Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WEB PRESENCE FOR ONE OR MORE GEOGRAPHICAL
LOCATIONS
BACKGROUND
[001] Cross-Reference to Related Applications
[002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent
Application Ser. No. 61/601,847,
filed on February 22, 2012, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated
by reference in its
entirety. This application also is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/667,678,
filed on November 2, 2012, which in turn claims the benefit of U.S.
Provisional Patent Application Ser.
No. 61/554,634, filed on November 2, 2011, the content of both of which are
hereby incorporated by
reference in their entirety.
[003] Field of the Invention
[004] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to web presence,
and, in particular, to
a system and method for customizable web presence based upon geographic
location of a client
browser.
[005] Description of Related Art
[006] People spend significant time consuming information on their handheld
computing devices
while they are traveling and visiting different geographical locations.
Businesses are missing out on
the opportunity this presents to engage with their visiting customers through
their mobile phones
during these occurrences in a centralized, streamlined, fast, efficient, and
effective way. Instead they
spend more time and resources trying to engage with these customers through
social pages,
inefficient location-based web presences, and similar location-based and non-
location-based social
media at various points in time. They are then left to try to accurately
figure out what these same
=
consumers are spending and how loyal they really are. There is no explicit way
of determining their
return on investment ("ROI") on social pages and the other mentioned media
efforts because when
the social page user leaves the social web page, the user is not tracked in a
centralized, streamlined,
accurate, efficient, and effective way as the user visits one of the social
page owner's various physical
locations and interacts with business representatives, make various on-site
purchases, etc.
[0C/7] In addition, consumers need access to information that is more relevant
to the geographical
locations they are visiting. Many times only the location owners can provide
the relevant information,
or the information can only be provided by some combination of the location
owners and location
community.
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[008] Furthermore, policy or information may differ among different
geographical locations
belonging to the same organization. The existing global public networking/web
infrastructure
approach may fail to effectively accommodate these differences at some scales.
For example,
individual franchise owners may be questioned about their participation
regarding a coupon or sales
event sponsored by a franchisor or other franchisee. This is currently
difficult to communicate to loyal
or new customers.
[009] Existing systems do not allow for multiple geographical locations to
receive shared elements
of a customized web presence. This can become cumbersome for larger
organizations with multiple
locations that wish to offer the same or similar presence content wherein
"content" is intended to
refer to web-based information, products, services, or any combination
thereof. This makes it equally
difficult for communities of various geographical locations to manage their
own presences and
content.
[0010] Existing systems do not allow for public and/or community-generated and
managed
geographical location-based web presences and related content.
[0011] Existing systems do not allow for default presence creation for
verified geographical
locations.
[0012] Existing systems assume that geographical location's presence creator
is also the location
owner, and therefore hinder rapid proliferation of geographical location-based
web presences and
prevents unbiased content and transparency also known as a unified location
voice as provided
through a presence created by either the location's owner, visitors, or both.
[0013] Therefore, a need exists to provide a more customizable web presence to
customers or
potential customers based upon their geographic location, in order to provide
more targeted and
specific information to users, gain valuable real-time insight on performance
metrics at different
locations, and ultimately improved customer satisfaction and improved sales.
SUMMARY
[0014] The invention provides the option for open access to the described
geographical location-
based web presence content, allows such content to be created by anyone based
on location
verification and user anti-spain qualification algorithms. Open access may
include an ability for an
anonymous user (i.e., a user who has not provided identification or login
credentials) to receive
substantially any information available to users. However, a terminal (e.g., a
smartphone) of an
anonymous user may still be tracked by way of an identifier such as an II'
address, or a range of IP
addresses that the terminal is a member of, or geographic location derived
from the user's terminal. In
some embodiments, an anonymous user may be able to provide or upload a
predetermined category
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of information, whereas a user who has logged in may be able to provide or
upload a larger category
or more numerous categories of information. Relevant information may be
determined at least in part
by proximity of the user to a physical location of a business corresponding to
the domain owner.
[0015] Embodiments enable a legitimate location owner or representative to
claim and manage some
or all of a community-generated presence, leaving the option for transparency
and accuracy in
location-related content. This is specific to chosen invention implementation.
A legitimate location
owner may be known as a rightful business owner or property owner of the
physical location, as
opposed to a cyber squatter or spoofer.
[0016] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide improved
geographical
location-based information, products, and services to be created by both the
location owners and non-
owners alike. Owners that create or claim geographical location-based web
information, products and
services may or may not be able to assume control over what web page
information, products, and
services the community created for the geographical location.
[0017] Furthermore, embodiments provide a system and method for rating
informational accuracy.
A piece of content or information, created by one user for the available
presence, may be rated by
later users.
[0018] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention may allow a
presence administrator
to designate one or more geographic locations for rapid presence syndication
(i.e., updates) and
context or "instance" assignment.
[0019] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention allow an owner of
a web presence
operating in multiple geographical locations to share a foundational web
presence, from which an
instance of the web presence is generated that may then be customized with
information and/or
context specific to a geographic location. Providing instances of a web
presence in this way enables
providing geographical location-based web presence and related data management
and modification
without affecting the web presence instances at other geographic locations.
Embodiments provide an
efficient system and method to change either a specific web presence instance,
or to change a
foundational web presence for a group of related web presences. In some
embodiments, the
foundational web presence is used as a template from which other geographic-
specific web presences
are derived. A set of geographic-specific web presences may be stored, and
when a user requests to
view or interact with the web presence of the location owner, one of the
stored web presences may be
selected and presented to the user based upon the user's geographic location.
Alternatively, when a
user requests to view or interact with the web presence of the location owner,
the user's geographic
location may be determined and a web presence is dynamically generated based
upon the user's
geographic location. Dynamic generation may provide more fine-grained control
of how the user's
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geographic location affects the web presence the user sees. The user may
interact with the web
presence (e g., by posting comments, requesting support, etc.), and whether
the interactions are made
publicly accessible and/or their public content is under control of the owner
of the web presence, and
in particular under the control of the owner of the geographically nearest or
most geographically-
specific web presence.
[0020] Some embodiments may provide a hierarchy of web presence foundations.
For example, a
global company (e.g., auto maker) might have a single, world-wide web presence
foundation.
Building on that, the auto maker might have a series of nation-specific web
presence foundations that
might describe products offered in the respective nations. A nation-specific
web presence would not
be available to all web users world-wide. Instead, a web user's geographic
location would be
determined, and a web foundation specific to the nation in which the web user
is located would be
provided to the web user.
[0021] Next level down may be (in the U.S.) state-level or marketing-region
level web presences
(e.g., "your tri-state Ford dealers"). A marketing-region level web presence
would be available only to
web users who are physically within the marketing-region. The web user's
geographic location would
he determined, and a web foundation specific to the marketing region in which
the web user is
located would be provided to the web user. If a web user is in a geographic
location that is not within
a marketing region (or is otherwise not within a defined geographic domain of
the present level of the
hierarchy), a web foundation of a higher level of the hierarchy may be
supplied to the web user.
[0022] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention may allow for one
web presence (e.g.,
one member of a hierarchy) to be used as a template, starting point or the
like for one or more other
web presences (e.g., one or more members of a different level of the
hierarchy), such that the web
presences are customized for the geographic location of a user viewing the web
presence. Levels of
the hierarchy have different owners. The user would then interact with the
most geographically-
specific web presence owner.
