Method and system for prioritizing points of interest for display in a map using category score

• US 8,713,004 B1
• Filed: 08/26/2011
• Issued: 04/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Hands, Brent Alexander, Lee, Nicholas John
• Primary Examiner(s): Reyes, Mariela
• Assistant Examiner(s): Liu, Hexing
• Application Number:
  US13/219,535
• Time in Patent Office: 977 Days
• Field of Search: 707/724, 707/725, 707/727, 707/740, 707/752, 707/706, 707/710
• US Class Current: 707/727
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries

Abstract

Systems, methods, and machine-readable media for prioritizing points of interest for display in a map based on the categories associated with each of the points of interest have been described. In certain aspects, the system may include a logging module, a category module, and a ranking module. The logging module may be configured to obtain a plurality of user interactions associated with a one or more categories. The category module may be configured to increment a category count for each category associated with the user interaction for each user interaction of the plurality of user interactions and calculate a category score for the each category of one or more categories based on the category count for each category of the one or more categories. The ranking module may be configured to calculate a priority score for each of the points of interest based on category scores for the one or more categories associated with each of the points of interest.

Claims

1. A method for prioritizing points of interest for display in a map, wherein the points of interest are associated with one or more categories, the method comprising:

detecting a plurality of user selections of at least one point of interest associated with one or more categories in a set of categories;

for each category in the set of categories;

calculating a number of user selections associated with the category,

determining a number of points of interest associated with the category,

calculating an adjusted number of points of interest associated with the category by adding a predetermined number of points of interest to the number of points of interest associated with the category;

determining an expected number of user selections for the predetermined number of points of interest;

calculating an adjusted number of selections associated with the category by adding the expected number of user selections to the number of user selections associated with the category;

determining a category score for the category based on the adjusted number of points of interest associated with the category and the adjusted number of user selections associated with the category; and

calculating a priority score for each point of interest in the at least one point of interest based on a plurality of factors, the plurality of factors including an average category score for the one or more categories associated with the point of interest;

prioritizing, using a processor, the at least one point of interest for display in the map based on the priority score for each point of interest.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each user interaction of the plurality of user selections is associated with a particular point of interest, and wherein calculating a number of user selections associated with the category comprises:

for each user interaction of the plurality of user selections associated with the particular point of interest;

identifying a category associated with the particular point of interest, and

incrementing a category count for the category associated with the particular point of interest.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein prioritizing the points of interest for display in the map based on the category scores for the one or more categories associated with each of the points of interest comprises:

calculating an average category score for each point of interest based on the category scores for the one or more categories associated with the point of interest;

prioritizing each point of interest for display in the map based on the average category core for the point of interest.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of categories belong to a hierarchical graph of categories.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a category designated as a low display importance category;

determining if the category score of the category with the low display importance exceeds a predetermined threshold; and

setting the category score of the category with the low display importance to the predetermined threshold if the category score of the category with the low display importance exceeds the predetermined threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of user selections are user interactions selections associated with a single geographical area.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of user selections are collected at random over a predetermined period of time.

8. A system for prioritizing a points of interest for display in a map, wherein the points of interest are associated with one or more categories, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by the one or more processors, the instructions comprising;

a logging module configured to obtain a plurality of user selections of points of interest associated with a one or more categories in a set of categories;

a category module configured to;

for each user interaction of the plurality of user selections, increment a category count for each category associated with the user interaction, and

for each category in the set of categories;

calculate a number of user selections associated with the category,

determine a number of points of interest associated with the category,

calculate an adjusted number of points of interest associated with the category by adding a predetermined number of points of interest to the number of points of interest associated with the category;

determine an expected number of user selections for the predetermined number of points of interest;

calculate an adjusted number of selections associated with the category by adding the expected number of user selections to the number of user selections associated with the category;

determine a category score for the category based on the adjusted number of points of interest associated with the category and the adjusted number of user selections associated with the category; and

calculate a priority score for each point of interest in the at least one point of interest based on a plurality of factors, the plurality of factors including an average category score for the one or more categories associated with the point of interest;

a ranking module configured to calculate a priority score for each of the points of interest.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a mapping module to designate points of interest to be displayed on the map based on the priority score of each of the points of interest.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the category module is configured to:

identify a category designated as a low display importance category;

determine if the category score of the category with the low display importance exceeds a predetermined threshold; and

set the category score of the category with the low display importance to the predetermined threshold if the category score of the category with the low display importance exceeds the predetermined threshold.

11. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

obtaining a set of points of interest (POI) listings, each POI listing of the set of POI listings associated with one or more categories;

for each category in the one or more categories;

calculating a number of user selections of points of interest associated with the category,

determining a number of POI listings associated with the category,

calculating an adjusted number of POI associated with the category by adding a predetermined number of POI to the number of POI associated with the category;

determining an expected number of user selections for the predetermined number of POI;

calculating an adjusted number of selections associated with the category by adding the expected number of user selections to the number of user selections associated with the category;

determining a category score for the category based on the adjusted number of POI associated with the category and the adjusted number of user selections associated with the category; and

calculating a priority score for each POI in the at least one POI based on a plurality of factors, the plurality of factors including an average category score for the one or more categories associated with the POI;

prioritizing each POI listing for display on a map based on the priority score for each POI.