Entity display priority in a distributed geographic information system

• US 8,965,884 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2013
• Issued: 02/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Jones, Michael T., McClendon, Brian, Charaniya, Amin P., Ashbridge, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): To, Baoquoc N
• Application Number:
  US14/089,755
• Publication Number:
  US 20140089052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 455 Days
• Field of Search: 707/723, 707/726, 707/727, 707/999.107, 707/748, 707/E17.018
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/288 Entity relationship models
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/444 Spatial browsing, e.g. 2D maps, 3D or virtual spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location

Abstract

A system for ranking geospatial entities is described. In one embodiment, the system comprises an interface for receiving ranking data about a plurality of geospatial entities and an entity ranking module. The module uses a ranking mechanism to generate place ranks for the geospatial entities based on the ranking data. Ranked entity data generated by the entity ranking module is stored in a database. The entity ranking module may be configured to evaluate a plurality of diverse attributes to determine a total score for a geospatial entity. The entity ranking module may be configured to organize ranked entity data into placemark layers.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented geographic information system (GIS) comprising:

a processor for executing program code; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program code executable to perform steps comprising;

receiving non-cartographic information about a plurality of geospatial entities, each geospatial entity having a geometry and located at a physical location, wherein the information is harvested from a plurality of websites, and wherein the information comprises an attribute of a description of the geospatial entity;

prioritizing the geospatial entities for display on a map using the non-cartographic information and according to a ranking mechanism.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the non-cartographic information further comprises one of:

quality of information available about the geospatial entity, and an attribute of a definition of the geospatial entity.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the non-cartographic information further comprises an indicator of the geospatial entity'"'"'s popularity.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the non-cartographic information further comprises one of:

an age attribute, a stature attribute, and an importance attribute.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the non-cartographic information further comprises a relationship of a geospatial entity to its place in a hierarchy of geospatial entities.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein an entity of the plurality of entities comprises a collection of geospatial objects and wherein the priority of the entity is determined responsive to a characteristic of the collection of geospatial objects.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein an entity of the plurality of entities comprises a geospatial entity defined in an on-line forum and wherein the ranking mechanism uses data generated in the on-line forum to determine the rank of the geospatial entity.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the ranking mechanism determines a geospatial entity'"'"'s priority from a combination of weighted data from a plurality of meta attributes of the geospatial entity.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein the non-cartographic geospatial entity data comprises data associated with a user and further comprising using the ranked geospatial entities to generate a map for the user.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein the program code is further executable to select geospatial entities for a geographical display based on the rankings of the geospatial entities.

9. A computer-implemented method for ranking geospatial entities, the method comprising:

receiving non-cartographic geospatial entity data, wherein the data is harvested from a plurality of websites and wherein the non-cartographic geospatial entity data comprises an attribute of a description of the geospatial entity and wherein each geospatial entity has a geometry and is located at a physical location;

determining a score by one or more processors for each of the geospatial entities based on the non-cartographic geospatial entity data;

ranking by the one or more processors the geospatial entities based on the scores; and

storing the ranked geospatial entities.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the non-cartographic geospatial entity data comprises data generated in a community forum.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the non-cartographic geospatial entity data comprises data associated with a user and further comprising using the ranked geospatial entities to generate a map for the user.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising selecting geospatial entities for a geographical display based on the rankings of the geospatial entities.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the ranked geospatial entities to a map system configured to generate a map that includes ranked geospatial entities and unranked geospatial entities.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising selecting geospatial entities to include in navigation instructions based on rankings of the geospatial entities.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising selecting a geospatial entity to associate with an advertising term based on the geospatial entity'"'"'s ranking.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the ranked geospatial entity data to an application for generating a search result based on the ranked geospatial entity data.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the scores is performed responsive to user instructions for providing personalized geospatial entity rankings.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein the non-cartographic information further comprises at least one of:

quality of information available about the geospatial entity and an attribute of a definition of the geospatial entity.