[0023] Next level down, to an actual instance, may be a web presence instance
for an individual auto
dealer. An auto dealer web presence would be available only to web users who
arc physically within
the sales region of the specific auto dealer. The web user's geographic
location would be determined,
and a web foundation specific to the sales region in which the web user is
located would be provided
to the web user. Physical distance from the web user to an auto dealer may be
used instead to
determine which web presence instance to server to the web user.
Alternatively, a user may be shown
a listing of all dealers within a predetermined distance from the user, and
the user given an
opportunity to select from among the available auto dealers.
[0024] In some situations (e.g., for certain types of business), a hierarchy
may be carried down even
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further to a web presence instance for individual sales agents, for example a
web presence for an
individual Coldwell Banker real estate agent. Selection of an individual agent
whose web presence
instance is provided to a web user may be based on geographic location of the
web user and sales
territories of the sales agents. If sales territories overlap, then secondary
considerations gleaned from
the social presence of the web user and/or sales agents may be used to select
a preferred match.
[0025] By combining a physical location with a web site in such a way that
harnesses the benefits of
both, embodiments of the invention provide an infrastructure for a more
effective and efficient
modern marketplace for consumers and businesses.
[0026] To accomplish the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative
aspects are described herein
in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These
aspects are indicative
of the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein can be practiced
and all aspects and
equivalents thereof are intended to be within the scope of the claimed subject
matter. Other
advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed
description when
considered in conjunction with the drawings.
[0027] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide a system
and method to
provide customizable web content, the method including: receiving an access
request from a user for
a predetermined entity; receiving an identity of a geographic location of the
user; selecting a web
presence for the entity, wherein the web presence corresponds to the
geographic location of the user;
customizing the web presence to produce a customized web content; and
providing the customized
web content to the user.
[0028] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide a system
to provide
customizable web content, the system including: a web server; a presence
server that is
communicatively coupled to the web server; a user interface module configured
to receive an access
request from a user for a predetermined entity; a position-determination
module configured to
receive an identity of a geographic location of the user; and a processor
coupled to a memory,
wherein the processor is configured to perform the steps of: communicating the
geographic location
to the presence server; receiving one or more presences from the presence
server for the entity,
wherein the web presence corresponds to the geographic location of the user;
and customizing the
web presence to produce a customized web content, wherein the web server is
configured to provide
the customized web content to the user.
[00291 The preceding is a simplified summary of embodiments of the disclosure
to provide an
understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is neither an
extensive nor exhaustive
overview of the disclosure and its various embodiments. It is intended neither
to identify key or
critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of the
disclosure but to present selected
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concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as an introduction to the more
detailed description
presented below. As will be appreciated, other embodiments of the disclosure
are possible utilizing,
alone or in combination, one or more of the features set forth above or
described in detail below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0030] The above and still further features and advantages of the present
invention will become
apparent upon consideration cif the following detailed description of
embodiments thereof, especially
when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like
reference numerals in the
various figures are utilized to designate like components, and wherein:
[0031] FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a system in accordance with an
embodiment of the
present invention;
[0032] FIG. 2 illustrates at a high level of abstraction a process to access
presence information, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0033] FIG. 3 illustrates at a relatively lower level of abstraction a process
of presence access and
registration, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0034] FIG. 4A illustrates at a high level of abstraction a process of
Presence registration and control
via API user, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0035] FIG. 4B illustrates at a lower level of abstraction a process of
Presence registration and control
via non-API user, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0036] FIG. 5 illustrates an initial user interface for presence list control
and registration, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0037] FIG. 6 illustrates a more populated user interface for presence list
control and registration, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and
[0038] FIG. 7 illustrates a menu tree of a user interface in accordance with
an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0039] The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are
not meant to be used
to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this
application, the word
"may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to),
rather than the mandatory
sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include", "including", and
"includes" mean
including but not limited to. To facilitate understanding, like reference
numerals have been used,
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where possible, to designate like elements common to the figures. Optional
portions of the figures
may be illustrated using dashed or dotted lines, unless the context of usage
indicates otherwise.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0040] The disclosure will be illustrated below in conjunction with an
exemplary communication
system. Although well suited for use with, e.g., a system using a server(s)
and/or database(s), the
disclosure is not limited to use with any particular type of communication
system or configuration of
system elements. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed
techniques may be used in
substantially any communication application in which it is desirable to
utilize web presence.
[0041] The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure will also be
described in relation to
software, modules, and associated hardware. However, to avoid unnecessarily
obscuring the present
disclosure, the following description omits well-known structures, components
and devices that may
be shown in block diagram form, are well known, or are otherwise summarized.
[0042] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are
set forth in order to
provide a thorough understanding of embodiments or other examples described
herein. In some
contexts, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not
been described in
detail, so as to not obscure the following description. Further, the examples
disclosed are for
exemplary purposes only and other examples may be employed in lieu of, or in
combination with, the
examples disclosed. It should also be noted the examples presented herein
should not be construed
as limiting of the scope of embodiments of the present invention, as other
equally effective examples
are possible and likely.
[0043] As used herein, the term "location owner" refers generally to an entity
associated with a
physical location. For example, a location owner may be a domain name owner or
web entity owner
or a trademark owner. For example, if a user is at a shopping mall, and more
particularly if the user is
within a store at the shopping mall, the location owner associated with the
user's geographic location
may be the domain name owner of the store in which the user is physically
located. In another
example, suppose that company "A" owns restaurants that operate under names
"B" and "C". A
diner at restaurant "B" may see the owner of a geographically-specific
presence of "B" as the most
geographically-specific location owner, but the owner of a geographically-
specific presence of "A"
may also be viewed as a location owner. If the user is at a shopping mall but
not in a particular store
(e.g., in an atrium or food court), the location owner may be a domain name
owner associated with
the shopping mall itself.
[0044] As used herein, the term "location community" refers generally to a set
of users who
repeatedly visit, use or patronize a particular location.
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[0045] As used herein, the term "module" refers generally to a logical
sequence or association of
steps, processes or components. For example, a software module may comprise a
set of associated
routines or subroutines within a computer program. Alternatively, a module may
comprise a
substantially self-contained hardware device. A module may also comprise a
logical set of processes
irrespective of any software or hardware implementation.
[0046] The term "computer-readable medium" as used herein refers to any
tangible storage and/or
transmission medium that participates in storing and/or providing instructions
to a processor for
execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to,
non-volatile media,
volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for
example, NVRAM, or
magnetic or optical disks. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as
main memory. Common
forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a
flexible disk, hard disk,
magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, a CD-ROM,
any other
optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with
patterns of holes, RAM,
PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, solid state medium like a memory card, any other
memory chip or
cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from
which a computer can
read. A digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained information
archive or set of archives
is considered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium.
When the computer-
readable media is configured as a database, it is to be understood that the
database may be any type
of database, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the
like. Accordingly, the
disclosure is considered to include a tangible storage medium or distribution
medium and prior art-
recognized equivalents and successor media, in which the software
implementations of the present
disclosure are stored.
[0047] As used herein, the terms "business" or "businesses" are not limited to
for-profit commercial
establishments. Unless clearly indicated explicitly or by the surrounding
context, businesses may
include substantially any entity that interacts either uni-directionally or hi-
directionally with
members of the public. This will include for-profit commercial establishments
of any structure (e.g.,
incorporated, LLC, partnership, sole proprietor, etc.), non-profit groups,
charities, educational
institutions, religious institutions, governmental bodies, associations (e.g.,
VFW, chamber of
commerce, etc.), and so forth.
