Adjusting a process for visit detection based on location data

• US 9,576,295 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2012
• Issued: 02/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Service Management Group Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Service Management Group, Inc.
• Inventors: Volpe, Andrew, Weiss, Eric H., Fulford-Jones, Thaddeus R. F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hatcher, Deirdre
• Application Number:
  US13/535,150
• Publication Number:
  US 20120330722A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,700 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates

Abstract

A method and system for adjusting a process for identifying settings visited by a consumer based at least in part on electronically-derived consumer location data. A method and system are provided for gathering location data for consumers and identifying points of interest (POIs) visited by the consumers based on the location data. Based on a comparison of settings identified by a process to settings that are identified in data collected from external data sources, the system may determine whether to adjust the visit detection process. The system may adjust the visit detection process by adjusting a way in which settings are defined in a data set, by adding or removing settings from a data set, and/or by changing a manner in which the visit detection process determines whether a location corresponds to a setting in the data set.

Claims

1. A method of operating a consumer analytics system in which information about one or more consumers is generated at least in part based on applying a visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations visited by the one or more consumers to location data relating to the one or more consumers, the method comprising:

receiving input provided by a consumer identifying a setting visited by the consumer at a time;

receiving, from a mobile device operated by the consumer, a plurality of units of location data obtained by the mobile device using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, an Assisted GPS receiver, or a wireless network to which the mobile device is connected, each of the plurality of units of location data indicating a respective location of the consumer;

identifying, based at least in part on the plurality of units of location data, a physical location of the consumer at the time; and

adjusting, using at least one processor and based at least in part on the input provided by the consumer and the physical location of the consumer, the visit detection process for identifying settings visited by the one or more consumers,

wherein the visit detection process comprises;

identifying an anchor using the plurality of units of location data, the anchor comprising a cluster of locations corresponding to locations indicated by at least some of the plurality of units of location data, wherein identifying the anchor comprises identifying the cluster of locations using the plurality of units of location data;

calculating a likelihood that the anchor corresponds to the setting identified in the input provided by the consumer; and

determining that the consumer visited the setting when the calculated likelihood exceeds a threshold, and

wherein adjusting the visit detection process comprises;

comparing the setting identified by the consumer in the input provided by the consumer with the physical location of the consumers;

when the setting identified by the consumer in the input provided by the consumer matches the physical location of the consumer, decreasing the threshold so that, when the decreased threshold is subsequently used as part of the visit detection process, the visit detection process is more likely to identify correctly that someone visited the setting; and

when the setting identified by the consumer in the input provided by the consumer does not match the physical location of the consumer, increasing the threshold so that, when the increased threshold is subsequently used as part of the visit detection process, the visit detection process is less likely to identify incorrectly that someone visited the setting.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises determining whether the physical location of the consumer corresponds to one of a plurality of settings; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises adding, using the at least one processor, a new setting to the plurality of settings based at least in part on the input provided by the consumer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises determining whether the physical location of the consumer corresponds to one of a plurality of settings; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises removing, using the at least one processor, one of the plurality of settings based at least in part on the input provided by the consumer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises determining whether the physical location of the consumer corresponds to a location of one of a plurality of settings;

each setting of the plurality of settings is associated with information defining the setting; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises changing information identifying the setting visited by the consumer.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises;

comparing the physical location of the consumer to location boundaries defining an area of the setting, and

identifying that the physical location corresponds to the setting based at least in part on whether a result of the comparing indicates that the physical location of the consumer falls within the location boundaries for the setting; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises revising the location boundaries defining the area of the setting based at least in part on the physical location.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the input provided by the consumer comprises receiving, from a data source of a social networking service, information provided by the consumer to the social networking service identifying the setting visited by the consumer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

issuing a prompt to the consumer to provide the input,

wherein receiving the input comprises receiving the input in response to the prompt.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the likelihood that the anchor corresponds to the setting is performed based on prior behavior of the consumer.

8. At least one storage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method of operating a consumer analytics system in which information about one or more consumers is generated at least in part based on applying a visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations visited by the one or more consumers to location data relating to the one or more consumers, the method comprising:

receiving input provided by a consumer identifying a setting visited by the consumer at a time;

receiving, from a mobile device operated by the consumer, a plurality of units of location data obtained by the mobile device using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, an Assisted GPS receiver, or a wireless network to which the mobile device is connected, each of the plurality of units of location data indicating a respective location of the consumer;

identifying, based at least in part on the plurality of units of location data, a physical location of the consumer at the time; and

adjusting, using at least one processor and based at least in part on the input provided by the consumer and the physical location of the consumer, the visit detection process for identifying settings visited by the one or more consumers,

wherein the visit detection process comprises;

identifying an anchor using the plurality of units of location data, the anchor comprising a cluster of locations corresponding to locations indicated by at least some of the plurality of units of location data, wherein identifying the anchor comprises identifying the cluster of locations using the plurality of units of location data;

