U.S. patent application number 11/330177 was filed with the patent office on 2007-02-08 for on-line geographical directory.
This patent application is currently assigned to SUPER INTERNET SITE SYSTEM PTY LTD.. Invention is credited to John Knorr.
Application Number | 20070033182 11/330177 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 3820101 |
Filed Date | 2007-02-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070033182 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Knorr; John |
February 8, 2007 |
On-line geographical directory
Abstract
A method is provided for categorising businesses, organizations
and individuals in order to facilitate geographically-based
searching over the Internet. The method comprises the steps of (a)
entering in a database the names of businesses, organizations
and/or individuals; (b) for each name entry registering a
geographical location identifier, the geographical location
identifier indicating the precise geographical location at which
the corresponding business, organization or individual is located;
(c) for each name entry registering further information such as
contact details and a description of the goods or services offered
by the business, organization or individual; and (d) for at least
some of the name entries adding credential information in respect
of the business, organization or individual, or the goods or
services offered by the business, organization or individual. A
user interrogates the database by nominating a catchment area by
reference to one or more geographical points to identify name
entries within the catchment area nominated by the user.
Inventors: |
Knorr; John; (Emerald,
AU) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OLIFF & BERRIDGE, PLC
P.O. BOX 19928
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22320
US
|
Assignee: |
SUPER INTERNET SITE SYSTEM PTY
LTD.
EMERALD
AU
|
Family ID: |
3820101 |
Appl. No.: |
11/330177 |
Filed: |
January 12, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10232401 |
Sep 3, 2002 |
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11330177 |
Jan 12, 2006 |
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PCT/AU01/00221 |
Mar 2, 2001 |
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10232401 |
Sep 3, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 ;
707/999.005; 707/E17.11 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10S 707/918 20130101;
G06F 16/9537 20190101; G06Q 30/02 20130101; Y10S 707/919
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/005 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 3, 2000 |
AU |
PQ5997 |
Claims
1. A method of categorising businesses, organizations and
individuals in order to facilitate geographically-based searching
over the Internet, comprising the steps of: (a) entering in a
database the names of businesses, organizations and/or individuals;
(b) for each name entry registering a geographical location
identifier, the geographical location identifier indicating the
precise geographical location at which the corresponding business,
organization or individual is located; (c) for each name entry
registering further information such as contact details and a
description of the goods or services offered by the business,
organization or individual; (d) for at least some of the name
entries adding credential information in respect of the business,
organization or individual, or the goods or services offered by the
business, organization or individual; wherein a user interrogates
the database by nominating a catchment area by reference to one or
more geographical points to identify name entries within the
catchment area nominated by the user.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the credential
information is added by another business, organisation or
individual registered in the database.
3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a brand owner and the credential information indicates businesses,
organisations and/or individuals that resell goods or services
under the brand.
4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a credit card provider and the credential information indicates
businesses, organizations and/or individuals that accept the credit
card associated with the credit card provider
5. A method according to claim 2, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a professional or industrial organisation and the credential
information indicates businesses, organizations and/or individuals
that are members of the professional or industrial
organisation.
6. A method according to claim 2, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a credit reference agency and the credential information includes
financial data pertaining to other registered businesses,
organizations and/or individuals.
7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the credential
information is only accessible through the website of the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential
information.
8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the user pays to access
the credential information.
9. An Internet site for facilitating geographically-based searching
over the Internet, comprising: (a) a database having a plurality of
name entries corresponding to the names of businesses,
organizations and/or individuals, each name entry having a
geographical identifier indicating the precise geographical
location at which the business, organization or individual is
located, each name entry further being associated with additional
information such as contact details and a description of the goods
or services offered by the business, organization or individual;
(b) a credential input component to enable one registered business,
organisation or individual to add credential information in respect
of one or more other registered businesses, organizations or
individuals, or the goods or services offered by the businesses,
organizations or individuals; and (c) a search catchment area
nominating component whereby a user nominates a search catchment
area by reference to one or more geographical points to search the
database to identify name entries associated with businesses,
organisations or individuals located within the search catchment
area nominated.
10. An Internet site according to claim 9, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a brand owner and the credential information indicates businesses,
organisations and/or individuals that resell goods or services
under the brand.
11. An Internet site according to claim 9, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a credit card provider and the credential information indicates
businesses, organizations and/or individuals that accept the credit
card associated with the credit card provider
12. An Internet site according to claim 9, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a professional or industrial organisation and the credential
information indicates businesses, organizations and/or individuals
that are members of the professional or industrial
organisation.