[0048] As used herein, the term "instance" refers to a clone or copy of a
foundational website (i.e., an
initial or parent web presence whose components will he useful at all
locations). For a distinct
location having an. associated instance, cusiom components and data may be
added that do not affect
instance=_. at other locations. Businesses may then be left to try to
accurately figure out spending habits
of these same consumers and how loyal are the customers.
[0049] As used herein, the term "web presence instance" refers to a clone of
the web presence and
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related content that may or may not share a same database or database
elements. Database and
database elements may refer to database table structure, field names, field
type, existing data, table
types (e.g., one-to-many, many-to-many, etc.) and so forth, which may be
needed to serve the
intended web presence. A web presence instance may be used to provide a
similar web presence at
multiple locations in such a way that allows for the subsequent modification
to the web presence and
its content without affecting the web presence itself or substantially any
other generated web
presence instances available at various geographical locations. A web presence
instance may also be
available at a single or multiple locations, and functions substantially the
same as a "web presence."
Therefore, the term "web presence instance" may be used interchangeably herein
when referring to a
web presence."
[0050] People often spend significant time consuming information on their
handheld computing
devices while they are traveling and visiting different geographical
locations. Businesses may miss
out on opportunities this presents to engage with customers or potential
customers (generically,
"customers"). In particular, businesses miss an opportunity to engage with
customers through their
customers' mobile phones as the customers visit different geographical
locations. Engagement
through mobile technology would offer a centralized, streamlined, fast,
efficient, and effective way to
engage. Instead, businesses spend more time and resources than necessary
trying to engage with
these mobile customers through social pages, inefficient or unfocussed
location-based web presences,
and similar location-based and non-location-based social media at various
moments.
[0051] Businesses have no explicit way of determining their return on
investment ("ROI") on social
pages and the other mentioned media efforts because there is no known way to
track sales results at
physical stores and link the sales to social media interactions in a
centralized, streamlined, accurate,
efficient, and effective manner. For example, when a social page user leaves a
social web page and
physically visits a physical location of the business associated with the
social web page (i.e., a "bricks
and mortar store"), and is interacting with representatives of that business
(e.g., making on-site
purchases, and other quantifiable consumer actions), such interaction is not
tracked in a centralized,
streamlined, accurate, efficient, and effective way.
[0052] In addition, consumers often need access to information that is
relevant to their present
geographical location. For example, a consumer may be visiting from out of
town, and needs
information (e.g., for shopping, restaurants, gas stations, emergency
services, etc.) that many times
only the location owners can provide or that can only be provided by some
combination of the
location owners and location conununity.
[0053] Furthermore, specific organizational issues may exist relating to
differences in the validity or
relevancy of information among different geographical locations belonging to
the same organization.
The existing global public inter networking/ web infrastructure approach fails
to effectively
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accommodate these differences across geographic regions. For example,
individual franchise owners
are often questioned about their participation regarding a coupon or sales
event sponsored by a
franchisor or competitor franchisee. Such differences among franchisees across
different geographic
regions are currently difficult to communicate to loyal or new customers.
Embodiments in accordance
with the present invention provide a system and method to deliver information
that is valid and
relevant to the consumer's geographic location, in order to more efficiently
augment their physical
experience.
[0054] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention mitigate these
problems by providing
a centralized, streamlined, effective, and efficient web presence for one or
more geographical
locations, such that the web presence is customized and easily accessible to a
visitor based on the
visitor's location. In some embodiments, the customization may also take into
account related factors
such as a location of the business that is nearest to the customer, or the
proximity of the customer to
the business. In some embodiments, the web presence may be associated with a
category of
businesses (e.g., restaurants, or restaurants at Times Square, etc.) or with
the location itself (e.g., a
landmark, a national park, traffic jam alerts along a particular highway, map-
based listing of selected
categories of establishments, etc). Embodiments may provide these benefits to
a visitor automatically
and without requiring in advance that the visitor be registered to receive
these benefits.
[0055] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention also provide
discovery augmentation,
which acts to combine a physical location with a web location. Discovery
augmentation provides a
hybrid type of website that augments (i.e., adds to) a physical discovery or
learning experience at a
physical location. Embodiments facilitate entire websites to be developed for
a specific location but in
such a way that a visiting world wide web user can use a starting template to
expedite and make the
process easier for subsequent web sites, like a factory stamping metaphorical
widgets. Businesses at
the physical locations may need their own websites to be customized to the
geographic surroundings,
just as much as the businesses need signage decor for the same location.
Embodiments provide
mobile sites for a mobile era. A template may be used to save global content
that is COI-11111On to all
users of the template, then the template is cloned (i.e., a copy is created
for customization) such that
the information in the clone may be separately managed.
[0056] A web presence in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention may contain
content relative to the geographical location and/or its nearby surroundings.
Content may be
customizable to an individual user or user type based on the user's location,
the nearest location of
the owner of the web presence, and/or the distance between the user and the
owner of the web
presence. Such content of the web presence content may include substantially
any type of information
and/or products and/or services commonly available through similar web sites
such as privately
owned and/or community-driven information and services. For example, a
particular web presence
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II
may provide ecommerce service content to users that visit a geographical
location and access the
location's relatively unique geographical location-based web presence or other
services like social
media services, tourism and traveler information, and so forth.
[0057] FIG. 1 illustrates at a high level of abstraction a system 100, in
accordance with an
embodiment of the invention. For sake of clarity, FIG. 1 may include
illustration of some external
items which are not part of system 100, but rather are designed to interface
with system 100. For
example, some elements of system 100 may be interconnected directly or
indirectly by wide area
network ("WAN") 101, but system 100 does not necessarily include WAN 101
itself. Instead, system
100 may include appropriate receivers, transmitters, transceivers, routers,
hubs, gateways, firewalls,
etc. (not explicitly illustrated in FIG. 1) as known in the art in order to
communicate via WAN 101.
[0058] Some embodiments in accordance with the present invention may include a
hierarchical
approach to owners of a geographic location. This hierarchical approach is
illustrated in FIG. 1 by use
of optional domains 104-1, 104-2 and 104-3 (generically referred to herein as
domains 104). One or
more of domains 104 may be further subdivided into smaller sub-domains (not
illustrated in FIG. 1),
and so forth. Domains 104 may include a respective sub-network 102-1, 102-2
and 102-3 (generically,
sub-networks 102) in order to communicatively interconnect elements within the
respective domain
104. System 100 does not necessarily include Sub-networks 102 themselves.
System 100 may include
appropriate receivers, transmitters, transceivers, routers, hubs, gateways,
firewalls, etc. (not explicitly
illustrated in FIG. 1) as known in the art in order to communicate via sub-
network 102.
[0059] System 100 may include one or more locations owners 106. A specific
"nth" location owner
106 located in domain "m" may be referred to herein as location owner 106-m-n.
Associated with a
location owner 106 is a respective location 126 (or location 126-m-n).
Location 126 refers to physical
locations that are sufficiently physically near to the respective location
owner 106, as illustrated in
FIG. 1. For sake of clarity, locations 126-2-n are not illustrated in FIG. 1.
The remainder of FIG. 1
illustrates logical, communicative, and/or associative relationships between
elements of system 100
rather than physical relationships.
[0060] System 100 is usable by user 108, who may have access to or use a
communication device 110.
Communication device 110 may include a smartphone, tablet l'C, laptop l'C,
desktop PC such as may
be located at an Internet café, and so forth. Communication device 110 is
communicatively coupled
directly or indirectly to WAN 101. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, communication
device 110 may be
communicatively coupled via radio waves 112 to cell phone tower 114, which in
turn is
communicatively coupled to WAN 101.
