Ranking Internet Search Results Based on Number of Mobile Device Visits to Physical Locations Related to the Search Results
First Claim
1. A popularity-rating system using geo-position data collected from mobile devices comprising:
- a device geo-position database having geo-position data that indicate physical positions of mobile devices;
a location database having location entries that have a location identifier, a physical location corresponding to the location identifier, and a traffic score for the location identifier;
a traffic analyzer, coupled to read geo-position data from the device geo-position database, the traffic analyzer comparing geo-position data to the physical location in a matching location entry in the location database;
a count adjuster, coupled to the traffic analyzer, for updating the traffic score in the matching location entry when the traffic analyzer determines that the geo-position data for a mobile device is at the physical location for the matching location entry;
a location search engine, receiving search terms from a search client, for searching a search database of location entries using the search terms to generate a result set of location identifiers; and
a result sorter, coupled to receive the result set from the location search engine, using traffic scores from selected location entries in the location database that have location identifiers that correspond to the location identifiers in the result set, the result sorter generating a sorted list of the location identifiers in the result set;
wherein the sorted list of the location identifiers in the result set is sorted at least partially by values of the traffic scores for location identifiers in the result set, whereby search results are sorted using traffic scores of mobile devices having geo-positions at the physical locations for location identifiers in the sorted list.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An Internet search engine ranks search results based on popularity with mobile-device users. Geo-position data from cell phones and other mobile devices are collected into a device geo-position database. The geo-position data is compared to locations of businesses in a business database. When a mobile device'"'"'s geo-position moves inside a business location, a traffic counter for that business location in the business database is updated. When an Internet user performs a local search, the result set is sorted based on a rank that is at least partially determined by the traffic counters. The popularity-ranked search results indicate which businesses received the most mobile-device visits, an indication of the business'"'"'s overall popularity. The popularity ranking may be adjusted for business size by dividing the traffic counter by the square footage of the business and sorting the result set based on the mobile-device visits, or repeat visits, per square foot.
414 Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A popularity-rating system using geo-position data collected from mobile devices comprising:
-
a device geo-position database having geo-position data that indicate physical positions of mobile devices;
a location database having location entries that have a location identifier, a physical location corresponding to the location identifier, and a traffic score for the location identifier;
a traffic analyzer, coupled to read geo-position data from the device geo-position database, the traffic analyzer comparing geo-position data to the physical location in a matching location entry in the location database;
a count adjuster, coupled to the traffic analyzer, for updating the traffic score in the matching location entry when the traffic analyzer determines that the geo-position data for a mobile device is at the physical location for the matching location entry;
a location search engine, receiving search terms from a search client, for searching a search database of location entries using the search terms to generate a result set of location identifiers; and
a result sorter, coupled to receive the result set from the location search engine, using traffic scores from selected location entries in the location database that have location identifiers that correspond to the location identifiers in the result set, the result sorter generating a sorted list of the location identifiers in the result set;
wherein the sorted list of the location identifiers in the result set is sorted at least partially by values of the traffic scores for location identifiers in the result set, whereby search results are sorted using traffic scores of mobile devices having geo-positions at the physical locations for location identifiers in the sorted list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A computerized method for rating businesses comprising:
-
automatically obtaining geo-position data points indicating positions of mobile devices, each geo-position data point having a geo-position and a time and a device identifier that uniquely identifies a mobile device;
for each geo-position data point;
comparing the geo-position to business locations stored in a business database to find a matching entry, the matching entry having a business location that overlaps with the geo-position, the matching entry also having a business name and a mobile-device-traffic counter;
detecting a boundary crossing when the mobile device has crossed a boundary of the business location by detecting when the geo-position of the mobile device first overlaps the business location or no longer overlaps the business location;
updating the mobile-device-traffic counter in the matching entry when the boundary crossing is detected when the mobile device has crossed the boundary of the business location;
receiving search terms from a search user on a network;
searching a search database for entries that satisfy the search terms to generate a result set of entries;
sorting the entries in the result set using the mobile-device-traffic counters; and
displaying ranked entries from the result set to the search user, whereby mobile-device-traffic counters assist in ranking search results. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A computer-program product comprising:
-
a computer-usable medium having computer-executable program code means embodied therein for ranking businesses using mobile-device geo-position data, the computer-executable program code means in the computer-program product comprising;
geo-position read means for reading geo-position events that contain time, geo-position, and device ID data for mobile devices including mobile phones;
position compare means for comparing geo-positions from the geo-position events to business locations and locating a matching business record when a geo-position is within a business location;
counter update means for updating a traffic counter for the matching business record to account for a visit by a mobile-device-carrying customer;
weighting means for weighting values of traffic counters;
search means, receiving search requests from users, for finding result business locations in response to the search requests; and
sort means, coupled to the search means, for sorting the result business locations into a sorted order of the result business names, wherein the traffic counters for the resulting business locations are used to order the result business locations into the sorted order for display to the users, whereby business locations are ranked using traffic counters updated by geo-position events for mobile devices. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
-
Specification