U.S. patent application number 12/792587 was filed with the patent office on 2011-06-09 for software to provide geographically relevant website content.
Invention is credited to Arthur P. Finlaw.
Application Number | 20110138011 12/792587 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41014016 |
Filed Date | 2011-06-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110138011 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Finlaw; Arthur P. |
June 9, 2011 |
Software to Provide Geographically Relevant Website Content
Abstract
Internet based software application that identifies the
geographic location of each a website visitor by their IP address
to provide geographically relevant content to each individual
visitor in a customized web page. In an embodiment, content can be
further customized by web page viewing patterns of users in similar
geographic locations. In an embodiment the software application
matches the visitor's location to likely travel departure points
with offerings likely to interest a visitor from said location and
displays likely attractive offers dynamically to that visitor.
Inventors: |
Finlaw; Arthur P.; (Panama
City Beach, FL) |
Family ID: |
41014016 |
Appl. No.: |
12/792587 |
Filed: |
June 2, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12041430 |
Mar 3, 2008 |
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12792587 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/217 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/025 20130101;
G06Q 50/12 20130101; G06F 16/9535 20190101; H04L 67/02 20130101;
H04W 4/02 20130101; G06Q 50/30 20130101; G06Q 30/0625 20130101;
H04L 67/18 20130101; H04W 4/029 20180201 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/217 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1-7. (canceled)
8. A computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content, the computer-based system comprising: an
application on a server of a website that reads the Internet
Protocol (IP) address of a website visitor, the application being
configured to: query the website visitor's IP address against a
database of IP addresses with known geographic locations and
determine a physical geographic regional location estimated to be
that of the website visitor; select a preferred region from a set
of predetermined regions based upon the physical geographic
regional location estimated to be that of the website visitor;
select a pre-made webpage that most appropriately matches the
selected preferred region; and deliver the pre-made webpage to the
website visitor to facilitate viewing of the pre-made webpage by
the website visitor.
9. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 8, wherein the application further
selects the pre-made webpage based upon prior purchases made by
other website visitors from a similar geographic region as the
website visitor.
10. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 8, wherein the pre-made webpage includes
geographically relevant internet content that is geographically
relevant to the physical geographic regional location estimated to
be that of the website visitor.
11. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 10, wherein the geographically relevant
internet content that is geographically relevant to the physical
geographic regional location estimated to be that of the website
visitor is selected based upon time of year.
12. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 10, wherein the geographically relevant
internet content that is geographically relevant to the physical
geographic regional location estimated to be that of the website
visitor is selected based upon recent viewing trends of other
website visitors from the physical geographic regional location
estimated to be that of the website visitor.
13. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 8, wherein the computer-based system is
further configured to provide geographically relevant internet
content that includes a map and graphically depicts (1) a preferred
departure point associated with the physical geographic regional
location estimated to be that of the website visitor, and (2)
possible destinations from the preferred departure point.
14. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 13, wherein the geographically relevant
internet content graphically depicts traveling from the preferred
departure point to the possible destinations as arcs originating
from the preferred departure point and radiating to each of the
possible destinations.
15. A computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content, the computer-based system comprising: an
application on a server of a website that reads the Internet
Protocol (IP) address of a website visitor, the application being
configured to: query the website visitor's IP address against a
database of IP addresses with known geographic locations; determine
a physical geographic regional location estimated to be that of the
website visitor; select a preferred region from a set of
predetermined regions based upon the physical geographic regional
location estimated to be that of the website visitor; select a
pre-made webpage that (1) corresponds to the selected preferred
region, and (2) includes geographically relevant internet content
that is geographically relevant to the physical geographic regional
location estimated to be that of the website visitor; and deliver
the pre-made webpage to the website visitor to facilitate viewing
of the geographically relevant internet content contained within
the pre-made webpage by the website visitor.
16. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 15, wherein the application further
selects the pre-made webpage based upon prior purchases made by
other website visitors from a similar geographic region as the
website visitor.
17. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 15, wherein the geographically relevant
internet content contained within the pre-made webpage includes
product offerings that are selected based upon the physical
geographic regional location estimated to be that of the website
visitor.
18. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 15, wherein the geographically relevant
internet content contained within the pre-made webpage is selected
based upon time of year.
19. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 15, wherein the geographically relevant
internet content contained within the pre-made webpage is selected
based upon recent viewing trends of other website visitors from the
physical geographic regional location estimated to be that of the
website visitor.