[0061] Other embodiments in accordance with the present invention (not
illustrated in FIG. 1) may
include direct communication via a peer-to-peer or ad hoc network or the like,
linking
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communication device 110 and presence owner 106-m-n. The physical layer may
use short-range
communication technology such as near-field communication ("NFC"), Bluetooth
(IEEE 802.15.1),
Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4), and so forth. Such direct communication may later be
posted, by presence
owner 106-m-n, to the associated web presence.
[0062] Returning to FIG. 1, Communication device 110 may further include a
position-determination
module that is able to determine the current geographic location of
conummication device 110. For
example, communication device 110 may use radio signals 116 from a CPS system
118 in order to
determine its location. Alternatively, the position-determination module may
accept a user-defined
position (e.g., as referenced by an address, zip code, landmark (e.g., "JFK
airport", "downtown
Chicago", etc.), latitude/ longitude coordinates, and so forth). A user-
defined position may be useful
when a user wants to receive information for a place different than their
current location (e.g., at an
arrival airport).
[0063] User 108, using communication device 110, may access a user interface
on communication
device 110, which in turn allows user 108 to use client software on
communication device 110 to
access the newly created presence content or presence instance content. User
108 may select from the
available presence or presence instances from a geographical location-based
list displayed by the user
interface of communication device 110.
[0064] Once user 108 selects a presence or presence instance, in some
embodiments in accordance
with the present invention the location owner may interact with and/or collect
user data provided by
user 108. In some embodiments, data collection from user 108 may be controlled
by a privacy setting
that is controlled by user 108.
[0065] The location owner may edit the presence or presence instance at
substantially any time. If a
presence instance is modified then it will not necessarily affect other
presence instances. If a presence
is edited, the edits may be confined to the specific presence instance being
edited, and not propagated
to instances not generated from the said presence. For example, in a
hierarchical model of web
presences, changes to a parent web presence may propagate to corresponding
changes in child web
presences that depend upon the parent web presence.
[0066] In some embodiments in accordance with the present invention, certain
components or
foundational data may be automatically updated when a parent web presence (or
controlling user)
updates it. For example, an update process may start with a set of redundant
presence "clones," such
that each clone presence may be updated per location based on user rights
and/or privileges to make
presence updates. By this method, per-location data may be maintained relevant
and accurate
without affecting other geographic locations which may or may not be
participating in a franschisor's
offer, or which may prefer different web site components altogether depending
on which components
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best serve users at that location.
[0067] For example, suppose a first franchisee of a business is not located
near a lake, and a second
franchisee is located near a lake. A web presence for the first franchisee may
include a trails
component for listing trails around the first franchisee, whereas a web
presence for the second
franchisee may include a boat rental guide component for lakes near the second
franchisee. In this
example, both franchisees would have the same foumlational data and component
needs, but then
their web presences branch off depending on individual franchisee
circumstances. In some
embodiments, updates of the foundational data itself may apply only to certain
locations.
[0068] User 108 may select from an alias list of geographical locations, and
associate a pre-existing
web site as a presence or presence content for the selected geographical
location. This association may
be stored and made accessible for other, later users 108, or for an API user,
and/or search engine
spider (i.e., a crawler). An API user may be known as a third-party
application that uses access to data
of the business in order to provide a customized web presence. A non-API user
may he a web user
who is for other information.
[0069] Clients on more than one communication device 110 may be concurrently
connected to the
presences or presence instances available at location 126-m-n for real-time
interaction. A client
application on communication device 110 may also interact with clients that
are connected to other
locations 126, e.g., in order to comment on issues that are in common between
the respective locations
-126. The interaction may be by use of the architecture of FIG. 1, or by a
direct communication
technology (e.g., NFC). If no presence exists for a given location, the user
may login and create a web
presence instance using default or user-provided parameters, e.g., a core,
generic restaurant template
for a restaurant or a golf course template for a golf course, and so forth.
The data transmitted may be
stored in the system for later analysis, in order to improve services later,
or to study demographic
information and ROI from social site users. Tools and analysis may be
facilitated by API functions
provided by the social media site (e.g., Facebook).
[0070] System 100 may further include a server 120. Server 120 includes at
least processor 122 and
memory 124. Memory 124 may include tangible storage of computer instructions
that, when executed
by processor 122, perform at least portions of methods described herein.
Server 120 services requests
from communication device 110 in a client/server manner. In some embodiments
in accordance with
the present invention, server 120 is a presence server, which provides
information to web servers that
submit a request for presence. For example, owner 106-m-n may utilize a web
server. The web server
for owner 106-m-n provides the credentials of user 108 to presence server 120,
and then presence
server 120 provides customized information to the web server, which in turn is
then sent to user 108
as part of the web presence instance. Server 120 may be maintained by an
administrator for
embodiments of the present invention, or alternatively the functions of server
120 may be provided as
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a cloud-computing service to users of embodiments in accordance with the
present invention.
[0071] FIG. 2 illustrates at a high level of abstraction a process 200 of
using system 100. Process 200
begins at step 201, at which a user (e.g., a user visiting from outside the
local area) accesses their end-
user interface, which is typically provided by communication device 110. The
end-user interface may
function as a presence control interface.
[0072] Process 200 then transitions to step 203, at which a client (e.g.,
communication device 110)
sends a request to server 120 for proximity-based information. The requested
information may
include, e.g., a presence-based web page or list of web pages, wherein the
content of the one or more
presence-based web pages has been customized for the owner of the requested
geographic location,
which may be based upon the location of communication device 110, or based
upon another
geographic location provided by user 108. If the geographic location is based
on the location of
communication device 110, the location may be provided automatically (i.e.,
without involvement by
user 108) and/or by default.
[0073] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention may generate the
presence and/or
presence instances for substantially any specified or existing content.
Default content may also be
associated with the presence. If multiple locations are provided, separate
presence instances - one per
location by default or one presence instance per multiple locations as
specified - are generated and
assiped accordingly. Embodiments may optionally use geographical location
information provided
internally or by a third-party source - that periodically updates such
information - to generate default
web presences for location alias, coordinate data, and so forth.
[0074] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention create a presence
for the owner of a
web presence for a specified geographic location by using a default presence
template or, if provided
with the presence parameters, a specified existing presence name, a presence
template, an internal or
external presence URL, or other presence content. Embodiments in accordance
with the present
invention may optionally use geographical location information provided
locally or internally (e.g.,
by direct user input) or by a third-party source (e.g., GPS), provided that
the geographical location is
periodically updated, in order to generate default web presences for a
location alias, coordinate data,
or other available information.
[0075] Process 200 then transitions to step 205, at which user 108 may select
from the available
presences returned by step 203.
[0076] Process 200 then transitions to step 207, at which client communication
device 110 transmits
to server 120 an access request for the presence selected at step 205.
[0077] Process 200 then transitions to step 209, at which user 108 of
communication device 110 is
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able to access the presence information supplied by server 120, which had been
requested at step 207.
[0078] Usage of system 100 may be further illustrated at a different level of
abstraction by direct
reference to FIG. 1. For example, in operation of system 100, user 108 while
using communication
device 110 may enter into one of the plurality of locations 126. By use of the
position-determination
module in communication device 110, user 108 will know which location 126-m-n
they are within.
