Method and system for providing users with information relating to a position

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for providing information to user, comprising: a first database; a first module configured to receive information to be entered in said first database from an information provider, said information including at least data representative of a plurality of geographical codes and data representative of at least one categorical code; a second module configured to receive an information request from a user, said information request including at least data representative of a geographical position and data representative of a categorical preference; and a third module configured to enter information received by said first module in said first database, and to search said first database based on requests received by said second module, retrieve entries where a geographical code corresponds with said geographical position and a categorical code corresponds with said categorical preference, and transmit a presentation of retrieved entries to said user.

1 . A system for providing information to a user, comprising:
 a first database; and   one or more computer processors programmed to perform:
 a first process of receiving information including information items to be entered in said first database from at least one information provider, said information including at least data representative of a plurality of geographical codes defining associated information items as being relevant to respective geographical areas, and data representative of one or more categorical codes, each of said information items being associated with at least one of the geographical codes and at least one of the categorical codes, said geographical codes being chosen by said at least one information provider from a system of geographical codes representing a plurality of geographical levels; 
 a second process of receiving an information request from a user, said information request including at least data representative of a geographical position and data representative of a categorical preference, said categorical preference including a plurality of categorical codes each of which is associated with a geographical preference indicating one or more of said geographical levels; and 
 a third process of:
 entering information items included in the information received by said first process in said first database as respective entries, the information items being entered in said first database in relation to said geographical codes and said categorical codes, 
 searching said first database based on requests received by said second module, 
 retrieving entries from said first database that have:
 an associated geographical code that corresponds with said geographical position and said geographical preference, and 
 an associated categorical code that corresponds with said categorical preference, and 
 
 
   
       transmitting a presentation of the retrieved entries to said user. 
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said first process further transmits to an information provider a request for information in the form of a markup language input form and receives information submitted by said information provider by means of said input form. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said first process further receives data representing a location on a computer network, downloads data from said location, and extracts said plurality of geographical codes and at least one categorical code from tags included in said downloaded data. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein said data representing a location is a URI of a web page associated with said information provider, and said data downloaded from said location is at least part of the data available from said web page. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said geographical code is, or is representative of, at least one of an address, a postal code, a city, a region and a country. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said categorical code is representative of a type of goods or a type of services. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said categorical code is UNSPSC. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said geographical position is provided by positioning means associated with a terminal operated by said user and said categorical preference is included in a user profile stored on said terminal. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein said positioning means is a GPS receiver or a cellphone capable of receiving or deriving positioning information from a cellphone network with which it is communicating. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said geographical levels includes a first level of geographical codes referring to local areas, a second level of geographical codes referring to regional areas, and a third level of geographical codes referring to national areas. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said presentation of retrieved entries is transmitted to said user as information that fulfills the criteria indicated in the request, or as one or more hyperlink references to information that fulfills the criteria indicated in the request. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said second process further transmits to a user an invitation to request information in the form of a markup language input form and receive a request for information submitted by said user by means of said input form. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said first process further receives a request for assignment of a geographical code from an information provider; said one or more computer processors being programmed to further perform:
 a fourth process of generating a geographical code in response to said request and transmitting data representative of said geographical code to said information provider.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 a second database; and   wherein said fourth process further enters said generated geographical code as part of an information provider profile in said second database, and transmits an association with said information provider profile to said information provider as said data representative of said geographical code.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein said association is an information provider identification code representing said information provider profile, or a URI, a prefix part of a URI or a domain name associated with said information provider and stored in said information provider profile. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 said second process further receives a request for establishment of a user profile including a categorical preference from a user,   said system further comprises:
 a third database, and 
   said one or more computer processors are programmed to further perform:
 a fifth process of generating a user identification code, entering said user identification code and said categorical preference as part of a user profile in said third database, and transmitting said user identification code to said user such that said user identification code can be used as said data representative of a categorical preference in a request for information. 
   
     
     
         17 . Method for providing information to a user, comprising:
 utilizing one or more computer processors to execute a process including:
 receiving information including information items from at least one information provider, said information including at least data representative of a plurality of geographical codes defining associated information items as being relevant to respective geographical areas and data representative of one or more categorical codes, each of said information items being associated with at least one of the geographical codes and at least one of the categorical codes, said geographical codes being chosen by said at least one information provider from a system of geographical codes representing a plurality of geographical levels; 
 entering information items included in the received information in a first database as respective entries, the information items being entered in relation to said geographical codes and said categorical codes in said first database; 
 receiving an information request from a user, said information request including at least data representative of a geographical position and data representative of a categorical preference, said categorical preference including a plurality of categorical codes each of which is associated with a geographical preference indicating one or more of said geographical levels; 
 searching said first database based on said request; 
 retrieving entries from said first database that have:
 an associated geographical code that corresponds with said geographical position and said geographical preference, and 
 an associated categorical code that corresponds with said categorical preference; and 
 
 transmitting a presentation of said retrieved entries to said user. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the executed process further comprises:
 transmitting a request for information to an information provider in the form of a markup language input form; and   receiving information that is submitted by said information provider by means of said input form.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the executed process further comprises:
 receiving data representing a location on a computer network;   downloading data from said location; and   extracting said plurality of geographical codes and at least one categorical code from tags included in said downloaded data.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said data representing a location is a URI of a web page associated with said information provider, and said data downloaded from said location is at least part of the data available from said web page. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said geographical code is, or is representative of, at least one of an address, a postal code, a city, a region and a country. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said categorical code is representative of a type of goods or a type of services. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said categorical code is UNSPSC. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said geographical position is provided by positioning means associated with a terminal operated by said user and said categorical preference is included in a user profile stored on said terminal. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein said positioning means is a GPS receiver or a cellphone capable of receiving or deriving positioning information from a cellphone network with which it is communicating. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said geographical levels includes a first level of geographical codes referring to local areas, a second level of geographical codes referring to regional areas, and a third level of geographical codes referring to national areas. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said presentation of retrieved entries is transmitted to said user as information that fulfills the criteria indicated in the request, or as one or more hyperlink references to information that fulfills the criteria indicated in the request. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the executed process further comprises:
 transmitting to a user an invitation to request information in the form of a markup language input form; and   receiving a request for information submitted by said user by means of said input form.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the executed process further comprises:
 receiving a request for assignment of a geographical code from an information provider; and   generating a geographical code in response to said request; and   transmitting data representative of said geographical code to said information provider.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the executed process further comprises:
 entering said generated geographical code as part of an information provider profile in a second database; and   transmitting an association with said user profile to said information provider as said data representative of said geographical code.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein said association is an information provider identification code representing said information provider profile, or a URI, a prefix part of a URI or a domain name associated with said information provider and stored in said information provider profile. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the executed process further comprises:
 receiving a request for establishment of a user profile including a categorical preference from a user;   generating a user identification code;   entering said user identification code and said categorical preference as part of a user profile in a third database; and   transmitting said user identification code to said user such that said user identification code can be used as said data representative of a categorical preference in a request for information.