Integrated geospatial activity reporting

• US 9,686,646 B1
• Filed: 09/29/2016
• Issued: 06/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cars.com LLC (Cars.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cars.com LLC (Cars.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pecard, Jennifer Lou Chae, Bloomfield, Guy Jeffrey, Cohen, Benjamin Mitchell, Jankampet, Ramesh
• Primary Examiner(s): Hua, Quan M
• Application Number:
  US15/280,914
• Time in Patent Office: 264 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Systems and methods for distinguishing between user mobile device location data indicating user locations within an area of interest or merely near an area of interest are disclosed. User geospatial location data is obtained at user mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) upon the triggering event of a user action (e.g., visiting a web site or using an application on the user mobile device). The location data is stored and compared against polygonal map data accurately and precisely defining a map area of the area of interest. A map view may be generated by generating markers having different styles for user location data within or near the area of interest, which markers may then be overlaid on a map including a polygon representation of the area of interest. Such map view may be augmented by additional data and presented as a report including location and additional data for a plurality of users.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for generating a map displaying user location information, comprising:

receiving, at a user mobile device, a request from a user for information associated with one or more vehicles or vehicle dealers;

obtaining, by a geolocation unit of the user mobile device, a geospatial location identifier of the user mobile device identifying a geospatial location of the user mobile device at a time associated with the request;

transmitting, from the user mobile device to a server via a communication network, the geospatial location identifier and an indication of the request;

receiving, at the server via the communication network, the geospatial location identifier and the indication of the request;

accessing, from a memory associated with the server, map data associated with a vehicle dealer lot in proximity to the identified geospatial location of the user mobile device, the map data including a set of data defining a lot area of the vehicle dealer lot as one or more polygons within a map area;

determining, by one or more processors of the server, that the user mobile device is located on the vehicle dealer lot by comparing the geospatial location identifier with the lot area;

generating, by the one or more processors of the server, map view data based upon the map data and the geospatial location identifier by overlaying a user device marker indicating the geospatial location on a representation of a map including the lot area; and

transmitting, from the server to a computing device that is distinct from the user mobile device, the generated map view data for presentation to an operator of the computing device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the geospatial location identifier includes determining the geospatial location identifier as a Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinate using a GPS unit of the user mobile device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the request includes additional data regarding one or more of:

the user, interaction of the user with the user mobile device, or a duration of the user mobile device at the geospatial location.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein:

the user device marker is associated with the additional information, and

the additional information is presented to the operator upon selection of the user device marker by the operator.

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

receiving, at the server via the communication network, a plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers associated with a plurality of additional users;

determining, by the one or more processors of the server, a first set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers located on the vehicle dealer lot by comparing the first set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers with the lot area; and

determining, by the one or more processors of the server, a second set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers not located on the vehicle dealer lot by comparing the second set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers with the lot area;

wherein generating the map view data includes (i) overlaying a first set of device markers indicating the first set of geospatial location identifiers on the representation of the map and (ii) overlaying a second set of device markers indicating the second set of geospatial location identifiers on the representation of the map, wherein the first and second sets of device markers are displayed using distinct visual styles.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the second set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers indicate geospatial locations within a radius of a point coordinate representing the vehicle dealer lot.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the representation of the map includes a visual representation of the lot area by displaying a representation of the one or more polygons.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user mobile device is a smartphone.

9. A computer system for generating a map displaying user location information, comprising:

one or more processors;

a communication module adapted to communicate data via a network;

a program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computer system to;

receive an indication of a request of a user for information associated with one or more vehicles or vehicle dealers from a user mobile device via the communication module;

obtain a geospatial location identifier of the user mobile device identifying a geospatial location of the user mobile device at a time associated with the request via the communication module, wherein the geospatial location identifier is generated by the user mobile device;

access map data associated with a vehicle dealer lot in proximity to the identified geospatial location of the user mobile device from a memory associated with a server, the map data including a set of data defining a lot area of the vehicle dealer lot as one or more polygons within a map area;

determine that the user mobile device is located on the vehicle dealer lot by comparing the geospatial location identifier with the lot area;

generate map view data based upon the map data and the geospatial location identifier by overlaying a user device marker indicating the geospatial location on a representation of a map including the lot area; and

cause the generated map view data to be presented to an operator of a computing device, wherein the computing device is distinct from the user mobile device.