Thereafter, when an informational display such as that produced by a web
server associated with
owner 106-m-n is to be displayed on communication device 110, the web server
transmits a request
for customized information to server 120, and server 120 responds by
transmitting the customized
information to the web server, such that the web site provides code for a
display that is rendered on
communication device 110, the display being customized for the present
location of communication
device 110. If communication device 110 moves to a different location 126, a
display customized for
the new present location of communication device 110 will be rendered.
[0079] FIG. 3 illustrates at a lower level of abstraction a process 300 of
using system 10(1. Process 300
begins at step 201, at which a user (e.g., a user visiting from outside the
local area) accesses their end-
user interface.
[0080] Control of process 300 next transitions to step 303, at which client
software operating on
communication device 110 obtains geographic location information of either
commwncation device
110 itself or for a location specified by user 108, as described earlier. The
client software includes this
information into a request for presence information that is transmitted to
server 120.
[0081] If the result of step 303 is that one or more presence instances
already exists for the requested
geographic location (i.e., from different entities such as fast food
restaurant "A" and "B") such that
they are accommodative and unique to that location and contain information
available only at that
location, control of process 300 will transition to step 305, at which user
108 is presented a list of
available presences and selects from among the list. However, if the desired
presence is not on the list,
control of process 300 may transition to step 311.
[0082] Following step 305, control of process 300 next transitions to step
307, at which the client
software running on communication device 110 sends an information request to
presence server 120.
If a visitor adds a presence to a location that until then lacked a presence,
the user can associate
presence to a public web site domain for the location owner in order to act as
presence until the
location owner claims the site and creates a presence. In an embodiment, the
user can create the
presence for the owner to claim or not claim later on. In this implementation,
the user can add
relevant web information that will be listed within the web presence,
including links to other social
media and world wide web information relevant to the location (e.g.,
Foursquare tips and Foursquare
pages for that location, links to Yelp profiles or pages for that location,
links to world wide domain
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names in existence and owned by that location, user generated data non
preexisting for that location,
various imagery or itinerary for that location, and so forth).
[0083] Following step 307, control of process 300 next transitions to step
209, at which the client
software running on communication device 110 is granted access to the web
presences information
for owner 106. Process 300 ends at the conclusion of step 209.
[0084] If the result of step 303 is that one of more presence instances for
does not already exist for the
requested geographic location 126-m-n, control of process 300 will transition
to step 311, at which
user 108 may add a new presence for owner 106-m-n at location 126-m-n to a
list of presences known
to server 120. An association is thereby created and stored, which associates
the new presence to
geographic location 126-m-n .
[0085] Following step 311, control of process 300 next transitions to step
313, at which user 108 may
optionally provide login credentials (e.g., user name and password).
[0086] Following step 313, control of process 300 next transitions to step
315, at which the client
software running on conununication device 110 sends a request to server 120,
requesting that
presence information for the desired location 126 and/or owner 106.
[0087] Following step 315, control of process 300 next transitions to step
317, at which server 120
checks whether user 108 has a history of sending or submitting spam. The
determination of a history
may be based upon the number or frequency of spam postings, or percentage of
overall postings that
were classified as spam, or similar metrics, that exceed a predetermined
threshold value. The history
may weight recent activity differently (e.g., provide more weighting by use of
a windowing function)
than older activity. Spam activity may be tracked and stored in a separate
component and/or in
conjunction with third-party anti-spam service.
[0088] If the response to step 317 is positive, then user 108 is not allowed
to proceed at this time, and
control of process 300 transitions back, e.g., to step 303.
[0089] If the response to step 317 is negative, then following step 317,
control of process 300 next
transitions to step 319, at which server 120 adds customized information to
the web page delivered to
user 108. The customized information may include default presence information,
geographic
information, user information, and so forth.
[0090] Following step 319, control of process 300 next transitions to step
209, which is described
above, and process 300 terminates.
[0091] A geographical location-based web presence may be created either by the
corresponding
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location owner, qualified representative, or the location's visitors. If
created by its visitors, it is
referred to as a community-driven presence. In contrast, an owner-driven
presence may include a
web presence whose content is created or controlled at least in part by the
business. The invention
may offer a community-driven presence by default or in conjunction with an
owner-driven presence
and by may be generated using community-driven content. An example of a
community-driven
geographical location-based web presence is a location-specific history wiki
page for visiting users to
generate multiple media during their visit to a location. Such media may then
be voted up or rated for
relevancy, spam, obscenity, etc., by subsequent location presence visitors.
[0092] In addition, links to existing World Wide Web sites may be provided by
location visitors or
location owners for a geographical location-based web presence to further
assist visitors by providing
highly geographically-relevant information, products, and services.
[0093] FIG. 4A illustrates at a high level of abstraction a process 400 for
presence registration and
control via API user, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. Process 400 begins
at step 401, at which a user attempts to access a control interface on con-
anunication device 110. Next,
at optional step 403, a login application program interface ("API") may be
used to provide an
input/output interface to the user in order to provide a convenient interface
for a user to enter login
credentials and in some embodiments do a limited amount of error-checking.
[0094] Next, process 400 transitions to step 405, at which a control request,
arising from a user action
provided by the user, is sent to server 120.
[0095] Next, process 400 transitions to decision step 407, at which an inquiry
is made into whether
the API user has been pre-authenticated. If the answer at step 407 is "Yes,"
then control of process 400
passes to decision step 411. If the answer at step 407 is "No," then control
of process 400 passes to
decision step 409.
[0096] At decision step 409, at which an inquiry is made into whether the user
is a valid API user,
i.e., whether the credentials presented by the riser are valid. If the
credentials are not valid, then
control of process 400 passes to step 403. If the answer at step 409 is "Yes,"
then control of process 400
passes to decision step 411.
[0097] Next, process 400 transitions to decision step 411, at which an inquiry
is made into whether
the user possesses sufficient privileges. If the user does not have sufficient
privileges, then control of
process 400 passes to step 403. If the answer at step 411 is "Yes," then
control of process 400 passes to
step 413.
[0098] At step 413, server 120 has received the response and acts upon the
request.
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[0099] Next, process 400 transitions to step 415, at which the response
generated at step 413 is
transmitted to the user.
[00100] Next, process 400 transitions to step 417, at which the user receives
the response generated at
step 413, and process 400 terminates.
[00101] FIG. 4B illustrates at a lower level of abstraction a process 450 for
presence registration and
control via non-API user, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. Process 450
(like process 400) begins at step 401, at which a user attempts to access a
control interface on
communication device 110.
[00102] Next, process 450 transitions to step 452, the user is able to log in,
and the system is able to
send to the user for display the available user-related information for the
requested geographic
location (which is ordinarily the location of communication terminal 110). If
the information sought
by the user has been returned, then control of process 450 transitions to step
454. If the information
sought by the user has not been returned, then control of process 450
transitions to step 470.
[001031 At step 454, a list or menu of available information returned at step
452 is presented to the
user, and the user is able to select from among the available information.
[00104] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 456, at which a
presence control access request
generated by user 108 using communication terminal 110 is sent by client
software to server 120.
[00105] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 458, at which client
software running on
communication terminal 110 accesses the privilege-based presence controls of
user 108. Privilege-
based presence control may include permission to use administrative rights,
group membership, root
(e.g., super-user) membership, and so forth.
[00106] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 460, at which user
108 is afforded an
opportunity to edit, add, or remove presence information, presence instance
attributes, and/or
available presence or presence instance locations.
[00107] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 462, at which the
modifications requested by
the user at step 460 are transmitted by the client software on communication
terminal 110 to server
120.
[00108] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 464, at which server
120 checks whether the
request provided from step 462 is a malicious request or otherwise is
erroneous (e.g., invalid syntax).