calculating a likelihood that the anchor corresponds to the setting identified in the input provided by the consumer; and

determining that the consumer visited the setting when the calculated likelihood exceeds a threshold, and

wherein adjusting the visit detection process comprises;

comparing the setting identified by the consumer in the input provided by the consumer with the physical location of the consumer;

when the setting identified by the consumer in the input provided by the consumer matches the physical location of the consumer, decreasing the threshold so that, when the decreased threshold is subsequently used as part of the visit detection process, the visit detection process is more likely to identify correctly that someone visited the setting; and

when the setting identified by the consumer in the input provided by the consumer does not match the physical location of the consumer, increasing the threshold so that, when the increased threshold is subsequently used as part of the visit detection process, the visit detection process is less likely to identify incorrectly that someone visited the setting.

9. The at least one storage medium of claim 8, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises determining whether the physical location of the consumer corresponds to one of a plurality of settings; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises adding, using the at least one processor, a new setting to the plurality of settings based at least in part on the input provided by the consumer.

10. The at least one storage medium of claim 8, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations determining whether the physical location of the consumer corresponds to one of a plurality of settings; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises removing, using the at least one processor, one of the plurality of settings based at least in part on the input provided by the consumer.

11. The at least one storage medium of claim 8, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises determining whether the physical location of the consumer corresponds to a location of one of a plurality of settings;

each setting of the plurality of settings is associated with information defining the setting; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises changing information identifying the setting visited by the consumer.

12. The at least one storage medium of claim 11, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises;

comparing the physical location of the consumer to location boundaries defining an area of the setting, and

identifying that the physical location corresponds to the setting based at least in part on whether a result of the comparing indicates that the physical location of the consumer falls within the location boundaries for the setting; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises revising the location boundaries defining the area of the setting based at least in part on the physical location.

13. The at least one storage medium of claim 8, wherein receiving the input provided by the consumer comprises receiving, from a data source of a social networking service, information provided by the consumer to the social networking service identifying the setting visited by the consumer.

14. The at least one storage medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

issuing a prompt to the consumer to provide the input,

wherein receiving the input comprises receiving the input in response to the prompt.

15. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one storage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method of operating a consumer analytics system in which information about one or more consumers is generated at least in part based on applying a visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations visited by the one or more consumers to location data relating to the one or more consumers, the method comprising;

receiving input provided by a consumer identifying a setting visited by the consumer at a time;

receiving, from a mobile device operated by the consumer, a plurality of units of location data obtained by the mobile device using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, an Assisted GPS receiver, or a wireless network to which the mobile device is connected, each of the plurality of units of location data indicating a respective location of the consumer;

identifying, based at least in part on the plurality of units of location data, a physical location of the consumer at the time; and

adjusting, using at least one processor and based at least in part on the input provided by the consumer and the physical location of the consumer, the visit detection process for identifying settings visited by the one or more consumers,

wherein the visit detection process comprises;

identifying an anchor using the plurality of units of location data, the anchor comprising a cluster of locations corresponding to locations indicated by at least some of the plurality of units of location data, wherein identifying the anchor comprises identifying the cluster of locations using the plurality of units of location data;

calculating a likelihood that the anchor corresponds to the setting identified in the input provided by the consumer; and

determining that the consumer visited the setting when the calculated likelihood exceeds a threshold, and

wherein adjusting the visit detection process comprises;

comparing the setting identified by the consumer in the input provided by the consumer with the physical location of the consumer;

when the setting identified by the consumer in the input provided by the consumer matches the physical location of the consumer, decreasing the threshold so that, when the decreased threshold is subsequently used as part of the visit detection process, the visit detection process is more likely to identify correctly that someone visited the setting; and

when the setting identified by the consumer in the input provided by the consumer does not match the physical location of the consumer, increasing the threshold so that, when the increased threshold is subsequently used as part of the visit detection process, the visit detection process is less likely to identify incorrectly that someone visited the setting.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises determining whether the physical location of the consumer corresponds to one of a plurality of settings; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises adding, using the at least one processor, a new setting to the plurality of settings based at least in part on the input provided by the consumer.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises determining whether the physical location of the consumer corresponds to one of a plurality of settings; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises removing, using the at least one processor, one of the plurality of settings based at least in part on the input provided by the consumer.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises determining whether the physical location of the consumer corresponds to a location of one of a plurality of settings;

each setting of the plurality of settings is associated with information defining the setting; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises changing information identifying the setting visited by the consumer.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

the visit detection process for identifying settings corresponding to physical locations comprises;

comparing the physical location of a consumer to location boundaries defining an area of the setting, and

identifying that the physical location corresponds to the setting based at least in part on whether a result of the comparing indicates that the physical location of the consumer falls within the location boundaries for the setting; and

adjusting the visit detection process comprises revising the location boundaries defining the area of the setting based at least in part on the physical location.