Location-based search-result ranking for blog documents and the like

Abstract

In one embodiment, a mobile communication device is adapted to provide geography-enhanced blog search results. In response to a blog-search query entered by a user, the mobile communication device is adapted to determine a current geographical location for the mobile communication device and a home location for the user. The mobile communication device is further adapted to provide the current location and home location information along with the search query parameters to a search engine. The search engine is adapted to provide results corresponding to blog posts that satisfy the parameters of the search query, wherein the search results are ranked based on at least one of (a) the geographic proximity of a blog post subject to the current location and (b) the geographic proximity of a blog post author's home location to the user's home location.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented search engine for a communication network having a communication device with a current location, the search engine adapted to:
 receive from the communication device a search query having one or more search parameters provided by a user of the communication device, wherein a home location is associated with the user;   receive location information corresponding to the communication device, wherein the location information indicates the home location for the user of the communication device;   search a computer-accessible collection of documents using the one or more search parameters to obtain two or more search results, wherein each of the two or more search results corresponds to a different document in the collection of documents;   rank the search results based on the home location for the user; and   transmit at least some of the ranked search results to the communication device.   
     
     
         2 . The invention of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the location information corresponding to the communication device also indicates the current location of the communication device; and   the search results are ranked based on both (i) the current location of the communication device and (ii) the home location for the user of the communication device.   
     
     
         3 . The invention of  claim 2 , wherein:
 at least two documents corresponding to the two or more search results comprise content location information and document-author home location information; and   the search results are ranked based on:
 a comparison of the current location to the content location information; and 
 a comparison of the home location for the user to the document-author home location information. 
   
     
     
         4 . The invention of  claim 2 , wherein the home location for the user is different from the current location of the communication device. 
     
     
         5 . The invention of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the location information corresponding to the communication device also indicates the current location of the communication device;   at least two documents corresponding to the two or more search results comprise content location information; and   the search results are ranked based on a comparison of the current location to the content location information.   
     
     
         6 . The invention of  claim 1 , wherein:
 at least two documents corresponding to the two or more search results comprise document-author home location information; and   the search results are ranked based on a comparison of the home location for the user to the document-author home location information.   
     
     
         7 . The invention of  claim 1 , wherein the search engine also ranks the two or more search results based on the relevance of the corresponding documents to the search parameters. 
     
     
         8 . The invention of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the search engine first ranks the search results based on the relevance of the corresponding documents to the search parameters; and   the search engine then adjusts the rankings based on the location information.   
     
     
         9 . The invention of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the location information also indicates the current location of the communication device;   the search engine is further adapted to determine a current zone of interest based on the current location of the communication device; and   the search results are ranked based on the current zone of interest.   
     
     
         10 . The invention of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the current zone of interest is a primary current zone of interest;   the search engine is adapted to determine one or more additional current zones of interest external to the primary zone of interest; and   the search results are also ranked based on the one or more additional current zones of interest.   
     
     
         11 . The invention of  claim 9 , wherein the current zone of interest is a predetermined zone of interest having a predefined boundary. 
     
     
         12 . The invention of  claim 9 , wherein the current zone of interest has a shape and size based on the current location. 
     
     
         13 . The invention of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the search engine is further adapted to generate, based on the current zone of interest, geographical markers including at least one of landmarks, postal codes, and phone numbers;   at least two documents corresponding to the two or more search results comprise content location information; and   the search engine compares the geographical markers to the content location information of the at least two documents to rank the search results based on the location information.   
     
     
         14 . The invention of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the search engine is further adapted to determine a home zone of interest based on the home location for the user; and   the search results are ranked based on the home zone of interest.   
     
     
         15 . The invention of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the home zone of interest is a primary home zone of interest;   the search engine is adapted to determine one or more additional home zones of interest external to the primary home zone of interest; and   the search results are also ranked based on the one or more additional home zones of interest.   
     
     
         16 . The invention of  claim 14 , wherein the home zone of interest has a shape and size based on the home location for the user. 
     
     
         17 . The invention of  claim 1 , wherein the collection of documents consists of blog posts available on the Internet. 
     
     
         18 . The invention of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the location information corresponding to the communication device also indicates the current location of the communication device;   at least two documents corresponding to the two or more search results comprise content location information and document-author home location information, wherein the content location information is in the form of at least one of addresses, landmarks, postal codes, and phone numbers;   the search engine is further adapted to determine a current zone of interest based on the current location of the communication device;   the search engine is further adapted to determine a home zone of interest based on the home location for the user;   the search engine is further adapted to generate, based on the current zone of interest, geographical markers including at least one of landmarks, postal codes, and phone numbers; and   the search results are ranked based on:
 (i) a comparison of the current zone of interest to the content location information; 
 (ii) a comparison of the geographical markers to content location information; and 
 (iii) a comparison of the home location for the user to the document-author home location information. 
   
     
     
         19 . A communication device having a current location and adapted to:
 (a) allow a user of the communication device to provide a search query having one or more search parameters;   (b) automatically acquire location information indicating a home location for the user of the communication device;   (c) transmit the search query and the location information via a communication network to a search engine, wherein the search engine is adapted to:
 (1) search a collection of documents using the one or more search parameters to obtain two or more search results, wherein each of the two or more search results corresponds to a different document in the collection of documents; 
 (2) rank the search results based on the home location for the user; and 
 (3) transmit at least some of the ranked search results to the communication device; and (d) display the received ranked search results. 
   
     
     
         20 . A computer-implemented method for providing search results ranked based on location, the method comprising:
 receiving a search query having one or more search parameters provided by a user of a communication device having a current location;   receiving location information corresponding to the communication device, wherein the location information indicates a home location for the user of the communication device;   searching a computer-accessible collection of documents using the one or more search parameters to obtain two or more search results, wherein each of the two or more search results corresponds to a different document in the collection of documents;   ranking the search results based on the home location for the user; and   transmitting at least some of the ranked search results to the communication device.