If the request passes all checks, then server 120 executes the request from
step 462.
[00109] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 466, at which the
response generated at step
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464 is sent, by server 120, to the client software running on communication
terminal 110.
[00110] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 468, at which the
client software running on
communication terminal 110 receives the response sent by server 120 at step
466. Process 450
concludes at the end of step 468.
[00111] At step 470, if the result of step 452 was that the information sought
by the user had not been
returned at step 452, then user 108 is able to indicate through menu selection
or the like that a new
presence is to be added.
[00112] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 472, at which user
108 is able to add the
presence information. A control request that indicates the presence
information is sent to server 120
along with a list of corresponding presence locations and other relevant
information as required.
[00113] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 474, at which server
120 checks whether the
request provided from step 472 is a malicious request or otherwise is
erroneous (e.g., invalid syntax).
Server may also check whether the request is for redundant or duplicative
information, i.e., whether
the requested information for the specified location is substantially similar
to information that is
already available. If substantially similar information is already available,
then that information is
retried and supplied to user 108. If substantially similar information is not
already available, and if
the request passes all other checks, then server 120 executes the request from
step 472.
[00114] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 476, at which server
120 sends the response
generated at step 474 to the client software running on communication terminal
110. The response
will include an updated user-based presence list.
[00115] Next, control of process 450 transitions to step 478, at which the
client software running on
communication terminal 110 receives the response sent by server 120 at step
46. Process 450 concludes
at the end of step 478.
[00116] FIG. 5 illustrates an initial user interface 500 for presence list
control and registration, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, user
interface 500 depicts a
user interface that is useful for web presence administration, as indicated by
title field 501.
[00117] User interface 500 may include a section 503 that is useful for
displaying selection controls
(e.g., icons or the like) corresponding to available web presences that are
available for user 108 to
select. Control 507 depicts a representative control in the form of an icon.
Selecting control 507 will
load available web presence instances corresponding to the selected control
507. If the desired web
presence is not listed in section 503, the user may create a new presence by
activating control 505.
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[00118] FIG. 6 illustrates a more populated user interface 600 for presence
list control and registration,
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. User interface 600
represents an interface
that may be presented on communication terminal 110 after user 108 had
selected control 507, as
indicated by title field 601.
[00119] User interface 600 includes indicators 603 that indicate to user 108
that the corresponding
sections of user interface 600 are referring to a particular web presence.
Control 607 depicts the
selected control in the form of an icon. Properties of control 607 may be
edited by selecting control
609.
[00120] User interface 600 includes section 611. A first portion of section
611 may indicate web
presence geographic locations and instances that are available for selection
by user 108. Available web
presence geographic locations and instances are indicated by one or more
controls 613, which may be
in the form of icons. Clicking on a control 613 in the first portion of
section 611 may be used to view,
edit or remove the respective web presence geographic locations or instances.
If a desired web
presence geographic location or instance is not available, control 615 may be
used to manually add
another web presence geographic location or instance. Even though "location 2"
and "location 3" are
widely separated, they may use the same web presence instance, i.e., "Instance
2." Consequently,
changes to location 2's web site will also be made to location 3's web site.
[00121] A second portion of section 611 may indicate web presence instances
that are available for
selection by user 108. Available web presence instances are indicated by one
or more controls 617,
which may be in the form of icons. Clicking on a control 617 in the second
portion of section 611 may
be used to view, edit or remove the respective web presence instance. If a
desired web presence
instance is not available, control 619 may be used to manually add another web
presence instance.
[00122] FIG. 7 illustrates a hierarchical menu tree 700 of a user interface in
accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
[00123] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide a
centralized, streamlined,
fast, efficient, and effective system and process to provide highly relevant
geographical location
information, products, and services to visitors through a geographical
location-based web presence.
[00124] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention include a control
method that enables
a geographical location's owners and/or its visitors to create and manage a
representative and/or
facilitative web presence for one or multiple geographical locations. The web
presence may be
accessible by users within a predetermined radius from those locations.
Embodiments provide access
to geographic-based or location-based web presence, in which it is the
location of the user, rather than
the location of the business providing the information, that determines the
content. Embodiments
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may be usable whether or not the user has established an account in accordance
with an embodiment
of the present invention. The presence may be provided to anonymous users,
based upon the user's
location.
[00125] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide an
improvement over
background art at least M part because embodiments provide for a geographical
location's owners,
assigned administrators, and/or v isitors to create and manage a
representative and/or facilitative
web presence for one or multiple geographical locations. A representative web
presence in this
context may refer to a web presence that helps represent the geographic
location or its owner and the
different web experiences a web visitor may have at the location or for nearby
attractions (e.g., a
visitor center or help desk directed to help sell items that the store is
selling). A facilitative web
presence in this context may refer to a web presence that helps a web user
locate items or information,
i.e., the web presence includes features that facilities what a web user
wishes to accomplish by
visiting the web presence.
[00126] In contrast, the known art does not provide an easy, centralized,
effective, and efficient way
for location owners or visitors to create or associate such a presence.
[00127] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention may allow users
to access
geographical location-based web presences anonymously-, without requiring such
users to register in
advance or to establish an account.
[00128] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention combine
information about
geographical locations of users, visitors, potential customers and the like,
with a customizable World
Wide Web-based presence (i.e., "web site"). Customization may be based at
least in part upon the
geographic locations, locations of businesses, and/or a relationship between
the about geographical
locations of visitors, etc. to that of the businesses. Embodiments enable
providing a novel web site
that is capable of delivering a highly relevant source of information and
services to people who are
visiting various geographical locations. Such persons may consume, through
their mobile or
handheld computing device, web-based information and services that are
relevant to what the
persons are currently physically experiencing.
[00129] Without such a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention, a user
would conventionally have to refer to a bookmark list, or search for the
geographical location's
corresponding web presence.
[00130] Such geographically relevant information and services may be offered
by agents or other
advocates of the location's owners, and/or persons who visit or frequent those
locations. In contrast,
sites of the known art (e.g., Yelp, etc.) are limited to the web information
and services offered through
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third party applications whose content and its usage in the web presence are
not under the control of
the location's owner.
[00131] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide for a
freer exchange of
information arid services between participating businesses and/or community
members. Products
and services may be targeted more precisely to customers, and customers may be
able to formulate a
more precise expectation of goods, services, etc. that are available at or
near a particular geographic
location. Embodiments allow for a new marketplace to develop - a marketplace
similar to that
provided by the Internet, yet also similar to a real world location and an
open community (e.g.,
crowd-sourcing), enabling an opportunity to seek greater financial profit.
[00132] In contrast, the known art does not provide a centralized,
streamlined, rapid, efficient, and
effective system to provide geographical location visitors with a relatively
large source of highly
relevant, unique, sharable information.
[00133] Furthermore, social networking web sites as currently known in the
background art do not
work well as a platform for critical user engagement, i.e., user engagement
that is likely to lead to
sales or increased sales. Embodiments in accordance with the present invention
provide critical user
engagement during the user's visit to a location where he or she is most
likely to have questions or
conunents directly related to an imminent purchase or recent experience.
[00134] Conventional systems of the background art are limited in effectively
and efficiently servicing
a new kind of marketplace that combines the real world and a web presence, and
that can provide
competition to provide improved consumer products and services.
[00135] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide an option
for open access
(e.g., anonymous access) to the described geographical location-based web
presence content, thereby
allowing such content to be created by substantially anyone, subject to
location verification and user
anti-spam qualification algorithms.
