Indicating location status

• US 9,460,218 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2012
• Issued: 10/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Ikeda, Daisuke, Imaizumi, Ryoichi, Smith, Kaleigh S., Maekawa, Keiji
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THU N
• Application Number:
  US13/658,933
• Publication Number:
  US 20130110822A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,441 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for indicating location status. A computing device can receive a query from a user device, a current time, and a location for the user device. The computing device identifies results responsive to the query, including one or more business results that are each associated with a business location and operating hours. The computing device can select a subset of the business results as open results based on the operating hours of the business results, the current time, and travel times from the device location to the respective business locations. Data can be provided for a search engine results page that designates the subset of the business results as open results.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a query from a user device, a current time, and a location of the user device;

identifying results responsive to the query, the results including one or more business results that are each associated with a respective business location and respective operating hours;

selecting a subset of the business results as open results based on the respective operating hours of the business results, the current time, and travel times from the location of the user device to the respective business locations;

generating and providing data for a search engine results page that designates the subset of business results as open results, wherein generating and providing the data for the search engine results page that designates the subset of business results as open results comprises generating and providing data for a control on the search engine results page that toggles a display of results based on whether or not the results are open results in response to user interaction with the control;

receiving user input indicating a future date and time;

selecting, based on the operating hours of the business results, a second subset of the business results that are open at the future date and time; and

providing data for a search engine page that identifies one or more of the business results in the second subset as being open at the future date and time.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of the business results as the open results further comprises:

determining an arrival time to the respective business location for each business result responsive to the query by adding to the current time a travel time to the respective business location for each business result; and

determining that the arrival time to the respective business location for each business result occurs between a beginning and an end of the operating hours associated with the respective business result.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein providing the data for the search engine results page that designates the subset of business results as open results further comprises:

providing a label for display on the results page designating at least a subset of the business results as being open now results; and

designating the subset of business results that are open results for display beneath the label.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting user interaction with the control; and

in response to detecting the user interaction with the control, providing data for a second search engine results page that only displays the subset of business results that are open results.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising determining that a number of open results in the selected subset is above a predetermined threshold number of results, wherein providing the data for the control on the search engine results page is performed in response to determining that the number of open results in the selected subset is above the predetermined threshold number of results.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of the business results as open results comprises:

generating, for each of the business results responsive to the query, a confidence score indicating a likelihood that the respective business location for the respective business result is open; and

selecting each of the business results for which the confidence score is above a threshold for inclusion in the subset of the business results.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing data indicating check-in times of one or more users at a particular business location; and

determining operating hours for the particular business location based on the check-in times,

wherein selecting the subset of the business results as open results comprises using the operating hours determined based on the check-in times to determine whether to include in the subset a business result corresponding to the particular business location.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of the business results as open results comprises:

generating, for each of the business results responsive to the query, a confidence score indicating a likelihood that the respective business location for the respective business result is open;

weighting each confidence score based on a distance between the location of the user device and the respective business location corresponding to the confidence score; and

selecting the subset based on the weighted confidence scores.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of the business results as open results comprises:

identifying, for each of the business results responsive to the query, a source of the respective operating hours associated with the respective business result;

determining a reliability score for each source of the respective operating hours;

generating, for each of the business results responsive to the query, a confidence score that is based on the reliability score for the source of the respective operating hours associated with the respective business result; and

selecting the subset based on the confidence scores.

7. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

receiving a query from a user device, a current time, and a location of the user device;

identifying results responsive to the query, the results including one or more business results that are each associated with a respective business location and respective operating hours;

selecting a subset of the business results as open results based on the respective operating hours of the business results, the current time, and travel times from the location of the user device to the respective business locations; and

generating and providing data for a search engine results page that designates the subset of business results as open results, wherein generating and providing the data for the search engine results page that designates the subset of business results as open results comprises generating and providing data for a control on the search engine results page that toggles a display of results based on whether or not the results are open results in response to user interaction with the control;

receiving user input indicating a future date and time;

selecting, based on the operating hours of the business results, a second subset of the business results that are open at the future date and time; and

providing data for a search engine page that identifies one or more of the business results in the second subset as being open at the future date and time.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein selecting the subset of the business results as the open results further comprises:

determining an arrival time to the business location for each business result responsive to the query by adding to the current time a travel time to the respective business location for each business result; and

determining that the arrival time to the respective business location for each business result occurs between a beginning and an end of the operating hours associated with the respective business result.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein providing the data for the search engine results page that designates the subset of business results as open results further comprises:

providing a label for display on the results page designating at least a subset of the business results as being open now results; and

designating the subset of business results that are open results for display beneath the label.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting user interaction with the control; and

in response to detecting user interaction with the control, providing data for a second search engine results page that only displays the subset of business results that are open results.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise determining that a number of open results in the selected subset is above a predetermined threshold number of results, wherein providing the data for the control on the search engine results page is performed in response to determining that the number of open results in the selected subset is above the predetermined threshold number of results.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein selecting the subset of the business results as open results comprises:

generating, for each of the business results responsive to the query, a confidence score indicating a likelihood that the respective business location for the respective business result is open; and

selecting each of the business results for which the confidence score is above a threshold for inclusion in the subset of the business results.

13. A non-transitory computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving a query from a user device, a current time, and a location of the user device;

identifying results responsive to the query, the results including one or more business results that are each associated with a respective business location and respective operating hours;

selecting a subset of the business results as open results based on the respective operating hours of the business results, the current time, and travel times from the location of the user device to the respective business locations;

generating and providing data for a search engine results page that designates the subset of business results as open results, wherein generating and providing the data for the search engine results page that designates the subset of business results as open results comprises generating and providing data for a control on the search engine results page that toggles a display of results based on whether or not the results are open results in response to user interaction with the control;

receiving user input indicating a future date and time;

selecting, based on the operating hours of the business results, a second subset of the business results that are open at the future date and time; and

providing data for a search engine page that identifies one or more of the business results in the second subset as being open at the future date and time.

14. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein selecting the subset of the business results as the open results further comprises:

determining an arrival time to the respective business location for each business result responsive to the query by adding to the current time a travel time to the respective business location for each business result; and

determining that the arrival time to the respective business location for each business result occurs between a beginning and an end of the operating hours associated with the respective business result.

15. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein providing the data for the search engine results page that designates the subset of business results as open results further comprises:

providing a label for display on the results page designating at least a subset of the business results as being open now results; and

designating the subset of business results that are open results for display beneath the label.

16. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting user interaction with the control; and

in response to detecting the user interaction with the control, providing data for a second search engine results page that only displays the subset of business results that are open results.

17. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise determining that a number of open results in the selected subset is above a predetermined threshold number of results, wherein providing the data for the control on the search engine results page is performed in response to determining that the number of open results in the selected subset is above the predetermined threshold number of results.