13. An Internet site according to claim 9, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a credit reference agency and the credential information includes
financial data pertaining to one or more other registered
businesses, organizations and/or individuals.
14. A system for facilitating geographically based searching for
businesses, organizations and individuals over the Internet, the
system comprising: (a) a database having a plurality of name
entries corresponding to the names of businesses, organizations
and/or individuals; (b) a geographical identifier input component
for entering a geographical location identifier for each name entry
indicating the precise geographical location at which the business,
organization or individual is located; (c) a data input component
for entering information such as contact details and a description
of the goods or services offered by the business, organization or
individual for each name entry; (d) a credential input component to
enable one registered business, organisation or individual to add
credential information in respect of another registered business,
organization or individual, or the goods or services offered by the
business, organization or individual; (e) a search catchment area
nominating component whereby a user nominates a search catchment
area by reference to one or more geographical points to search the
database to identify name entries associated with businesses,
organisations or individuals located within the search catchment
area nominated.
15. A system according to claim 14, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a brand owner and the credential information indicates businesses,
organisations and/or individuals that resell goods or services
under the brand.
16. A system according to claim 14, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a credit card provider and the credential information indicates
businesses, organizations and/or individuals that accept the credit
card associated with the credit card provider
17. A system according to claim 14, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a professional or industrial organisation and the credential
information indicates businesses, organizations and/or individuals
that are members of the professional or industrial
organisation.
18. A system according to claim 14, wherein the business,
organisation or individual that added the credential information is
a credit reference agency and the credential information includes
financial data pertaining to one or more other registered
businesses, organizations and/or individuals.
Description
[0001] This is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No.
10/232,401 filed Sep. 3, 2002, which in turn is a Continuation of
International Application No. PCT/AU01/00221 filed Mar. 2, 2001.
The entire disclosure of the prior applications is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0002] This invention relates to an on-line geographical or spatial
directory. It also relates particularly but not exclusively to a
method of categorising items in order to facilitate information
retrieval. It further relates particularly but not exclusively to a
method and system for indexing information so that Internet users
may locate relevant information according to geographical or
spatial location. It also relates particularly but not exclusively
to a method and system of delivering geographically based
advertising over the Internet.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Over the past decade, the Internet has become a source of a
vast amount of information. Unfortunately, there is no agreed
method of indexing or categorisation, so that it is very difficult
to identify and locate most of the information which may be
relevant to a particular query. Two of the most common ways of
locating relevant information on the Internet are to locate a URL
in a printed publication or television advertisement and to enter
it into a web browser to "visit" the URL and obtain the desired
information, or to use one of the many Internet search engines.
[0004] The Internet search engines typically maintain indices based
on key words which appear on web pages. When some key words are
typed into a search engine, the search engine produces a list of
hypertext links to documents having those key words. This is a good
way of finding some general information on a particular subject,
but it is not an effective way of finding all relevant
information.
[0005] There are advantages and disadvantages to doing business on
the Internet. One advantage is that the Internet provides rapid and
inexpensive access to an enormous number of different potential
customers. This is particularly useful when a business involves
selling items such as books or CDs, which have universal appeal and
are non-perishable and relatively inexpensive to ship to anywhere
in the world. A disadvantage is that the Internet is less suitable
for businesses which have a more local customer base, because it
does not provide easy ways of targeting local customers. Similarly,
many customers have difficulty in identifying Internet businesses
are within their geographical location. For example, a pizza shop
might have a customer base located exclusively within a 5 km
radius, but an Internet search on "pizza shops" might bring up
thousands of such shops from all round the world, so that shops in
the relevant geographical location are lost amongst the large
number of irrelevant ones.
[0006] Indeed, the majority of businesses and organizations have a
geographically defined constituency, and are not therefore
inherently suited to the presently available Internet search
engines. Some search engines such as Altavista allow a search to be
confined to a particular country, and Yahoo goes further, allowing
a search to be restricted according to country, state and city.
However, in many cases, a restriction to a particular city is still
not enough. In the case of a pizza shop, a list of all pizza shops
in a particular city would still contain far too many shops which
were not within a 5 km radius of the potential customer.
[0007] One way for a person to attempt to overcome this problem
when using an Internet search engine is to use the locality of the
particular business as a key word. Thus, the person might type
"Pizza Shop Preston" into the search engine. However, this is still
unsatisfactory because all relevant pizza shops may not have used
the locality name "Preston" as a key word on their Internet web
sites, and relevant shops in neighbouring locations will not be
located. Further, there may be multiple localities throughout the
world with the same locality name. For example, there are
approximately thirty eight localities which have the name "Preston"
in the United States.
