System and method for location based content correlation

• US 8,856,038 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2010
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Barresse, James, Pritchett, Dan L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Garg, Yogesh C
• Application Number:
  US12/945,579
• Publication Number:
  US 20110117928A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,425 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.1, 705/26.41, 705/26.9, 705/14.42, 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 705/26.41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A method and a system to correlate location and content. For example, data is received from a client device that includes current geographical position data identifying a geographical position of the client device. A vendor having a geographical location within a specified distance of the geographical position of the client device is identified. An offer from the vendor within the distance of the client device is returned to the client device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating, on a server and based at least in part on a received start point and a received end point, a route of travel between the start point and the end point;

receiving, at the server, data transmitted by a client device, the data including current geographical position data identifying the geographical position of the client device;

identifying, responsive to the data transmitted by the client device and received on the server, a vendor having a geographical location within a specified distance of the geographical position of the client device and within a specified proximity to the route of travel;

receiving, on the server, output from an automated watching service operating separately from the server; and

returning, from the server to the client device, a promotional offer available from the vendor identified as being within the specified distance of the client device and within the specified proximity to the route of travel, wherein he promotional offer is selected at least in part based on the output received from the watching service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data transmitted by the client device is hyperlinked content.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising extracting the current geographical position data from the hyperlinked content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a vendor comprises:

accessing a database of vendor data using the current geographical position data, wherein each vendor in the database of vendor data is associated with geographic data corresponding to a location of each vendor; and

retrieving information related to the vendor having a location within the specified distance of the client device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the current geographical position data is rendered by triangulation of the client device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the current geographical position data is rendered by a global positioning system (GPS) and includes longitude, latitude, and altitude.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the client device, a selection of the promotional offer from the identified vendor; and

providing, to the client device, directions to a location of the vendor.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the data received from the client device further includes a selection of at least one of a good and a service, and wherein the identifying a vendor comprises determining a vendor within the specified distance of the current geographical position data that has the at least one of a good and a service.

9. A system comprising:

means for receiving, on a server, route data defining a route of travel;

means for receiving, on the server, data transmitted by a client device, the data including current geographical position data identifying the geographical position of the client device;

means for identifying, responsive, to the data transmitted by the client device, a vendor having a geographical location within a specified distance of the geographical position of the client device and within a specified proximity to the route of travel;

means for receiving, on the server, output from an automated watching service operating independently of the server; and

means for returning, from the server to the client device, a promotional offer available from the vendor identified as being within the distance of the client device and within the specified proximity to the route of travel, wherein the promotional offer is selected at least in part based on the output received from the watching service.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the data transmitted by the client device is hyperlinked content.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising means for extracting the current geographical position data from the hyperlinked content.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein means for identifying the vendor comprises:

means for accessing a database of vendor data using the current geographical position data, wherein each vendor in the database of vendor data is associated with geographic data corresponding to a location of the each vendor; and

means for retrieving information related to the vendor having a location within the specified distance of the client device.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the current geographical position data is rendered by triangulation of the client device.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the current geographical position data is rendered by a global positioning system (GPS), and the current geographical position data includes longitude, latitude, and altitude.

15. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

means for receiving a selection of the promotional offer from the identified vendor; and

means for providing, to the client device, directions to a location of the vendor.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the data received from the client device further includes a selection of at least one of a good and a service, and wherein the means for identifying the vendor comprises determining a vendor within the specified distance of the client device that has the at 1east one of a good and a service.