Location-based services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10728698-B2
Application number	US-201916706656-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2019
Priority date	May 27, 2005
Publication date	Jul 28, 2020
Grant date	Jul 28, 2020

Abstract

A method for providing incentives based on geolocation of mobile devices is discussed. The method includes determining a first location of a mobile device based on IP address, GPS signals, Wi-Fi signals, and/or cellular signals. The method includes communicating with a server to obtain first merchant data, for a first geofence for the first location, which is accessed to obtain a first merchant subset. The method includes displaying an interactive map interface, on the mobile device, indicating icons for the first merchant subset. The method includes determining an area of interest, based on a user input, which is used by communicating with a server to obtain second merchant data for a second geofence. The second merchant data is accessed to obtain a second subset of merchants for the second geofence. The method includes displaying, on user interface, icons associated with the second subset of merchants.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing incentives based on geolocation of mobile devices, the method comprising:
determining a first location of a mobile device of a user, said determining the first location based on one or more of an internet protocol (IP) address of the mobile device, Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Wi-Fi signals, and cellular signals accessed by the mobile device;
communicating with a server to obtain first merchant data for a first geofence associated with the first location;
accessing, from the first merchant data, a first subset of merchants for the first geofence;
displaying an interactive map on a user interface of the mobile device, the interactive map indicating a plurality of icons associated with the first subset of merchants;
determining an area of interest based on a user input via the user interface, the area of interest being different from an area associated with the first location;
communicating with the server to obtain second merchant data for a second geofence associated with the area of interest;
accessing, from the second merchant data, a second subset of merchants for the second geofence; and
displaying, in a list on the user interface, information associated with the second subset of merchants.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a user selection, via an input element of the interactive map, of a certain merchant of the first subset of merchants; and
effecting a delivery, via the user interface, of an incentive for the certain merchant.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, based on a user selection via the user interface, one or more incentives for a certain merchant of the second subset of merchants; and
displaying the one or more incentives in the user interface.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said displaying the information comprises displaying a second plurality of icons in the list on the user interface.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a user selection, via an input element of the list, of a certain merchant of the second subset of merchants; and
effecting a delivery via the user interface of an incentive for the certain merchant.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first geofence comprises an area proximate to the first location.

7. The method of claim 6 ,
wherein the second geofence comprises an area proximate to the area of interest; and
wherein the area proximate to the first location is different from the area proximate to the area of interest.

8. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions executable to cause performance of operations comprising:
displaying an interactive map on a software user interface of a mobile device, the interactive map at least for indicating locations and icons associated with merchants;
determining a first area of interest based on a first input, of a first input type, to the mobile device, the first input type associated with characteristics of the mobile device;
communicating with a server to obtain first merchant data for a first geofence associated with the first area of interest;
displaying, on the interactive map, a first plurality of icons associated with a first subset of merchants of the first merchant data;
determining a second area of interest based on a second input, of a second input type, to the mobile device, the second input type comprising one or more of first Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, first Wi-Fi signals, and first cellular signals accessed by the mobile device;
communicating with the server to obtain second merchant data for a second geofence associated with the second area of interest; and
indicating, on the software user interface, a second subset of merchants of the second merchant data using the interactive map instead of a list;
displaying, on the software user interface, a second plurality of icons associated with the second subset of merchants.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the first input type comprises an internet protocol (IP) address of the mobile device.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining, based on a user selection via the software user interface, one or more incentives for a certain merchant of the second subset of merchants; and
displaying the one or more incentives in the software user interface.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving a user selection via the software user interface, the user selection identifying the first area of interest; and
accessing detail related to the first subset of merchants associated with the first area of interest.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
accessing the second merchant data to determine one or more incentives for the second subset of merchants; and
displaying the one or more incentives in the software user interface.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
displaying, via the software user interface, an incentive associated with one merchant of the second subset of merchants.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the first geofence is an area that is defined based on proximity to the first area of interest.

15. A method for providing incentives based on geolocation of mobile devices, the method comprising:
determining a first location of a mobile device of a user, said determining the first location based on one or more of a first internet protocol (IP) address of the mobile device, first Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, first Wi-Fi signals, and first cellular signals accessed by the mobile device;
communicating with a server to obtain first merchant data for a first geofence associated with the first location;
accessing, from the first merchant data, a first subset of merchants within the first geofence;
determining whether to display, in a display of the mobile device, the first subset of merchants using a list interface or an interactive map interface;
in response to receiving a user input indicative of a map selection, displaying, via an interactive map interface on the display, a plurality of images corresponding to the first subset of merchants; and
in response to receiving a user selection, via the interactive map interface, of a certain merchant of the first subset of merchants, providing, via the display, an incentive related to the certain merchant.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
determining, based on a previous user selection via the display, one or more incentives related to the certain merchant; and
displaying the one or more incentives in the display, wherein said providing the incentive is further in response to selecting the incentive from the one or more incentives.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
in response to receiving another user input indicative of a list selection, displaying, via the list interface, information corresponding to the first subset of merchants.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first geofence comprises an area proximate to the first location.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of images comprises a plurality of icons that correspond to the first subset of merchants.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the p

Assignees

• Paypal Inc

Inventors

• Phillips Alan
• Schroth Frank
• Palmer Geoffrey M
• Zielinski Stefan G
• Smith Allen P
• Cunningham Iii Colin M

Classifications

• H04W4/14

  Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD] · CPC title

• G08B21/0261

  System arrangements wherein the object is to detect trespassing over a fixed physical boundary, e.g. the end of a garden · CPC title

• G06Q10/06311

  Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group · CPC title

• H04W92/08

  between user and terminal device · CPC title

• G08B21/0269

  System arrangements wherein the object is to detect the exact location of child or item using a navigation satellite system, e.g. GPS · CPC title