[0008] An attempt has been made to address this problem in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,930,474, which relates to an Internet organiser for
accessing geographically and topically based information. The
organiser disclosed in that patent essentially requires the
breaking down of a city into various localities, and the
compilation of "locality guides" for the localities, with each
business being listed in a particular locality guide. This is
useful to some extent, in a similar manner to a neighbourhood
telephone directory. However, it still has numerous shortcomings.
It fails to distinguish between different types of goods and
services for which different locality sizes are appropriate. For
example, a person may only be prepared to travel up to 2 km to do
the daily grocery shopping, but may be prepared to travel up to 20
km to purchase an item of furniture. A builder of a major project
might be happy to have pre-mixed concrete delivered within a
maximum of 20 km due to the perishable nature of the product. On
the other hand prefabricated steelwork can be transported hundreds
of kilometres without deterioration and without a major cost
disadvantage. Further, a business classified as being just within
the borders of a particular locality may by that classification
miss out on business which it might otherwise have gained from a
nearby customer who is classified as residing just within the
border of an adjoining locality.
[0009] An object of the present invention is to overcome of
alleviate one or more of the problems present in the prior art.
SUMMARY
[0010] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a method of categorising businesses, organizations and
individuals in order to facilitate geographically-based searching
over the Internet, comprising the steps of: [0011] (a) entering in
a database the names of businesses, organizations and/or
individuals; [0012] (b) for each name entry registering a
geographical location identifier, the geographical location
identifier indicating the precise geographical location at which
the corresponding business, organization or individual is located;
[0013] (c) for each name entry registering further information such
as contact details and a description of the goods or services
offered by the business, organization or individual; [0014] (d) for
at least some of the name entries adding credential information in
respect of the business, organization or individual, or the goods
or services offered by the business, organization or individual;
[0015] wherein a user interrogates the database by nominating a
catchment area by reference to one or more geographical points to
identify name entries within the catchment area nominated by the
user.
[0016] "Credential information" as referred to in the patent
specification means a word, code, qualification or other indicator
which is associated in the database with a name entry. For example,
the credential information may be used to indicate all businesses
entered in the system that sell BRAND X clothing and footwear, or
all individuals who are members of a particular professional
organisation or trade association.
[0017] The credential information is preferably added to the name
entry by another business, organisation or individual (referred to
as a "credentialing entity") registered in the database.
[0018] In general, the database entry associated with each
business, organization or individual can be viewed in the form of a
web page, and a "credentialed business" (a business to which a
credential has been applied by a credentialing entity) can be
discovered by a user through: [0019] (a) the web page of the
credentialing entity, which includes links to businesses which sell
the credentialing entity's goods or services; or [0020] (b) the web
page of the credentialing entity, which provides a verification of
a skill or qualification or membership; or [0021] (c) a search for
credentialed businesses, where the credentialing entity has enabled
such a search; or [0022] (d) the web page of the credentialing
entity through a process of restricted access, such as where the
credentialing entity charges for access to such information.
[0023] According to another aspect of the present invention, there
is provided an Internet site for facilitating geographically-based
searching over the Internet, comprising: [0024] (a) a database
having a plurality of name entries corresponding to the names of
businesses, organizations and/or individuals, each name entry
having a geographical identifier indicating the precise
geographical location at which the business, organization or
individual is located, each name entry further being associated
with additional information such as contact details and a
description of the goods or services offered by the business,
organization or individual; [0025] (b) a credential input component
to enable one registered business, organisation or individual to
add credential information in respect of one or more other
registered businesses, organizations or individuals, or the goods
or services offered by the businesses, organizations or
individuals; and [0026] (c) a search catchment area nominating
component whereby a user nominates a search catchment area by
reference to one or more geographical points to search the database
to identify name entries associated with businesses, organisations
or individuals located within the search catchment area
nominated.
[0027] According to yet another aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a system for facilitating geographically based
searching for businesses, organizations and individuals over the
Internet, the system comprising: [0028] (a) a database having a
plurality of name entries corresponding to the names of businesses,
organizations and/or individuals; [0029] (b) a geographical
identifier input component for entering a geographical location
identifier for each name entry indicating the precise geographical
location at which the business, organization or individual is
located; [0030] (c) a data input component for entering information
such as contact details and a description of the goods or services
offered by the business, organization or individual for each name
entry; [0031] (d) a credential input component to enable one
registered business, organisation or individual to add credential
information in respect of another registered business, organization
or individual, or the goods or services offered by the business,
organization or individual; [0032] (e) a search catchment area
nominating component whereby a user nominates a search catchment
area by reference to one or more geographical points to search the
database to identify name entries associated with businesses,
organisations or individuals located within the search catchment
area nominated.
