Deferred social network check-in

• US 9,508,103 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2012
• Issued: 11/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Russell, Robert John
• Primary Examiner(s): Gillis, Brian J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lin, Steve
• Application Number:
  US13/720,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20140172980A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,441 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed for sharing previously visited locations in a social network. A mobile computing device (for example, a smartphone) may be configured to receive and transmit a token to a server, the token including event information related to an event at a previously visited location. One or more candidate places of interest are then determined based on the event information, and provided for display to a user of the mobile computing device. The user selects one or more selected places of interest from the candidate places of interest, and the server provides, for display to one or more other users in a social network, a representation of the user and the selected places of interest.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a token at a computing device based on a reading of a barcode using a barcode scanner or receiving near field communication (NFC) information using a NFC device, the token including event information referencing a previously concluded event at a location previously visited by a first user, the previously visited location being a different location than a current location of the computing device;

determining, in response to receiving the token, one or more candidate places of interest associated with the previously visited location based on the event information;

providing the one or more candidate places of interest for display to the first user;

receiving, from the first user, one or more selected places of interest, selected from the one or more candidate places of interest; and

providing, for display to one or more second users of a social network, a representation of the first user and the one or more selected places of interest.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving the token comprises:

activating an integrated camera associated with the computing device as the barcode scanner;

waiting for the barcode to be viewed by the integrated camera; and

on the integrated camera viewing the barcode, electronically reading the barcode to read the event information, and electronically storing the event information in a memory associated with the computing device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the NFC device is embedded within the computing device, and wherein receiving the token comprises:

positioning the NFC device near a radio-frequency identification (RFID) transmitter, the RFID transmitter transmitting the token; and

receiving the token into the computing device using the NFC device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving the token comprises:

providing to a user, in connection with a graphic user interface, an input for receiving the event information; and

receiving, at the input, the event information in the form of a user-provided code.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving the token comprises:

providing to a user, in connection with an activity stream, one or more input controls for receiving the event information; and

receiving, at the one or more input controls, the event information in connection with a user-provided message posted to the activity stream.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the event information includes a code, and wherein determining one or more candidate places of interest comprises:

indexing, using the code, a plurality of records corresponding to respective events to identify at least one candidate event.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining, from the at least one candidate event, one or more establishments associated with the event.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the token is received in connection with a user account, the method further comprising:

determining, in response to receiving the one or more selected places of interest, one or more offerings; and

providing the one or more offerings to a user of the user account.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a mobile computing device associated with a user.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a server associated with the social network.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the representation is provided as one or more posts to a message stream.

12. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving an event code referencing a previously concluded event, the event code being received based on a scanning of a barcode using a barcode scanner or receiving near field communication (NFC) information using a NFC device;

determining, based on the event code, the previously concluded event;

receiving, from a user, confirmation that the user was at the previously conducted event referenced by the event code; and

providing, for display to other users of a social network, a representation of the user and the previously conducted event.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein receiving the event code comprises:

activating an integrated camera associated with a computing device as the barcode scanner;

waiting for the barcode to be viewed by the integrated camera; and

on the integrated camera viewing the barcode, electronically reading the barcode to read the event code, and electronically storing the event code in a memory associated with the computing device.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein receiving the event code comprises:

positioning the NFC device near a radio-frequency identification (RFID) transmitter, the RFID transmitter transmitting the event code; and

receiving the event code into a computing device using the NFC device.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the event code is received at an interactive user interface provided by a computing device.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the event code is received from multiple users of the social network, the method further comprising:

associating, in the social network, the multiple users with the previously concluded event; and

displaying the association in one or more activity streams.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the event code is received in connection with a user account, the method further comprising:

determining, in response to receiving the confirmation, one or more offerings for a user of the user account; and

providing the one or more offerings to the user of the user account.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the event code is received at a mobile computing device associated with the user.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the event code is received at a server device associated with the social network, the server device receiving the event code over a network from a mobile computing device associated with the user.

20. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to facilitate the steps of;

receiving a digital token based on a reading of a barcode using a barcode scanner or receiving near field communication (NFC) information using a NFC device, the digital token comprising information referencing a previously concluded event;

determining, based on the information, the previously concluded event;

receiving, from a first user, confirmation that the first user was at the previously conducted event referenced by the information; and

providing, to a modified social media check-in service, an instruction to check-in the first user to the previously concluded event, a check-in operation responsive to the instruction informing one or more second users in a social graph with the first user that the first user was at the previously concluded event.