TRAVELOGUE-BASED CONTEXTUAL MAP GENERATION

• US 20110078575A1
• Filed: 09/29/2009
• Published: 03/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Yang, Jiangming, Chen, Xingrong, Xiao, Rong, Zhang, Lei
• Granted Patent: US 8,281,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/738
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases

Abstract

A map user interface control provides functionality for displaying a map in conjunction with the display of a Web page. The map control operates in combination with a location extraction component that analyzes the contents of the Web page to identify locations mentioned therein. Once the location extraction component has identified the locations mentioned in the Web page, a map is generated that encompasses the locations identified in the Web page. Once the map has been generated, the map control displays the map in conjunction with the display of the Web page. The map might include visual indicators corresponding to the locations mentioned in the Web page. The map might also include visual indicators corresponding to other locations near the locations identified in the Web page that have been identified using co-occurrence values generated through an analysis of a set of travelogues.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for travelogue-based contextual map generation, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for:

identifying one or more locations mentioned in a Web page; and

causing a map to be generated and displayed in conjunction with a display of the Web page, the map encompassing the identified locations.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the map further comprises visual indicators corresponding to one or more of the identified locations.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

generating co-occurrence values for the locations;

identifying one or more other locations using the co-occurrence values; and

causing visual indicators to be displayed on the map for the other locations identified using the co-occurrence values.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the Web page comprises program code for causing a map control to be executed when the Web page is rendered by a Web browser, the map control configured to display the map in conjunction with the display of the Web page.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein identifying one or more locations in a Web page comprises executing a location extraction component configured to identify the one or more locations in the Web page.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein generating co-occurrence values for the locations comprises executing a co-occurrence extraction component configured to generate the co-occurrence values utilizing the identified locations.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the Web page further comprises text, the text including the names of the locations.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the map is displayed in conjunction with the text.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the co-occurrence values comprise integer values specifying the number of times a first location and a second location are mentioned within the same travelogue for travelogues within the set of travelogues.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

execute a location extraction component configured to identify one or more locations in a Web page;

generate a map encompassing the identified locations; and

to

cause the map to be displayed in conjunction with a display of the Web page.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the map further comprises visual indicators corresponding to one or more of the identified locations.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the computer, will cause the computer to:

execute a co-occurrence extraction component to generate co-occurrence values for the locations;

identify one or more other locations using the co-occurrence values; and

cause visual indicators to be displayed on the map for the other locations identified using the co-occurrence values.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the Web page comprises program code for causing a map control to be executed when the Web page is rendered by a Web browser, the map control configured to display the map in conjunction with the display of the Web page.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the Web page further comprises text, the text including the names of the locations.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the map is displayed in conjunction with the text.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the co-occurrence values comprise integer values specifying the number of times a first location and a second location are mentioned within the same travelogue for travelogues within the set of travelogues.

17. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereupon, the computer-readable instructions being executable by a computer, and comprising:

a location extraction component configured to identify one or more locations in a Web page;

a map control configured to display a map encompassing the identified locations and including visual indicators corresponding to one or more of the identified locations; and

a Web page comprising program code for causing the map control to be executed when the Web page is rendered by a Web browser.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon comprising a co-occurrence extraction component configured to generate co-occurrence values for the locations and to identify one or more other locations using the co-occurrence values, and wherein the map control is further configured to display indicators on the map for the other locations identified using the co-occurrence values.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the Web page further comprises text, the text including the names of the locations.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the co-occurrence values comprise integer values specifying the number of times a first location and a second location are mentioned within the same travelogue for travelogues within the set of travelogues.