[0033] In one particular embodiment, the business, organisation or
individual that added the credential information is a brand owner
and the credential information indicates businesses, organisations
and/or individuals that resell goods or services under the
brand.
[0034] In another embodiment, the business, organisation or
individual that added the credential information is a credit card
provider and the credential information indicates businesses,
organizations and/or individuals that accept the credit card
associated with the credit card provider
[0035] In yet another embodiment, the business, organisation or
individual that added the credential information is a professional
or industrial organisation and the credential information indicates
businesses, organizations and/or individuals that are members of
the professional or industrial organisation.
[0036] In an alternative embodiment, the business, organisation or
individual that added the credential information is a credit
reference agency and the credential information includes financial
data pertaining to other registered businesses, organizations
and/or individuals.
[0037] The credential information may be accessible to a user only
through the website of the business, organisation or individual
that added the credential information.
[0038] In another form of the invention, the credential information
is only accessible to a user who has paid to access the credential
information.
[0039] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a method of categorising businesses, organizations and
individuals in order to facilitate geographically-based searching
over the Internet, including the steps of: [0040] (a) registering
in a database the names of businesses, organizations and/or
individuals; [0041] (b) for each name entry, registering a
geographical location identifier; and [0042] (c) for each name
entry, optionally registering further information such as address,
telephone number, and information about the goods or services
offered by the business, organization or individual; [0043] wherein
each geographical location identifier indicates the precise
geographical location at which the business, organization or
individual is located.
[0044] The geographical location identifier may be any suitable
type of identifier. In one suitable arrangement, each geographical
location identifier corresponds to: [0045] (i) a precise point of
latitude and longitude where the business, organization or
individual in question occupies a small area of land; or [0046]
(ii) an area of points of latitude and longitude where the
business, organization or individual occupies a larger amount of
land.
[0047] In a particularly preferred arrangement, the database
operates in conjunction with a secondary database of known street
addresses and geographical co-ordinates such that, when a new name
is entered in the database, a geographical location identifier is
provided for that name by entering a street address for the name,
which the secondary database can use to provide geographical
co-ordinates for the name.
[0048] In a preferred arrangement, there are numerous databases at
a number of Internet sites located in different countries or
regions, each of the Internet sites containing information relevant
to businesses, organizations and/or individuals in its country or
region.
[0049] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided
an Internet site for facilitating geographically-based searching
over the Internet, including: [0050] (a) a database having the
names of businesses, organizations and/or individuals; [0051] (b)
the database further having a geographical location identifier for
each name entry; [0052] wherein each geographical location
identifier indicates the precise geographical location at which the
business, organization or individual is located.
[0053] In one arrangement, each geographical location identifier
corresponds to: [0054] (i) a precise point of latitude and
longitude where the business, organization or individual in
question occupies a small area of land; or [0055] (ii) an area of
points of latitude and longitude where the business, organization
or individual occupies a larger amount of land.
[0056] In another arrangement, the database operates in conjunction
with a secondary database of known street addresses and
geographical co-ordinates such that, when a new name is entered in
the database, a geographical location identifier is provided for
that name by entering a street address for the name, which the
secondary database can use to provide geographical co-ordinates for
the name.
[0057] The Internet site preferably further includes a search
engine which allows an Internet user to conduct a search of the
database to find all entries matching user-specified criteria
located within a user-specified distance from a user specified
point. Thus, for example, a person can use the search engine to
locate all grocery stores within a 2 km radius of his or her house,
or to locate all furniture stores within a 20 km radius. As a
further example, a person visiting an unfamiliar city might use the
system to locate the closest hotel to a particular place of
business.
[0058] It will readily be appreciated that the system can be used
for almost any type of geographical or spatial searching and
accordingly the invention is not limited to those so far listed.
The system may search from any point within any predetermined
distance. For example, the system may search within a specified
distance of a particular object such as a road or coastline. The
system may also search by drawing an area on the map, preferably
with a mouse, and searching that area. Another alternative method
of searching is by nominating various points and searching the area
contained within those points, these points may be defined by
particular objects such as roads.