20. A computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content, the computer-based system comprising: an
application on a server of a website that reads the Internet
Protocol (IP) address of a website visitor, the application being
configured to: determine a physical geographic regional location
estimated to be that of the website visitor based upon the IP
address of the website visitor; select a preferred region from a
set of predetermined regions based upon the physical geographic
regional location estimated to be that of the website visitor;
select a pre-made webpage that (1) corresponds to the selected
preferred region, and (2) includes geographically relevant internet
content that is geographically relevant to the physical geographic
regional location estimated to be that of the website visitor; and
deliver the pre-made webpage to the website visitor to facilitate
viewing of the geographically relevant internet content contained
within the pre-made webpage by the website visitor.
21. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 20, wherein the application further
selects a pre-made webpage based upon prior purchases made by other
website visitors from a similar geographic region as the website
visitor.
22. The computer-based system for providing geographically relevant
internet content of claim 20, wherein the geographically relevant
internet content contained within the pre-made webpage includes
product offerings selected based upon the physical geographic
regional location estimated to be that of the website visitor.
Description
OTHER RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a divisional of pending of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 12/041,430 filed on Mar. 3, 2008, which
is hereby incorporated by reference. Applicant claims benefit of
the filing date of the parent application. The parent application
is currently pending in Art Unit 2451.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to computer software, and more
particularly, to an internet website application that provides
geographically relevant website content to a website visitor.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Several designs for delivering geographically relevant
internet content have been designed in the past. None of them,
however, are known to include a passive means to identify where a
discrete web page visitor is physically located and deliver at
least some content relevant to that visitor's physical
location.
[0006] Applicant believes that the closest reference corresponds to
U.S. published patent application No. 2006/0190307 filed by
Maxwell. However, it differs from the present invention because the
present invention does not require that the web site visitor
actively provide any information about the visitor's physical
location but instead automatically attempts to determine where the
web page visitor is physically located and then provide
geographically relevant content based on a predetermined
algorithm.
[0007] Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide
for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to
solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these
patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is one of the main objects of the present invention to
provide a means to determine where a web site visitor is physically
located without any active input from that visitor and then deliver
highly relevant dynamic web page content to a web site visitor
based at least in part on the visitor's physical location.
[0009] It is still another object of the present invention to
provide an anonymous environment where visitors of a web site can
receive customized content based on their physical location.
[0010] It is yet another object of this invention to provide
relevant content to a web site visitor quickly and without the need
for a visitor to actively input any personal information.
[0011] It is another object of the present invention to deliver
regionally relevant web page content to a web site visitor
automatically based on the web site visitor's physical
location.
[0012] Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the
following part of the specification, wherein detailed description
is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without
placing limitations thereon.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] With the above and other related objects in view, the
invention consists in the details of construction and combination
of parts as will be more fully understood from the following
description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings in which:
[0014] FIG. 1 represents a flow chart of software processes applied
to a travel focused website.
[0015] FIG. 2 shows an example of a web page delivered to a
Visitor.
[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of software processes as
applied to retail goods or services.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] Referring now to the drawings, where an embodiment of the
present invention is generally demonstrated in FIG. 1 where the
process begins at step 12 when a Visitor accesses the internet
through their computer. The Visitor typically uses a browser in the
Visitor's computer to view internet content graphically. The
Visitor could use a common public search engine to locate a
particular Vendor or search a class of vendors or the Visitor could
manually type in a known internet address (uniform resource locator
or URL) of a Vendor into their browser.
[0018] The Visitor's browser, as shown in step 14, sends a request
directed to the Vendor's internet hosting server associated with
the Vendor's URL for the return of the Vendor's website. The
request includes the Visitor's unique internet protocol (IP)
address so that the Vendor's internet hosting server can route a
response to the request back to the specific Visitor's browser
where the content can be viewed by the Visitor.
[0019] When the Visitor's request is received by the Vendor's
internet hosting server the internet hosting server initiates a
server-side software application as demonstrated in step 16. The
software application reads the unique IP address of the Visitor and
stores it into memory.
[0020] There are in existence and available to the public,
sometimes as a fee based service, databases that catalog and index
various information about internet service providers (ISP). Each
ISP has a range of IP addresses that it assigns to its customers.
Each ISP is also identified as servicing a specific region, for
example a state, county or metropolitan area. Therefore, if an IP
address is known the database can be searched to match the IP
address to a likely physical location where the specific IP address
is assigned based on the location of the ISP.