[00136] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention also enable a
legitimate location
owner or representative to claim and manage some or all of a community-
generated presence,
providing improved transparency and accuracy in location-related content. This
is specific to chosen
invention implementation.
[00137] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention enable
geographical location-based
information, products, and services to be created by both location owners and
non-owners of the
location. Owners that create or claim geographical location-based web
information, products and
services may or may not be able to assume control over what web page
information, products, and
services the community created for the geographical location. For example,
location owners may set
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up a forum for what others (i.e., "the community") post as "web page
information, products, and
services," and the location owner then is not able to change the information.
In other embodiments, a
moderator function may be provided, such that the location owner may remove
spam and other
irrelevant information.
[00138] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention make use of crowd
sourcing, in that if
sufficient numbers of users visit and provide feedback or comment on earlier
feedback from others,
the accuracy of the accumulated feedback will tend to increase, or tend to
provide alternate points of
view across a wider spectrum of opinions and feedback.
[00139] Embodiments provide a capability for an administrator (e.g., a
presence administrator) to
provide a list of locations for rapid presence syndication (i.e., propagation
or cloning) and context or
"instance" assignment (i.e., assigning locations to the clones or
"instances"). Embodiments in
accordance with the present invention provide that the administrator and/or
administrator functions
may be provided by a processor coupled to a memory, such that the memory
stores instructions and
data used by the processor to provide administrator functions. A process of
assigning web presences
with shared foundations to multiple geographical locations, but with
customizable contexts and/or
instances, enables the provision of geographical location-based web presence
and the provision of
related maintenance and data management, without affecting the shared
foundations of the web
presence used at other locations. Shared foundations in this context may refer
to objects or
descriptions that are common to, or shared among, multiple locations.
Locations will then have an
"instance" of the foundation, which will be customized to the individual
location. This process
provides relatively efficient maintenance of presence, and is facilitated
because changes to a specific
web presence "instance" are constrained to specific locations.
[00140] By combining or linking one or more related physical locations with a
digital web location in
such a way that harnesses the benefits of each location, the embodiments of
the invention provide an
infrastructure for a unique, more effective and efficient modern marketplace
for consumers and
businesses to exchange information, goods, and services.
[00141] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention facilitate
creation of customized
digital content by registered or non-registered users of embodiments of the
invention and relative
new competing third party entities that may provide such services, i.e., the
framework for allowing
others to provide digital content, and/or the providing itself of the digital
content.
[00142] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention produce web
presence "instances." A
web presence instance may be understood to be a clone of a foundational web
presence. The web
presence instance may include relative content (i.e., content relative to both
the location and/or the
world wide foundational content) that may or may not share the same database
or database elements,
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such that the sharing may be based upon whether or not the data and its
corresponding component
are a part of the foundational presence. The database or its elements may
include dynamic data to fill
in changing variables within each web presence and the foundational web
presence itself. A web
presence instance itself may be used as a foundational web presence to provide
a substantially similar
web presence at child locations, such that the web presence and its content
may be modified later
without otherwise affecting the web presence or other generated web presence
instances available at
other geographical locations. A web presence instance may also be available at
a single or multiple
locations and functions substantially the same as a "web presence." Therefore,
the term "web
presence instance" may be used interchangeably throughout when referring to a
"web presence."
[00143] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention may include a
multi-tier client/server
networking architecture with multiple clients and multiple servers
communicating with one another
through an open network connection. The client computing devices preferably
are GPS-enabled.
[00144] Optionally, embodiments in accordance with the present invention may
provide real-time
network communication ability for real-time products and services.
[00145] Optionally, to improve usage of embodiments of the invention and/or to
integrate
embodiments more efficiently and effectively with existing web and/or
geographical location-based
web presence content, embodiments in accordance with the present invention may
further include an
informational element that may be added, in order to facilitate search of
existing web presences for
specific hosted information. The information may indicate coordinates for one
or more geographical
locations for which the web presence (or a specific portion of the presence)
should be associated and
recorded for storage within the invention. Embodiments may store web presence
and/or the
association. If there is no presence and an anonymous user identifies a
current website then just the
association to the world-wide website domain address may be stored and served
as the web presence.
But otherwise the web presence is stored separately from other web presences.
In some embodiments,
access to these web presences from anywhere other than the location for which
they are relevant, may
involve administrator-level privileges (e.g., privileges to make changes,
create new presences, manage
existing presences, etc.).
[00146] The element to be added may refer to a component or feature that would
make information
available to search engines based on proximity. Otherwise the information may
not be available
because it would be irrelevant to a location-based website - for example,
pizzerias in New York
ordinarily would be irrelevant to a search conducted in China unless the
search is not limited only to
local discovery. The element may be making public only certain information of
the presence, because
otherwise it is unnecessary to travel to the location to discover that
information. An underlying
premise is that, as with traditional websites, users will return to sites
whose content frequently
changes.
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[00147] In other embodiments in accordance with the present invention, the
geographical location-
based web presence itself contains searchable access information indicating
whether the presence is a
global or world wide web presence, or whether it is a geographical location-
based web presence. If
the web presence uses geographical location, a list of a single or multiple
geographical location
coordinates and/or corresponding radius information for which the presence is
intended.
[00148] In other elements in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention, an element
may be added that enables a user to add an existing website for visitor
association with a location.
[00149] Optionally, some embodiments may include a server to specialize in
geographic calculations,
i.e., to determine locations and calculate distances between, e.g., a user and
a location associated with
a web presence.
[00150] Optionally, some embodiments of using the invention may- include a
step of providing visitor
requests to location owners, and/or providing owner requests to visitors, in
order to attend to
permission to make presence content items available within an owner-managed
presence and/or a
visitor-managed presence, respectively.
[00151] Optionally, some embodiments of the invention may be provided as a
centralized system, i.e.,
a platform that is open to additions by third-party developers. Some
embodiments may be provided
as separate modules, subsystems, or the like, for use among separate systems
that may provide
automatic or manual incorporation with one or more internal geographical
location presence listing
systems. Some embodiments may be provided as an external, centralized
geographical presence list
system or multiple systems. Various embodiments allow for competition among
separate market
entities that have been granted access to provide the invention or invention
components, in order to
encourage delivery of improved information and service to users.
[00152] For example, an organization using embodiments of the invention may
create and provide a
custom component or module to adapt an organization's existing web content
management system to
individual presence generation and/or presence content generation. System
'management may then
integrate with an external presence list and/or presence instance list system.
[00153] Alternatively, a system internal to the organization, used to provide
remote access to clients,
may be given the client's geographical coordinates and/or a user's login
credentials, and then used to
provide presence information to the user. The system may also be used to find
the customer, and/or
enabling short-range communication (e.g., NFC) if the customer is lost and/or
in need of in-person
assistance and communication. This can take place whether or not a user is
logged in.
[00154] Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide a
customizable web presence
for an entity located at one or more geographical locations. The web presence
may he quickly created,
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applied, managed, modified, and accessed. Furthermore, embodiments of the
invention may use
optional components for presence generation and network communication with a
system server.
Embodiments of the invention may produce customizable digital content from
registered users, and
from digital content supplied by third-party information providers.
Embodiments of the invention
may employ a geographical location-based template system that is centralized
and that may or may
not be customized to a type or category of a geographic location, or other
predetermined factors that
facilitate streamlining, i.e., making it easier to rapidly replicate and
deploy for different
instances/locations of content.