[0059] If the internet site is programmed with various different
types of geographical boundaries such as council boundaries, postal
area boundaries and electoral district boundaries, and different
geographical features such as streets, shopping centres and public
facilities, a user can perform numerous different types of searches
such as: [0060] "Find all the scout halls in the municipality of X"
[0061] "Find the nearest Post Office" [0062] "Find all the cake
shops in X Street" [0063] "Find all the shops that sell X brand
shoes in Y shopping centre"
[0064] There are numerous different ways in which the method and
database system of the invention can be used to generate revenue.
Businesses and organizations can make a payment in order to be
listed in the database. Persons undertaking a search can be charged
a fee for the search. Alternatively, revenue can be generated
through advertising on the search engine site and on search results
pages. In order to increase the effectiveness of advertising, the
subject matter of advertisements can be varied to accord with the
subject matter of searches being made.
[0065] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a
method of categorising items in order to facilitate information
retrieval, including the steps of: [0066] (a) registering in a
database the identity of the item; [0067] (b) for each entity,
optionally registering further information about the item; and
[0068] (c) registering in the database a spatial co-ordinate
identifier corresponding to the location of each item wherein each
spatial co-ordinate indicates the precise spatial location
identifier of the entity at which the item is located.
[0069] Preferably, the item in question is defined by co-ordinates
specified relative to each one of three dimensions. Alternatively,
the item in question may be defined by an area of spatial
co-ordinates, each spatial co-ordinate being specified as relative
to each one of three dimensions. In a further alternative, the item
in question can be defined by a volume of spatial co-ordinates,
each spatial co-ordinate being specified as relative to each one of
three dimensions.
[0070] According to the Invention in an aspect there is provided a
method of delivering geographically based advertising over the
Internet, including the steps of: [0071] (a) registering in a
database one or more goods or services being offered by one or more
advertisers; [0072] (b) for each good or service offered by the
advertiser, registering an advertiser geographical area indicating
the area in which the advertiser wishes to receive customers;
[0073] (c) determining an Internet user geographical location
identifier, being the precise geographical location of the Internet
user; [0074] (d) displaying to the Internet user an advertisement,
the advertisement displayed being selected from one or more
advertisements for goods or services wherein the geographical
location of the Internet user is within the advertiser geographical
area corresponding to one or more of the goods or services
presented in the advertisement.
[0075] Preferably, the advertiser geographical area is specified by
precise points of latitude and longitude. The Internet use
geographical location identifier may also be specified by a precise
point of latitude and longitude.
[0076] The Internet user may also supply information including
their Internet user geographical location identifier.
Alternatively, the party presenting the advertisement may track the
Internet user to determine their geographical location and target
advertising accordingly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0077] The invention will hereinafter be described in greater
detail with reference to the attached drawings which show an
example form of the invention. It is to be understood that the
particularity of those drawings does not supersede the generality
of the preceding description of the invention.
[0078] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the process of registering a
business, organization or individual (a "subscriber") in the
database.
[0079] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the search process, in which a
person searches the database system according to an embodiment of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0080] An overview of a system according to an embodiment of the
invention can be gained by working through the subscriber
registration process illustrated in FIG. 1. Firstly, a subscriber
chooses to register, and agrees to the terms and conditions. The
subscriber is then prompted to enter contact details including
items such as company name, contact name, subscriber ID, email
address, phone, URL, contact email, nature of business, products
and services, economic region, and subscriber references. The
subscriber then chooses a login name, passes through a payment
process, and logs into a "subscriber's profile page".
[0081] The subscriber then creates a profile from a template. The
subscriber's profile includes the following elements which can be
seen by "visitors": [0082] Locations for the presentation of logos,
drawings or photos [0083] Information that is vital for the
business such as name, address, phone, fax, email, etc. [0084]
Click points that open sub files of information of importance to
the business such as products and services; the sub files may
contain text or images [0085] A click point to show the business
location on the mapping system [0086] A facility to leave a message
for the subscriber [0087] A facility to leave an email message
[0088] Other information [0089] A click point or click points to
obtain further information (via hot links)
[0090] An Internet user who is examining a subscriber's profile can
click on a mapping icon, and the mapping system will bring up the
relevant map at the lowest perspective and display the "spike" (the
precise location of the subscriber's business). From there the user
can pan, scroll or more to a higher elevation.
[0091] The user can also search by: [0092] (a) selecting a point
and then specifying a distance from that point for that search
together with the subject of the search; [0093] (b) selecting any
object (for example, a road, river or feature) and nominating a
distance from it together with the subject of the search; [0094]
(c) drawing an area on the map and searching in that area; or (d)
nominating a series of features, such as roads, railways lines and
coastlines, which enclose an area and accordingly searching within
the enclosed area.
