Geolocation based resource finder

• US 9,225,787 B2
• Filed: 08/02/2012
• Issued: 12/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Jackson, Dean Kenneth, Klein, Daniel Victor
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Uzma
• Application Number:
  US13/565,744
• Publication Number:
  US 20150172395A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,244 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 709/206
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

Techniques for enabling users of a social networking application or service to share information and additional resources with other users of the service are provided. A content item from a first user of the social networking service is registered as a resource within the social networking service. In response to receiving a query for the content item from a second user of the social networking service, the availability of the resource associated with the first user is determined for use by the second user. A notification indicating the availability of the resource is sent to a device of the second user. The notification may include a current geographic location of the first user, which can be graphically represented on a digital map displayed at the device of the second user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing an interface for users of a social networking service to register content items as resources in the social networking service and to request resources registered by other users of the social networking service, each registered resource including location information corresponding to at least one of the respective users associated with the registered resource and one or more availability conditions specified by the respective user for the registered resource in the social networking service;

responsive to receiving a network request requesting a resource via the interface provided at a mobile device of a first user, determining a current geographic location of the mobile device of the first user;

identifying at least one second user who has registered the requested resource and is located within a predetermined proximity radius of the current geographic location of the mobile device;

determining whether the requested resource registered by the identified second user is available for the first user based on the one or more availability conditions specified by the second user for the requested resource;

registering the network request received from the mobile device of the first user when the requested resource is determined to be unavailable; and

sending an availability notification to the mobile device of the first user-only when the requested resource is determined to be available such that, when the requested resource is determined to be unavailable, the availability notification is sent to the mobile device of the first user only after a subsequent determination of the availability of the requested resource has been made and the subsequent determination indicates a current availability of the requested resource, wherein the subsequent determination indicating the current availability of the requested resource is based on a change in any of the one or more availability conditions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the registered resources include one or more attributes associated with profiles of the respective users in the social networking service.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the registered resources include physical possessions owned by the respective users.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying step comprises:

determining whether a geographic location of the second user is within a predetermined distance of the geographic location of the first user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises:

determining whether the first user is a member of a social group specified by the second user in the social networking service, wherein the resource is available only to members of the social group.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the availability notification includes a location of the second user derived from the location information associated with the requested resource.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises:

determining whether the current geographic location of the mobile device of the first user corresponds to a geographic location of interest defined by the second user.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the geographic location of interest corresponds to a residence of the second user.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the geographic location of interest corresponds to a location of a public event.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the geographic location of interest is within a predetermined geographic region of interest specified by the second user.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more availability conditions include a time of day, and the determining step further comprising:

identifying the time of day when the network request from the mobile device of the first user is received; and

determining whether the identified time of day is within a period of availability specified by the second user, wherein the resource is available only during the specified period of availability.

12. A non-transitory, machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:

registering a content item from a first user of a social networking service as a resource within the social networking service, the registered resource being stored by the social networking service in association with a geographic location of the first user;

in response to receiving a query for the content item from a second user of the social networking service, determining whether a geographic location of the second user is within a predetermined distance of the geographic location of the first user;

when the geographic location of the second user is determined to be within the predetermined distance of the geographic location of the first user, determining whether the resource associated with the first user is available for the second user based on one or more availability conditions defined for the resource by the first user in the social networking service;

when the resource is determined to be available, sending an availability notification indicating the determined availability of the resource to a device of the second user, the availability notification including the geographic location of the first user to be graphically represented on a digital map displayed at the device of the second user; and

when the resource is determined to be unavailable, registering the query received from the second user within the social networking service,

wherein the availability notification indicating the availability of the resource is sent to the device of the second user after a subsequent determination of the availability of the resource has been made, the subsequent determination indicating the resource is currently available, and wherein the subsequent determination of the availability of the resource is based on a change in any of the one or more availability conditions defined for the resource by the first user.

13. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the registered resource is an attribute associated with a profile of the first user in the social networking service.

14. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the registered resource is a physical possession owned by the first user.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more availability conditions includes members of a social group specified by the first user in the social networking service, wherein the resource is available only to the members of the social group.

16. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the one or more availability conditions includes a geographic location of interest and a period of time in which the resource is available, wherein the geographic location of interest and the period of time are each defined by the first user via an interface of the social networking service.

17. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the geographic location of interest corresponds to a residence of the first user.

18. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the geographic location of interest corresponds to a location of a public event.

19. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory accessible to the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to;

register a content item from a first user of a social networking service as a resource within the social networking service, the registered resource being stored by the social networking service in association with a geographic location of the first user;

receive a query for the content item from a second user of the social networking service;

determine whether a geographic location of the second user is within a predetermined distance of the geographic location of the first user;

determine whether the resource associated with the first user is available for the second user based on a determination that the geographic location of the second user is within the predetermined distance of the geographic location of the first user and one or more availability conditions defined for the resource by the first user in the social networking service, the one or more availability conditions including a geographic location of interest and a period of time defined by the first user via an interface of the social networking service;

register the query received from the second user within the social networking service based on an initial determination that the resource is unavailable; and

send an availability notification indicating the determination of availability of the resource to a device of the second user based on a subsequent determination that the resource is currently available, the availability notification including the geographic location of the first user to be graphically represented on a digital map displayed at the device of the second user, wherein the subsequent determination that the resource is available is based on a change in any of the one or more availability conditions defined for the resource by the first user.