[00155] Embodiments of the present invention include a system haying one or
more processing units
coupled to one or more memories. The one or more memories may be configured to
store software
that, when executed by the one or more processing unit, allows realization of
embodiments in
accordance with the present invention, at least by use of processes described
herein, including at least
in Figures 2-7, and related text.
[00156] EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT
[00157] An exemplary embodiment may be described with respect to a system to
provide location-
based social page service, by use of presence, content, template, and other
components (generically,
"check-in page" components). The embodiment may include a "check-in store," at
which store items
are managed by page owners. Page owners are entities that claim a new or
existing "check-in
location" from a mobile social network (e.g., Foursquare) that has a location
database and provides
verification for manual inspection to authenticate the location as real and as
their own location.
[00158] In the present context, a check-in-store may be a check-in-location
with an added capability of
allowing a user to pay for transactions at a physical location by use of an
ecommerce account (e.g.,
PayPal). A check-in store may combine an ecommerce online store with a
physical location store. A
user may physically visit a physical store and buy physical items. If the user
has an online ecommerce
account used to pay for transactions at one merchant, the user can use that
same ecommerce account
at another merchant conveniently with sharing of billing and/or payment
information.
[00159] New page owners (i.e., location owners) can then pay for services and
manage crowd-
sourced digital media for approval and store consignment. A user may receive a
share of sales if he or
she created the media for sale (e.g., 49% of gross revenue); the store's owner
keeps most of the
remainder (e.g., in this example 49%), and the CheckInPage system collects the
remainder of the gross
revenue as a commission (e.g., in this example 2%). More generally, the cost
of commissions may be
split among the media creator and the store owner (e.g., equally, or all to
one party, etc.) for other
commission rates. The store may also opt not to give a percentage at all to
crowd-sourced media at
the disadvantage of losing incentive for new media generation or revenue
generation outside the
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marketing department. For example, a restaurant diner who highly enjoys a,
appetizer, meal, etc.,
may be willing to buy the recipe if it were offered. In this sense,
embodiments offer a bridge between
the real world and conventional internet conunerce.
[00160] The embodiments may further include a "check-in wall," at which wall
posts may be entered
and/or viewed. The check-in wall may operate autonomously, in that posts may
be generated
automatically (e.g., that a particular person was at the restaurant) upon the
user checking in at the
restaurant, unless the user has their check-in profile set to "private." The
check-in wall may provide
public or private feedback on a customer's experience at the geographical
location or may publicize
suggestions the customer may have for the geographical location. In some
embodiments, the check-in
wall may provide communication from the location owner back to visitors, e.g.,
usage tips. In other
embodiments, a user may visit the check in wall, and the check in wall may
shows the user coupons
or daily specials posted for the day from that store's automated presence
administrator.
[00161] The embodiments may further include photos. In contrast to photos
posted by users on a
social networking web site, embodiments in accordance with the present
invention may post only
photos specific to the geographic location, which were taken by various users.
[00162] The embodiments may further include an ability to purchase merchandise
specific to the
geographic location or the owner of a web presence located therein. For
instance, users may have an
opportunity to buy post cards, T-shirts, hats, signs, mugs, coffee cups,
souvenirs, bottled sauces, take-
home meals, etc., which may or may not be customized to the owner of the web
presence at the
geographic location.
[00163] The embodiments may further include information related to the
geographic location or the
owner of a web presence therein. For example, suppose that a local pizzeria
franchisee was no longer
honoring a discount coupon offered by a nationwide franchisor. If a potential
customer unknowingly
tries to use the coupon at the local, nonparticipating franchisee and is
refused, the franchisee may not
only lose a sale but may have also engendered ill will with the potential
customer. Embodiments in
accordance with the present invention may reduce the likelihood of this
scenario occurring by
allowing an owner of a geographic location to provide digital information
(e.g., a web site) and a
commercial transaction capability (e.g., e-commerce on the web site) that have
been customized for
local conditions relevant to the geographic location or its owner. For
example, the local,
nonparticipating franchisee may have a customized web site (or a customized
page on a social
networking site) that provides notices that certain discount coupons are not
honored, and the e-
commerce platform used at the web site or page would be programmed not to
recognize or accept a
coupon code corresponding to the non-honored discount coupon.
[00164] For example, the information related to the geographic location may
include an information
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section that further includes: (1) Franchise information such as name, contact
information, website
address in order to direct users to an interactive marketing site, etc., and
so forth; (2) Social page
information such as lists of existing social page assets and their links; and
(3) Brand storytelling that
relates a story that may be intended to promote a particular marketing
position of the brand.
[00165] The embodiments may further include a customized geographical location-
based web page
section. Such a web page section may be similar to a customized social web
page, but may further
include content such as regional brochures, location-based contests, location-
based e-commerce
products and services, and the like. Some customized products may be offered
for direct sale to
consumers through the web page, such as digital products or tangible (i.e.,
physical) products. Such
web-based direct sales reduce reliance on (or provide an alternative forum to)
on-site stores,
advertisement, paid agents or spokesmen, etc. Multimedia products that promote
the brand or the
location, such as audio/ video/ podcasts, may be offered through the web page.
[00166] For example, if the owner of the geographic location is a restaurant,
a listing of menu specials
for that specific day would be a typical custom item for the web page, and one
that embodiments in
accordance with the present invention may offer as a template for the
customized mobile page.
[00167] The embodiments may further include a credit system or loyalty reward
program. Such a
capability may be similar to digital currency (i.e., credit) system used by
some social web page, but
may more accurately track loyalty by use of point-of-purchase sales
information.
[00168] The embodiments may further include a profile interest board. The
board may include a chat
or discussion capability that is specific to the geographic location or its
owner. Board participants may
include customers, potential customers, the location owner, etc.
[00169] The disclosed methods may be readily implemented in software, such as
by using object or
object-oriented software development environments that provide portable source
code that can be
used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms. Alternatively, the
disclosed system may be
implemented partially or fully in hardware, such as by using standard logic
circuits or VLSI design.
Whether software or hardware may be used to implement the systems in
accordance with various
embodiments of the present invention may be dependent on various
considerations, such as the
speed or efficiency requirements of the system, the particular function, and
the particular software or
hardware systems being utilized.
[00170] While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present
invention, other and further
embodiments of the present invention may be devised without departing from the
basic scope
thereof. It is understood that various embodiments described herein may be
utilized in combination
with other embodiment described, without departing from the scope contained
herein. Further, the
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foregoing description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the
invention to the precise form
disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above
teachings or may be
acquired from practice of the invention. Certain exemplary embodiments may be
identified by use of
an open-ended list that includes wording to indicate that the list items are
representative of the
embodiments and that the list is not intended to represent a closed list
exclusive of further
embodiments. Such wording may include "e.g.," "etc.," "such as," "for
example," "and so forth,"
"and the like," etc., and other wording as will be apparent from the
surrounding context.
[00171] No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present
application should be
construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly
described as such. Also, as used
herein, the article "a" is intended to include one or more items. Where only
one item is intended, the
term "one" or similar language is used. Further, the terms "any of" followed
by a listing of a plurality
of items and/or a plurality of categories of items, as used herein, are
intended to include "any of,"
"any combination of," 'any multiple of," and/or "any combination of multiples
of' the items and/or
the categories of items, individually or in conjunction with other items
and/or other categories of
items.
[00172] Moreover, the claims should not be read as limited to the described
order or elements unless
stated to that effect. In addition, use of the term "means" in any claim is
intended to invoke 35 U.S.C.
112, J 6, and any claim without the word "means" is not so intended.