[0095] In response to a search, the system produces a list of
successes which can be opened by clicking on them. [0096] A
subscriber may have more than one profile. The subscriber accesses
and edits these profiles from a "subscriber's home page", which is
a web page at which the subscriber may choose to: Change the
password [0097] Amend the display on the subscriber's profile
"frontside" (the part which can be seen by "visitors") [0098]
Locate or relocate the business on the mapping system [0099]
Establish or change search criteria [0100] Purchase and establish a
banner ad on a screen of mapping information [0101] Purchase and
establish a classified ad [0102] Request information from the
library section of the site [0103] Request future information from
the magazine section of the site [0104] Read information found by
library/magazine sections [0105] Receive messages from visitors;
turn feature on and off [0106] Receive and send email
[0107] As part of entering a subscriber profile, the subscriber
clicks on an icon which relates to locating the subscriber's
"spike" on a map. This icon produces an address template which
brings up the appropriate address on the mapping system, and the
subscriber has an opportunity to move the "spike" to the exact
desired location or relocate the "spike" for any reason.
[0108] The "subscriber's home page" and the "subscriber's profile
page" are just two elements of a "super site", which includes a
number of profiles relating to a particular type of industry. There
are a number of super sites, each relating to a different industry.
By way of example, one super site may relate to tourism. The
elements of a super site include a front page, an about
us/products/services page, a search page, a map output page, a
refine search page, subscriber's home pages, subscriber's profile
pages, a classifieds section, a magazine section, payment pages and
administration pages.
[0109] The front page of a super site includes a welcome message,
feature items, what's new items and links to all sections of the
super site. The search page includes the fields: street number,
street name, suburb, state, product/service input box, postcode and
distance. Subscribers may enter various searchable words
descriptive of their businesses, and users can conduct searches
using these key words. Thus, for example, in the tourism super site
a subscriber who operates a restaurant may choose to use such key
words in relation to their businesses as "restaurant", the
restaurant name, "a la carte", "French cuisine", "Diners Club" and
"open 7 days".
[0110] The map output page includes an initial map image,
radial/perspective functionality, proximity input boxes,
directional buttons (panning, re-centring), a refine search button,
and a search again button. The refine search page enables a user to
"drill down" on a street address, change the radial proximity
parameters, change the zoom factor, conduct feature searches (e. g.
where is the nearest?), and pan or re-centre the map. The map
output page also allows a user to click on any point and search
within any distance. This allows the user to click on any object
and search with a pre-determined distance by clicking on an object
and choosing to search within any-distance of the object.
Alternatively the user can mark out the nominated area to search or
nominate a series of features that define an area.
[0111] The different super sites are combined into an overall
website, which may be distributed across multiple servers and
multiple geographical locations and URLs. Each super site
preferably relates to a different industry. These can be classified
in any suitable way. One suitable classification system which has
been devised for use with an embodiment of the invention is as
follows: [0112] Automotive [0113] Building and Construction [0114]
Communications and Information Technology [0115] Culture and
Recreation [0116] Education [0117] Emergency Services and Defence
[0118] Energy [0119] Food and Beverages [0120] Government Health
[0121] Infrastructure [0122] Law [0123] Manufacturing [0124] Money
[0125] Primary Production [0126] Real Estate [0127] Retailing
[0128] Services [0129] Science and Technology [0130] Tourism [0131]
Transport, Distribution and Storage
[0132] There will of course be overlap between different super
sites, and some businesses may be registered in more than one super
site. A suitable breakdown of the world's geographical regions is
as follows: [0133] Canada and Alaska [0134] Mexico [0135] Central
America/Caribbean [0136] Northern Latin America [0137] Brazil
[0138] Southern Latin America [0139] Pacific Islands [0140]
Australia [0141] Indonesian Archipelago [0142] South East Asia
[0143] Indochina [0144] Far Eastern Asia [0145] Korean Peninsula
[0146] Japan [0147] Russia [0148] Southern Africa [0149] Central
Africa [0150] North Africa [0151] Middle East [0152] Persia and
Western Asia [0153] Indian Subcontinent [0154] Scandinavia [0155]
Eastern Europe [0156] Asia Minor and the Caucasus [0157] Greece and
the Balkans [0158] Italy [0159] Iberian Peninsula [0160] France
[0161] British Isles [0162] The Low Countries [0163] Germany [0164]
Central Europe
[0165] In a preferred implementation, each of the above regions has
an Internet site according to the invention (a "Super Site"),
including super sites for each of the 21 industry groups identified
previously.
[0166] The components of the overall website include the super
sites, a master configuration module, an administration module, a
reporting module, a notification module, a payment module, a map
server, and one or more databases.