10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the executable instructions that cause the computer system to obtain the geospatial location identifier include executable instructions that cause the computer system to transmit a request for the geospatial location identifier to the user mobile device to cause a GPS unit of the user mobile device to the determine the geospatial location identifier as a Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinate.

11. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the executable instructions further cause the computer system to:

receive a plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers associated with a plurality of additional users via the communication module;

determine a first set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers located on the vehicle dealer lot by comparing the first set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers with the lot area; and

determine a second set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers not located on the vehicle dealer lot by comparing the second set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers with the lot area;

wherein generating the map view data includes (i) overlaying a first set of device markers indicating the first set of geospatial location identifiers on the representation of the map and (ii) overlaying a second set of device markers indicating the second set of geospatial location identifiers on the representation of the map.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the first and second sets of device markers are displayed using distinct visual styles.

13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the second set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers indicate geospatial locations within a radius of a point coordinate representing the vehicle dealer lot.

14. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the representation of the map includes a visual representation of the lot area by displaying a representation of the one or more polygons.

15. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for generating a map displaying user location information that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to:

receive an indication of a request of a user for information associated with one or more vehicles or vehicle dealers from a user mobile device;

obtain a geospatial location identifier of the user mobile device identifying a geospatial location of the user mobile device at a time associated with the request, wherein the geospatial location identifier is generated by the user mobile device;

access map data associated with a vehicle dealer lot in proximity to the identified geospatial location of the user mobile device from a memory associated with a server, the map data including a set of data defining a lot area of the vehicle dealer lot as one or more polygons within a map area;

determine that the user mobile device is located on the vehicle dealer lot by comparing the geospatial location identifier with the lot area;

generate map view data based upon the map data and the geospatial location identifier by overlaying a user device marker indicating a geospatial location associated with the user on a representation of a map including the lot area; and

cause the generated map view data to be presented to an operator of a computing device, wherein the computing device is distinct from the user mobile device.

16. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to:

receive a plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers associated with a plurality of additional users;

determine a first set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers located on the vehicle dealer lot by comparing the first set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers with the lot area; and

determine a second set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers not located on the vehicle dealer lot by comparing the second set of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers with the lot area;

wherein generating the map view data includes (i) overlaying a first set of device markers indicating the first set of geospatial location identifiers on the representation of the map and (ii) overlaying a second set of device markers indicating the second set of geospatial location identifiers on the representation of the map.

17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the first and second sets of device markers are displayed using distinct visual styles.

18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the representation of the map includes a visual representation of the lot area by displaying a representation of the one or more polygons.

19. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to:

receive a plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers and a plurality of additional indications of requests for information, wherein each of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers is associated with one of the plurality of additional indications of requests for information and is further associated with one of a plurality of additional users;

determine a set of users from the plurality of additional users, wherein each member of the set of users is associated with at least one of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers corresponding to a geospatial location within the lot area based upon a comparison of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers with the one or more polygons;

determine a set of additional vehicle dealer lots associated with the set of users, wherein each entry in the set of additional vehicle dealer lots is associated with at least one of the following;

(i) one of the plurality of additional geospatial location identifiers or (ii) one of the plurality of additional indications of requests for information; and

generate a plurality of additional user device markers associated with the set of users, each of the plurality of user device markers indicating one of the set of additional vehicle dealer lots,

wherein generating the map view data includes overlaying the plurality of additional user device markers on the representation of the map.

20. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein only one marker from (i) the user device marker or (ii) the plurality of additional user device marker is overlaid on the representation of the map for each of the set of additional vehicle dealer lots.