Relevancy ranking for map-related search

• US 8,838,586 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2010
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Waldman, Jaron, Richard, Chad
• Primary Examiner(s): GIRMA, ANTENEH B
• Application Number:
  US12/718,938
• Publication Number:
  US 20110218992A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,656 Days
• Field of Search: 707/724, 707/E17.018
• US Class Current: 707/724
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3617 using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration

Abstract

The following relates to ranking search results consisting of locations or recommending locations to visit based on recorded data representing visits by a plurality of users to the locations represented as search results or recommended locations to visit. The data representing users'"'"' visits can be recorded by receiving data anonymously reported by handheld communication devices carried by the plurality of users. A handheld communication device, which is carried by a user, can report to the system the user'"'"'s present location optionally associated with a time stamp. The handheld communication device can report either a single location coordinate or a collection of coordinates gathered over time.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

assigning, by a server computer, a unique ID to each of a plurality of handheld communication devices, wherein the unique IDs are used to anonymously report location coordinates;

transmitting, by the server computer, each respective unique ID to the handheld communication device assigned to each respective unique ID, wherein each of said plurality of handheld communication devices stores a received unique ID;

receiving global positioning system (GPS) location coordinates reported from each of said plurality of handheld communication devices, wherein the GPS location coordinates reported from each of said plurality of handheld communication devices are associated with each received unique ID;

mapping each of the GPS location coordinates to map objects, wherein the map objects are identified by map data describing their perimeters;

determining whether a map object represents a location that will be searched upon by category;

determining if a user associated with one of the handheld devices remained within the location for longer than a duration determined to indicate that the user visited the location;

recording the visit of longer than the determined period of time by the user as visitor-location data; and

aggregating the visitor-location data collected from the plurality of handheld devices.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising ranking search results based upon the aggregated visitor-location data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregated visitor-location data is stored in a location-popularity index.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the location-popularity index includes categories of data, the data associated with the categories being used to rank the search results.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the categories are one or more of duration of stay, time of day during visit, previous location of user before the visit, distance traveled to visit, and whether the user searched for the location before visiting.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the location-popularity index includes values assigned to each location for each category described in the location-popularity index.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the assigned value is a weighed value used in ranking search results for one or more locations described in the location-popularity index.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the data describing global positioning system (GPS) location coordinates reported from each of said plurality of handheld communication devices does not include personally identifying data of any user of one of said plurality of handheld communication devices.

24. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

disregarding the GPS location coordinates when the map object does not represents a location that will be searched upon by category.

8. A product comprising:

a non-transitory machine-readable medium; and

machine-executable instructions fixed on said medium for causing a computer to perform the method comprising;

receiving position data associated with a plurality of handheld communication devices have been assigned unique IDs to anonymously report position data;

mapping each of the received position data to map objects, wherein the map objects are associated with map data describing their perimeters;

determining whether a map object represents a location that will be searched upon by category;

recording a visit if one of the handheld devices remained within the perimeter of a location for greater than a predetermined duration;

aggregating position data describing the locations when a visit is recorded;

storing the aggregated position data in a location-popularity index;

processing a search request for a class of locations to identify search results; and

ranking the search results based upon values recorded in the location-popularity index derived from data reported from a plurality of handheld communication devices.

9. The product of claim 8, wherein the location-popularity index comprises data derived from aggregated data from a plurality of users'"'"' position data that is reported by the handheld communication devices carried by each of the users, and correlated to locations.

10. The product of claim 9, wherein the location-popularity index includes data describing categories, the data associated with the categories being used to rank the search results.

11. The product of claim 10, wherein the categories are selected from the group consisting of:

period of time of stay, time of day during visit, previous location of user before the visit, distance traveled to visit, and whether the user searched for the location before visiting.

12. The product of claim 11, wherein the location-popularity index includes values assigned to each location for each category described in the location-popularity index.

13. The product of claim 12, wherein the assigned value is a weighted value used in ranking search results for one or more locations described in the location-popularity index.

25. The product of claim 8, wherein the product comprises two or more server computers.

14. A system, comprising:

a plurality of handheld communication devices, each device having a unique ID assigned and stored on each handheld communication device, wherein each unique ID is used to anonymously report position data representing a position one of the plurality of mobile communication devices as determined by global positioning system location coordinates without identifying said user;

a first server configured to;

receive position data reported from each of said plurality of handheld communication devices,

map received position data to map objects, wherein the map objects are associated with map data describing their perimeters;

determine whether a map object represents a location searchable by category and disregard position data associated that is not mapped to map objects that represent a location searchable by category;

record a visit if one of the handheld devices remained within the perimeter of a location for greater than a predetermined duration, and

position data describing the locations when a visit is recorded and store the aggregated position data in a location-popularity index; and

a second server configured to rank search results returned responsive to a query for a location based on data stored in the location-popularity index.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the location-popularity index includes data describing categories, based on assumptions derived from the aggregated visitor-location data.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the location-popularity index includes a value assigned for each location described in the location-popularity index, the value representing a relative score for that location and used to rank the search results.

26. The system of claim 14, wherein each of the plurality of handheld communication devices filter location data for relevance before transmitting the position data and unique ID to the first server.

17. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

generating aggregated visitor-location data reported from a plurality of handheld communication devices,

wherein each of the plurality of handheld communication devices have a unique ID assigned and stored on each handheld communication device,

wherein each unique ID is used to report position data representing a position of one of the plurality of mobile communication devices as determined by global positioning system location coordinates without identifying any user of the plurality of handheld communication devices, and

wherein the aggregated visitor-location data is generated for locations that are searchable based on category;

processing a search request for a class of locations to identify potential search results; and

ranking the potential search results based upon the aggregated visitor-location data reported from the plurality of handheld communication devices.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the search results are ranked based on assumptions derived from the visitor-location data, the assumptions being relevant to the ranking of the search results.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the assumption is that users that visit a location for at least a determined period of time like the location.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the assumption is that a user that is within an office building is at work.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the assumption is that a user within a residential address is at home.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the assumption is that a location that is not known to be crowded will provide faster service than a location that is known to be crowded.