[0167] The master configuration module represents the top layer of
the web site configuration. It includes tools for configuring the
other modules. The administration module enables an administrator
to: configure a new super site, configure a new customer, grant
permissions, configure a new template, configure a new product,
configure a new report, configure a new content section, associate
a graphics suite by coding image names with a super site code,
publish a super site, configure security roles and levels, and view
and edit records.
[0168] The reporting module allows configuration of reports. Within
a super site, this includes reports of subscribers, transactions,
products, banners served, classifieds served, and search
results.
[0169] The notification module enables notification messages to be
sent to customers to alert them to such things as due dates for
payment of renewals on products. The payment module enables
subscribers to pay fees using a credit card number.
[0170] The map server graphically displays the positions of
selected businesses on a map. The map displays suburb and street
information with icons indicating the position of the selected
businesses. The map server enables searching by state, suburb,
street, region, zipcode or by using a user-defined distance. This
user-defined distance can be the radius from any user-defined
geographical point, defined by a user drawn area or defined by
nominating a series of features which create the area. Each
subscriber profile is entitled to have a location marker,
indicating to the map server the precise geographical location of
the subscriber's business.
[0171] The website includes one or more databases which store
information about the products, subscribers, transactions and
content. The product database includes product tables, profile
tables, banners, classifieds, and magazines. The subscriber
database includes subscriber details, associated tables with
products and transactions, and location-coded details. The
transaction database is a repository for all transactional records,
with the possible exception of financial transactions if such
transactions are conducted through a third-party secure payment
service. The content database includes magazine content, banner ad
content, profile content and classified content.
[0172] The use of the invention in relation to Internet advertising
allows advertising and in particular banner advertising to be
targeted to the geographical location of the particular Internet
user. The advertiser can track the user to identify their
geographical location or alternatively the user may submit their
geographical information. This will allow the Internet user to
receive advertising which is directly relevant to his geographical
area.
[0173] The advertiser may specify the exact geographical boundaries
to which they wish their Internet advertising to be directed. This
has the advantage of making Internet advertising available to small
businesses that have a localised customer base. Advertisers can
target as broadly as the whole nation or as accurately as the local
neighbourhood (to less than a square km) making Internet
advertising to these small local advertisers for the first
time.
[0174] The invention also enables advertisers to target different
advertising campaigns to different geographical regions.
[0175] A further aspect of the invention enables credential
information to be added for at least some of the name entries in
the database. The credential information is supplementary to the
geographical data and other data such as contact details and a
description of the goods and/or services offered by the business,
organisation or individual. The credential information includes a
word, code, qualification or other indicator which is attached to
the information associated with a database name entry. The
credential information should be added to selected name entries by
someone other than the business, organisation or individual to whom
the credential information applies.
[0176] Therefore, the database includes two types of information:
[0177] (a) what a business says about itself, i.e. the type of
business, business location, trading hours, etc., also referred to
as "discovery information"; and [0178] (b) what a third party says
about the business, also referred to as "credentialing
information".
[0179] A simple example of discovery information is information
registered in the system by a hardware store. The discovery
information includes a geographical location identifier which
indicates the geographical location at which the hardware store is
located. The hardware store is responsible for management of its
own discovery information, for example, the hardware store would
update its listing if the store is moved to another location.
[0180] A simple example of credentialing information is a brand
owner that sells a particular brand of product through hardware
stores can use the system to add a credential (in this case the
brand) to the discovery information relating to hardware stores
that sell its products. The credentialing information can be
displayed from the brand owner's (i.e. the credentialing entity's)
website to show showing all the hardware stores that stock that
particular brand. Similarly, hardware stores that sell that
particular brand can also be identified or discovered through a
general search via the system website when the user searches for
that brand.
[0181] Since it is highly unlikely that every hardware store in the
economy would go to the effort of displaying online keywords for
each and every brand stocked by the store, this system of data
credentialing allows the brand owner to provide the credentialing
information to every store that sells its products. The brand
owners do not need to concern themselves with the management of the
discovery information relating to each of the stores that stock its
products, this function is carried out by the stores themselves.
All that the brand owner needs to do is to associate the
credentialing information (in this case the brand) with a list of
ABNs (Australian Business Numbers) of the entities that own the
stores. The credentialing entity would have access to the stores
ABNs or similar business identifier since the brand owner deals
with them.
[0182] Since credential information is added by a third party, it
is intended to increase the user's interest and/or confidence in a
registered business, organisation or individual. As described in
the above example, in one particular embodiment the credential
information is added to the database by another registered business
which is a brand owner. The brand owner adds credential information
to all other businesses registered in the database that on sell
goods and/or services under the brand.
