwise the determining is performed by comparing the plurality of components to a database comprising a plurality of structured data types;

determining a first geographic region representative of the geographic component;

retrieving a first plurality of results associated with the first geographic region and at least one of the plurality of components;

identifying a second plurality of results associated with a second geographic region and at least one of the plurality of components, wherein the second geographic region is adjacent to, or overlapping, the first geographic region; and

providing the first plurality of results and the second plurality of results.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein parsing the data item into a plurality of components further comprises:

identifying a structured data type in the database which matches a structure of the data item; and

parsing the data item into the plurality of components based on the structured data type.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the algorithm comprises:

searching the data item for a clue word; and

determining the component of the plurality of components which occurs after the clue word.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3 wherein the clue word comprises at least one of in, near, or around.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the algorithm comprises:

comparing each component of the plurality of components against a geographic database comprising of a plurality of geographic terms; and

determining a component of the plurality of components that matches a geographic term in the geographic database.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5 wherein the geographic database comprises a geo-coded geographic database.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 5 wherein the plurality of geographic terms comprises at least one of a plurality of zip codes or a plurality of city names.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the algorithm comprises at least one of a dictionary lookup algorithm, a thesaurus lookup algorithm, or an atlas lookup algorithm.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein a component of the plurality of components comprises at least one of a city name, a street name, a state name, or a zip code.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of structured data types comprises a plurality of postal address structures.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein receiving a data item further comprises receiving a search query from a user comprising the data item.

12. A system for geographically contextualizing data items, comprising:

a memory to store a database comprising of a plurality of structured data types;

an interface operatively connected to the memory, the interface to receive a data item and provide results; and

a processor operatively connected to the memory and the interface, the processor for running instructions, wherein the processor receives, via the interface, a data item, determines whether the data item comprises a structured data item or an unstructured data item, parses the data item, determines a geographic component of the plurality of components, the geographic component having a geographic relevance, wherein the determining is performed using an algorithm if the data item comprises the unstructured data item, otherwise the determining is performed by comparing the plurality of components to the database comprising the plurality of structured data types, determines a first geographic region representative of the geographic component, identifies a first plurality of results associated with the first geographic region and at least one of the plurality of components, identifies a second plurality of results associated with a second geographic region and at least one of the plurality of components, wherein the second geographic region is adjacent to, or overlapping, the first geographic region and provides, via the interface, the first plurality of results and the second plurality of results.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the processor receives, via the interface, a search query from a user, the search query comprising the data item.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the processor identifies a structured data type in the database which matches a structure of the data item and parses the data item into the plurality of components based on the structured data type.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein the algorithm comprises:

searching the data item for a clue word; and

determining the component of the plurality of components which occurs after the clue word.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the clue word comprises at least one of in, near, or around.

17. The system of claim 12 wherein the algorithm comprises:

comparing each component of the plurality of components against a geographic database comprising of a plurality of geographic terms; and

determining a component of the plurality of components that matches a geographic term in the geographic database.