Interest mapping system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9706345-B2
Application number	US-96981508-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 4, 2008
Priority date	Jan 4, 2008
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

Apparatus, interfaces, and computer instructions are provided for establishing an association between a user and a declared interest, such as a brand or some other subject, and for generating a map to display the interests of one or more users. An association is established between an interest identifier, a user, and target object selected based upon an action of the user. The target object may include a location that may be specified by coordinates. The action may include selection of the at least one location by the user. Selection may include selecting a user interface feature that causes the at least one location to be selected based upon a geographical position of the user. The position may be determined by a Global Positioning System device carried by the user. Techniques are also disclosed for identifying people who are potentially interested in a given interest, or in a second interest related to a first interest, based on previously established interest-location-user associations.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tangibly storing thereon computer readable instructions for a method, the method comprising:
receiving, over a network, a first interest associated with a first user, the first interest comprising a brand, the receiving of the first interest comprising retrieving the first interest from a profile in a social network and associated with the first user;
receiving, over the network, an affinity value from the first user, the affinity value representing a degree to which the first user likes the first interest on a numeric scale;
receiving, over the network, a location selected based upon an action of the first user;
establishing an association between the first interest, the location, and the first user;
detecting, over the network, an association of a second user with the location and a second interest;
in response to detecting an association of a second user with the location and the second interest, determining a numeric value representing strength of a relation between the second interest and the first interest, wherein determining the numeric value representing the strength of a relation between the second interest and first interest is based on, at least in part, a relationship distance between the first user and the second user in the social network, the relationship distance determined by a distance between the first user and the second user in a social network graph;
determining that the numeric value for the strength of the relation is greater than a defined threshold; and
in response to determining that the numeric value for the strength of the relation is greater than a defined threshold, transmitting, over the network, a user interface to the second user, the user interface displaying a suggestion indicating that the second user has a potential interest in the first interest, the suggestion further comprising a plurality of companies or businesses relating to the first interest.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the first interest comprises a person, a place, a thing, or a combination thereof.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the first interest further comprises a product, service, or combination thereof.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the first interest refers to a subject of interest to the first user.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the location is specified by absolute coordinates, relative coordinates, name, or a combination thereof.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the action comprises selection of the location by the first user.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein selection comprises selecting a user interface feature that causes the location to be selected based upon a geographical position of the first user.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the geographical position is determined by a Global Positioning System device carried by the first user.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein selection comprises receiving the location in a user interface of a device.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein selection comprises receiving selection of the location, and the location is selected from a map displayed on the device.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein selection comprises presence of the first user within a threshold distance of the location, wherein presence of the first user within a threshold distance is determined based upon geographical coordinates provided by a GPS device associated with the first user.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the first interest is selected by the first user.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions for receiving an affinity of the first user for the first interest, wherein the affinity indicates whether the first user likes the first interest.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions for:
receiving a time specifier selected based upon an action of the first user; and
associating the time specifier with the first interest, the location, and the first user.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the time specifier comprises an absolute time, a relative time, a range of time, or a combination thereof.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein establishing an association between the first interest, location, and the first user comprises storing the association in an interest profile associated with the first user, the location, or the interest.

17. A computing device comprising:
a processor;
a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising:
logic executed by the processor for receiving, over a network, a first interest associated with a first user, the first interest comprising a brand, the receiving of the first interest comprising retrieving the first interest from a profile in a social network and associated with the first user;
logic executed by the processor for receiving, over the network, an affinity value from the first user, the affinity value representing a degree to which the first user likes the first interest on a numeric scale;
logic executed by the processor for receiving, over the network, a location selected based upon an action of the first user;
logic executed by the processor for establishing an association between the first interest, the location, and the first user;
logic executed by the processor for detecting, over the network, an association of a second user with the location and a second interest;
logic executed by the processor for in response to detecting an association of the second user with the location and the second interest, determining a numeric value representing strength of a relation between the second interest and the first interest, wherein determining the numeric value representing strength of a relation between the second interest and first interest is based on, at least in part, a relationship distance between the first user and the second user in a social network, the relationship distance determined by a distance between the first user and the second user in a social network graph;
logic executed by the processor for determining that the numeric value for the strength of the relation is greater than a defined threshold; and
logic executed by the processor for, in response to determining that the numeric value for the strength of the relation is greater than a defined threshold, transmitting, over the network, a user interface to the second user, the user interface displaying a suggestion indicating that the second user has a potential interest in the first interest, the suggestion further comprising a plurality of companies or businesses relating to the first interest.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the first interest comprises a person, a place, a thing, or a combination thereof.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the first interest further comprises a product, service, or combination thereof.

20. The apparatus

Assignees

• Davis Marc E
• Higgins Christopher W
• O'Sullivan Joseph
• Athsani Athellina
• Jaffe Christopher S
• Martinez Ron
• Excalibur Ip Llc

Inventors

• Davis Marc E
• Higgins Christopher W
• O'Sullivan Joseph
• Athsani Athellina
• Jaffe Christopher S
• Martinez Ron

Classifications

• H04W4/185

  by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging · CPC title

• H04L67/306

  User profiles · CPC title

• H04W4/027

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title

• H04W8/18

  Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data · CPC title

• H04W4/023

  using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds · CPC title