[0183] Adding brand credential information to the database is
advantageous for the user since the user is enabled to restrict the
results of a search for a business in a specified locality further
by examining any credential information associated with the
businesses, organisations and/or individual listings that have been
discovered using a particular search query. For example, a user can
filter the results of a search for clothing stores within 10
kilometres of the user's location to clothing stores which sell the
user's favourite brands.
[0184] Another example of useful credential information is added by
an organisation registered with the system to indicate those
businesses and/or individuals registered which are members of the
organisation. For example, Professional Organization X may add
credential information to all other businesses, organisations and
individuals that are members of the Professional Organization X.
This enables a user to filter search results to give precedence to
business listings which are members of a professional or industrial
organisation if desired. This may serve to increase the user's
confidence in those businesses and/or individuals. On the other
hand, the organisation is provided with a simple and effective tool
for promoting their members.
[0185] Yet another example of credential information is added by a
credit card provider registered in the database to indicate those
businesses, organisations or individuals which accept a particular
credit card. This enables users seek out those businesses and
individuals which accept a credit card that the user carries. For
example, the user may search for a local restaurant that accepts
BRAND X Credit Card.
[0186] In an alternative example, a credit reference agency adds
credential information indicating the financial status of other
registered businesses, organisations and/or individuals. In this
case, the credit reference agency may elect to display the
credential information only to users who pay to view the
information. Moreover, the credential information that a user must
pay to view may be accessible only via the credit reference
agency's own website to which the user is directed by the online
geographical system.
[0187] The association of credential information with name entries
for registered businesses, organisations and/or individuals is
advantageous for the user, the business being credentialed and the
credentialing business. As indicated above the user is provided
supplementary information on credentialed businesses which may
serve to increase the user's interest on the credentialed business.
The credentialing business benefits in increasing user interest in
businesses which for example offer for sale its branded goods
and/or services, or accept its credit card.
[0188] The credentialing entity does not play an active role in
maintaining the other information relevant to the businesses,
organisations or individuals being credentialed including their
geographical locations, and descriptions of their goods and/or
services (i.e. discovery keywords) stored in the database,
associated with the name entry. This data is managed by the
relevant business, organisation or individual. Accordingly, the
credentialing entity derives the benefit of adding its credential
to various businesses, organisations and individuals already
registered in the database without the added burden of having to
maintain a comprehensive and up to date listing of its resellers,
credit card merchants or members businesses as the case may be.
[0189] Credential information is added to the database by
associating the credential with a unique business identifier such
as an ABN (Australian Business Number) or similar identifier
associated with the business to be credentialed.
[0190] The credentialing entity also controls the discovery of the
credential information by a user. In some cases, the credentialing
business may restrict access to the credential information to users
who access the credential information through the website of the
credentialing business. Alternatively, a user may be enabled to
view the credential information through any search of the online
geographical system. For example, a brand owner and credit card
provider has an interest in having potential purchasers of its
branded goods and/or services or users of its credit card
discovered as readily as possible, whilst a professional
organisation may choose to only offer access to credentials of
other registered businesses and individuals via the organisation's
website.
[0191] Accordingly, it is to be understood that the credentialing
information may include various types of credentials from other
member businesses, in respect of the business, organisation or
individual in question, or the goods or services offered by the
business, organisation or individual in question. Moreover, the
manner in which the credential information is discovered by an
Internet user is controlled by the credentialing entity.
[0192] In combining the self management of discovery information
relating to each registered business with the credentialing
information provided by a third party, the reliability and currency
of the information is improved. For instance, whilst it is not
within the competency or resources of individual hardware stores to
manage the discovery of each and every one of the many brands that
it may sell through its store, it is in the interests of the brand
owners to ensure that their brands are spatially discoverable at
each location at which they are offered for sale. The combination
of these two types of information means that the directory system
includes data which is both comprehensive and accurate.
[0193] Finally, a further advantage of this credentialing
arrangement is that in being able to view from the credentialing
entity's website, all those businesses with which the credentialing
has a business relationship, the credentialing business may use
this data for its own internal management purposes whilst avoiding
the significant overheads involved in creating and maintaining an
internal database containing similar information.
[0194] Generally, the Invention can be used to locate relevant
internet files of information according to either geographical or
spatial location.
[0195] It is to be understood that various additions, alterations
and/or modifications may be made to the parts previously described
without departing from the ambit of the invention.
* * * * *