User-based content filtering and ranking to facilitate on-demand transport services

Abstract

A network computing system can monitor current locations of drivers providing on-demand transport services throughout a transport service region. For each driver, the system can filter content items into a filtered subset of content items relevant to the driver. As the driver travels throughout the transport service region, the system can determine a degree of relevance for each content item in the filtered subset of content items based, at least in part, on the current location of the operating driver, and one or more location and/or criteria tags of each content item of the filtered subset of content items. The system can generate dynamically changing, ranked set of content items for display on the computing device of the driver as the driver travels throughout the region.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A network computing system implementing an on-demand transport service for a transport service region, the network computing system comprising:
 a network communication interface communicating, over one or more wireless networks, with a driver application executing on individual computing devices of operating drivers of the on-demand transport service;   a content database storing a plurality of content items pertaining to the on-demand transport service, each content item of the plurality of content items comprising one or more location tags and one or more criteria tags that are used by the networking computing system to determine when the content item is to be displayed to one or more drivers of the on-demand transport service;   a driver database storing, for each driver of the on-demand transport service, a set of driver attributes indicating at least one of (i) historical data corresponding to historical activity of the driver in connection with the on-demand transport service, or (ii) driver preferences of the driver in connection with the on-demand transport service;   one or more processors; and   one or more memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the network computing system to:
 for each operating driver of the on-demand transport service:
 receive, over the one or more wireless networks, location data from the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the location data providing a current location of the operating driver; 
 based, at least in part, on the set of driver attributes of the operating driver, filter the plurality of content items into a filtered subset of content items relevant to the operating driver; 
 as the operating driver travels throughout the transport service region, determine a degree of relevance for each content item in the filtered subset of content items based, at least in part, on (i) the current location of the operating driver, (ii) the one or more location tags, and (iii) the one or more criteria tags of each content item of the filtered subset of content items; 
 generate a ranked set of content items for display on the computing device of the operating driver based on the determined degree of relevance for each content item of the filtered subset of content items; and 
 transmit, over the one or more wireless networks, display data to the executing driver application on the computing device of the operating driver, the display data causing the executing driver application to generate the ranked set of content items on a display screen of the computing device of the operating driver; 
 wherein the ranked set of content items on the display screen dynamically changes based on a change in the degree of relevance of each content item in the filter subset. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The network computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the display data causes the driver application to configure the ranked set of ranked content items to display as a set of scrollable virtual cards on the computing device of the operating driver, the set of scrollable virtual cards comprising higher ranked content items being displayed more prominently than lower ranked content items. 
     
     
         3 . The network computing system of  claim 1 , wherein each content item of the plurality of content items in the content database is further associated with expiration conditions, and wherein the executed instructions further cause the network computing system to:
 determine the expiration conditions for each respective content item in the ranked set of content items; and   when the expiration conditions for the respective content item are met, cause the respective content item to no longer be displayed on the computing device of the operating driver.   
     
     
         4 . The network computing system of  claim 3 , wherein the expirations conditions for each content item comprise at least one of (i) a fixed duration of time for which the content item is displayed, or (ii) driver activity. 
     
     
         5 . The network computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the executed instructions further cause the network computing system to:
 receive, over the one or more wireless networks, a driver status update from the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the driver status update indicating that (i) the operating driver is available to provide on-demand transport services, (ii) the operating driver is currently servicing a transport request, or (iii) the operating driver is off-duty;   wherein the driver status update corresponds to the one or more criteria tags associated with each content item in the filtered subset of content items.   
     
     
         6 . The network computing system of  claim 5 , wherein the executed instructions further cause the network computing system to:
 in response to the driver status update, transmit, over the one or more wireless networks, updated display data to the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the updated display data causing the driver application to generate an updated ranked set of content items based on the driver status update changing the degree of relevance of one or more content items in the filtered subset of content items.   
     
     
         7 . The network computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the network communication interface further communicates, over the one or more wireless networks, with a designated application executing on computing devices of users of the on-demand transport service, and wherein the executed instructions further cause the network computing system to:
 receive, over the one or more wireless networks, a transport request from the designated application executing on the computing device of a requesting user of the on-demand transport service;   based, at least in part, on the current location of the operating driver indicating that the operating driver is within a certain proximity to the requesting user, transmit, over the one or more wireless networks, a transport invitation to the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the transport invitation enabling the operating driver to service the transport request.   
     
     
         8 . The network computing system of  claim 7 , wherein the executed instructions further cause the network computing system to:
 receive, over the one or more wireless networks, a driver status update from the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the driver status update indicating that the operating driver has not accepted the transport invitation;   wherein the executed instructions cause the network computing system to transmit the display data to the driver application to cause the driver application to display the ranked set of content items in response to the driver status update indicating that the driver has not accepted the transport invitation.   
     
