Method for Passive Mining of Usage Information In A Location-Based Services System

Abstract

A method and system for providing advertising effectiveness searching capabilities, predictive modeling capabilities and usage mining in a location-based services system is disclosed. During operation of the location-based services system, usage information for advertising campaigns placed on the location-based services system is stored. Advertisers are provided with the ability to enter a search request form on a remote terminal to mine the usage information. The search request is then transmitted to an application that searches usage information to generate a response to said search request.

1 - 6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, by a computer system of a location-based service from a mobile device, a request for information describing food products sold by each of one or more nearby restaurant locations of a restaurant business, the nearby restaurant locations being locations of the restaurant business that are located closest to a location of the mobile device relative to other restaurant locations of the restaurant business;   obtaining a geographic indicator associated with the mobile device, the geographic indicator representing a location of the mobile device;   obtaining a plurality of candidate restaurant locations of the restaurant business;   computing distances between the location of the mobile device and each candidate restaurant location of the plurality of candidate restaurant locations;   determining, from the computed distances of the candidate restaurant locations, one or more nearby restaurant locations;   obtaining, from business data files associated with the one or more nearby restaurant locations, information describing food products sold by each of the nearby restaurant locations; and   providing, for presentation to a user on the mobile device, the information describing the food products sold by each of the nearby restaurant locations.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein obtaining the geographic indicator comprises receiving the geographic indicator from a geographic determination application of a wireless base station or from a network of global positioning system devices. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein obtaining the geographic indicator comprises obtaining the geographic indicator without requiring geographic location input from the user. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the information describing the food products sold by each of the one or more nearby restaurant locations of the restaurant business comprises information describing food product types sold, food brands sold, or prices of food products sold. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the information describing the food products sold by each of the one or more nearby restaurant locations comprises availability information for each of the nearby restaurant locations, the availability information representing whether or not a particular food product is available at each of the nearby restaurant locations. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the information describing the food products sold comprises information describing offers by each of the nearby restaurant locations. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , comprising:
 receiving, from the user, a search radius, and wherein obtaining a plurality of candidate restaurant locations of the restaurant business comprises obtaining a plurality of restaurant locations of the business that are within the search radius from the location of the mobile device.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , comprising:
 after providing the information describing the food products sold by each of the nearby restaurant locations, receiving, from the mobile device by the computer system of a location-based service, a business service request from the user.   
     
     
         15 . A system comprising:
 a mobile device configured to provide a request for information describing food products sold by each of one or more nearby restaurant locations of a restaurant business, the nearby restaurant locations being locations of the restaurant business that are located closest to a location of the mobile device relative to other restaurant locations of the restaurant business; and   a computer system of a location-based service, the location-based service being configured to:
 receive the request for information describing food products sold by each of the one or more nearby restaurant locations of the restaurant business, 
 obtain a geographic indicator associated with the mobile device, the geographic indicator representing a location of the mobile device; 
 obtain a plurality of candidate restaurant locations of the restaurant business; 
 compute distances between the location of the mobile device and each candidate restaurant location of the plurality of candidate restaurant locations; 
 determine, from the computed distances of the candidate restaurant locations, one or more nearby restaurant locations; 
 obtain, from business data files associated with the one or more nearby restaurant locations, information describing food products sold by each of the nearby restaurant locations; and 
 provide, for presentation to a user on the mobile device, the information describing the food products sold by each of the nearby restaurant locations. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the location-based service is configured to obtain the geographic indicator including receiving the geographic indicator from a geographic determination application of a wireless base station or from a network of global positioning system devices. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the location-based service is configured to obtain the geographic indicator without requiring geographic location input from the user. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the information describing the food products sold by each of the one or more nearby restaurant locations of the restaurant business comprises information describing food product types sold, food brands sold, or prices of food products sold. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the information describing the food products sold by each of the one or more nearby restaurant locations comprises availability information for each of the nearby restaurant locations, the availability information representing whether or not a particular food product is available at each of the nearby restaurant locations. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the information describing the food products sold comprises information describing offers by each of the nearby restaurant locations. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the location-based service is configured to receive, from the user, a search radius, and obtain the plurality of candidate restaurant locations of the restaurant business including obtaining a plurality of restaurant locations of the business that are within the search radius from the location of the mobile device. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the location-based service is configured to receive,
 from the mobile device, a business service request from the user after providing the information describing the food products sold by each of the nearby restaurant locations.   
     
     
         23 . A computer program product, encoded on one or more non-transitory computer storage media, comprising instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, by a computer system of a location-based service from a mobile device, a request for information describing food products sold by each of one or more nearby restaurant locations of a restaurant business, the nearby restaurant locations being locations of the restaurant business that are located closest to a location of the mobile device relative to other restaurant locations of the restaurant business;   obtaining a geographic indicator associated with the mobile device, the geographic indicator representing a location of the mobile device;   obtaining a plurality of candidate restaurant locations of the restaurant business;   computing distances between the location of the mobile device and each candidate restaurant location of the plurality of candidate restaurant locations;   determining, from the computed distances of the candidate restaurant locations, one or more nearby restaurant locations;   obtaining, from business data files associated with the one or more nearby restaurant locations, information describing food products sold by each of the nearby restaurant locations; and   providing, for presentation to a user on the mobile device, the information describing the food products sold by each of the nearby restaurant locations.   
     
     
         24 . The computer program product of  claim 23 , wherein obtaining the geographic indicator comprises receiving the geographic indicator from a geographic determination application of a wireless base station or from a network of global positioning system devices. 
     
     
         25 . The computer program product of  claim 23 , wherein obtaining the geographic indicator comprises obtaining the geographic indicator without requiring geographic location input from the user. 
     
     
         26 . The computer program product of  claim 23 , wherein the information describing the food products sold by each of the one or more nearby restaurant locations of the restaurant business comprises information describing food product types sold, food brands sold, or prices of food products sold. 
     
     
         27 . The computer program product of  claim 23 , wherein the information describing the food products sold by each of the one or more nearby restaurant locations comprises availability information for each of the nearby restaurant locations, the availability information representing whether or not a particular food product is available at each of the nearby restaurant locations. 
     
     
         28 . The computer program product of  claim 23 , wherein the information describing the food products sold comprises information describing offers by each of the nearby restaurant locations. 
     
     
         29 . The computer program product of  claim 23 , wherein the operations comprise:
 receiving, from the user, a search radius, and wherein obtaining a plurality of candidate restaurant locations of the restaurant business comprises obtaining a plurality of restaurant locations of the business that are within the search radius from the location of the mobile device.   
     
     
         30 . The computer program product of  claim 23 , wherein the operations comprise:
 after providing the information describing the food products sold by each of the nearby restaurant locations, receiving, from the mobile device by the computer system of a location-based service, a business service request from the user.