     
         9 . The network computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the driver attributes for filtering the plurality of content items indicate (i) a sub-region in which the operating driver operates, and (ii) a vehicle type of the operating driver. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for implementing an on-demand transport service for a transport service region, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 manage a content database storing a plurality of content items pertaining to the on-demand transport service, each content item of the plurality of content items comprising one or more location tags and one or more criteria tags that are used by the one or more processors to determine when the content item is to be displayed to relevant drivers of the on-demand transport service;   manage a driver database storing, for each driver of the on-demand transport service, a set of driver attributes indicating at least one of (i) historical data corresponding to historical activity of the driver in connection with the on-demand transport service, or (ii) driver preferences of the driver in connection with the on-demand transport service;   communicate, over one or more wireless networks, with a driver application executing on computing devices of operating drivers of the on-demand transport service;   for each operating driver of the on-demand transport service:
 receive, over the one or more wireless networks, location data from the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the location data providing a current location of the operating driver; 
 based, at least in part, on the set of driver attributes of the operating driver, filter the plurality of content items into a filtered subset of content items relevant to the operating driver; 
 as the operating driver travels throughout the transport service region, determine a degree of relevance for each content item in the filtered subset of content items based, at least in part, on (i) the current location of the operating driver, (ii) the one or more location tags, and (iii) the one or more criteria tags of each content item of the filtered subset of content items; 
 generate a ranked set of content items for display on the computing device of the operating driver based on the determined degree of relevance for each content item of the filtered subset of content items; and 
 transmit, over the one or more wireless networks, display data to the executing driver application on the computing device of the operating driver, the display data causing the executing driver application to generate the ranked set of content items on a display screen of the computing device of the operating driver; 
 wherein the ranked set of content items on the display screen dynamically changes based on a change in the degree of relevance of each content item in the filter subset. 
   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the display data causes the driver application to configure the ranked set of ranked content items to display as a set of scrollable virtual cards on the computing device of the operating driver, the set of scrollable virtual cards comprising higher ranked content items being displayed more prominently than lower ranked content items. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein each content item of the plurality of content items in the content database is further associated with expiration conditions, and wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 determine the expiration conditions for each respective content item in the ranked set of content items; and   when the expiration conditions for the respective content item are met, cause the respective content item to no longer be displayed on the computing device of the operating driver.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the expirations conditions for each content item comprise at least one of (i) a fixed duration of time for which the content item is displayed, or (ii) driver activity. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 receive, over the one or more wireless networks, a driver status update from the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the driver status update indicating that (i) the operating driver is available to provider on-demand transport services, (ii) the operating driver is currently servicing a transport request, or (iii) the operating driver is off-duty;   wherein the driver status update corresponds to the one or more criteria tags associated with each content item in the filtered subset of content items.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 in response to the driver status update, transmit, over the one or more wireless networks, updated display data to the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the updated display data causing the driver application to generate an updated ranked set of content items based on the driver status update changing the degree of relevance of one or more content items in the filtered subset of content items.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 communicate, over the one or more wireless networks, with a designated application executing on computing devices of users of the on-demand transport service;   receive, over the one or more wireless networks, a transport request from the designated application executing on the computing device of a requesting user of the on-demand transport service;   based, at least in part, on the current location of the operating driver indicating that the operating driver is within a certain proximity to the requesting user, transmit, over the one or more wireless networks, a transport invitation to the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the transport invitation enabling the operating driver to service the transport request.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 receive, over the one or more wireless networks, a driver status update from the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the driver status update indicating that the operating driver has not accepted the transport invitation;   wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to transmit the display data to the driver application to cause the driver application to display the ranked set of content items in response to the driver status update indicating that the driver has not accepted the transport invitation.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the driver attributes for filtering the plurality of content items indicate (i) a sub-region in which the operating driver operates, and (ii) a vehicle type of the operating driver. 
     
     
         19 . A computer-implemented method of implementing an on-demand transport service for a transport service region, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:
 managing a content database storing a plurality of content items pertaining to the on-demand transport service, each content item of the plurality of content items comprising one or more location tags and one or more criteria tags that are used by the one or more processors to determine when the content item is to be displayed to relevant drivers of the on-demand transport service;   managing a driver database storing, for each driver of the on-demand transport service, a set of driver attributes indicating at least one of (i) historical data corresponding to historical activity of the driver in connection with the on-demand transport service, or (ii) driver preferences of the driver in connection with the on-demand transport service;   communicating, over one or more wireless networks, with a driver application executing on computing devices of operating drivers of the on-demand transport service;   for each operating driver of the on-demand transport service:
 receive, over the one or more wireless networks, location data from the driver application executing on the computing device of the operating driver, the location data providing a current location of the operating driver; 
 based, at least in part, on the set of driver attributes of the operating driver, filter the plurality of content items into a filtered subset of content items relevant to the operating driver; 
 as the operating driver travels throughout the transport service region, determine a degree of relevance for each content item in the filtered subset of content items based, at least in part, on (i) the current location of the operating driver, (ii) the one or more location tags, and (iii) the one or more criteria tags of each content item of the filtered subset of content items; 
 generate a ranked set of content items for display on the computing device of the operating driver based on the determined degree of relevance for each content item of the filtered subset of content items; and 
 transmit, over the one or more wireless networks, display data to the executing driver application on the computing device of the operating driver, the display data causing the executing driver application to generate the ranked set of content items on a display screen of the computing device of the operating driver; 
 wherein the ranked set of content items on the display screen dynamically changes based on a change in the degree of relevance of each content item in the filter subset. 
   
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 19 , wherein the display data causes the driver application to configure the ranked set of ranked content items to display as a set of scrollable virtual cards on the computing device of the operating driver, the set of scrollable virtual cards comprising higher ranked content items being displayed more prominently than lower ranked content items.