[0021] As shown in step 18 the application over the internet
queries a first third-party database of IP addresses to match the
IP address of the Visitor to an ISP. The ISP is typically reported
as servicing a limited geographical area and therefore the likely
physical location of the Visitor, based on the Visitor's IP
address, is estimated.
[0022] In step 20 the application matches the Visitors location to
one or more airports likely to be convenient to the Visitor and
these are classified as preferred airports for that Visitor. In one
embodiment the application has a predetermined set of, for example
forty to eighty, primary airports from which the airport(s)
convenient for a Visitor are selected. The airports are
predetermined based on the likelihood of a traveler selecting that
airport to initiate a flight and typically are either the busier
airports or those airports servicing larger regions. The
predetermined set of airports can be modified in the application as
the needs of travelers or airports change.
[0023] An example of the results of the process in step 20 may be,
for example, that a particular Visitor is estimated to be in the
New York City area based on their IP address. The preferred
airports may then be determined to be Newark International Airport,
JFK International Airport or La Guardia Airport. In another example
if the Visitor is estimated to be in Macon, Ga. the preferred
airport may be Atlanta-Hartsfield in Atlanta, Ga.
[0024] After one or several preferred airports are determined the
application queries a second third-party database as shown in step
22. The second third-party database is one or more of a
commercially or publicly available database where airfares and
other travel products are compiled and marketed. The application
queries the second third-party database for the airfares and other
travel products originating at the preferred airport(s) as
determined in step 20.
[0025] In step 24 the airfare and other travel products are
filtered and ranked based on a predetermined algorithm applied by
the application. In one embodiment the filtering process is applied
by the application to remove unlikely results returned from the
query of the second third-party database. For example, the
application algorithm may be set to filter out any itineraries with
departure dates greater than three weeks in the future or those
with fares greater than a set value. Another example may be where
the application is set to filter out only those destinations with
an average seasonal temperature of a predetermined value to limit
the destinations to only those that have average winter
temperatures warm enough to, for example, play golf or other
activity.
[0026] The remaining travel products may then be ranked by the
application. Certain destinations may be more popular for a
particular region. For example, a Visitor in Los Angeles is much
less likely to choose a Caribbean beach destination than a Mexican
beach vacation whereas a visitors in Washington, D.C. often prefer
a Florida beach vacation over Hawaii.
[0027] In an embodiment other criteria may also optionally be used
to rank the travel products. For example, customer reviews, travel
professional reviews or sales conversion rates may all have a
predetermined weight when factoring a specific travel product's
rank.
[0028] In an embodiment of the invention a web site cookie is
placed on the Visitor's computer when they visit a Vendor's web
site. The cookie may contain information related to, inter alia,
what a Visitor viewed while on the Vendor's web site. Presumably,
what a Visitor views is of particular interest to that Visitor. On
subsequent visits to the Vendor's web site similar products are
then ranked higher.
[0029] In an embodiment at step 24 the filter may rank results
delivered to a Visitor based at least in part on what other
Visitors of the web site in a similar geographical location viewed.
Presumably, what other similarly located Visitors viewed may be of
increased interest to other Visitors. This embodiment can track
trends from day to day as to what Visitors from a particular
location are interested.
[0030] As shown in step 26, after the application has filtered and
ranked the travel products resulting in an ordered and refined set
the information is formed into a customized, dynamic web page. A
web page template may be pre-made with sections relevant to all
regions of a greater area. For example, one United States web page
template may be suitable for all regions in the United States. This
is contrasted to a Canadian web page template that may be more
suitable for Canadian visitors and in compliance with Canadian
regulations or information of particular relevance to Canadian
travelers. In general, a template may have a common navigation
controls, themes and other common elements. Other areas of the web
page template are reserved for dynamic, geographically relevant
content.
[0031] To customize the web page to the specific individual Visitor
the application merges the filtered and ranked travel products into
a polished web page. The custom web page is delivered to the
Visitor at step 28 without any further input from the Visitor and
displayed on the Visitors browser where they are encouraged to make
a purchase of the displayed travel products at step 30.
[0032] The entire progression from step 12 through step 30 occurs
each time a Visitor directs her browser to the Vendor's website.
Therefore the website displayed on a Visitor's browser will change
as the information provided on the first third-party database or
the second third-party database or as the algorithm is adjusted in
the application. For example, if a Visitor visits the Vendor's
website on one day and again on another day the webpage could be
different because different travel products may have become
available. In another example, a Visitor checking the Vendor's
website at her home in Los Angeles may view a different webpage
than what she viewed at her office in New York earlier that same
day.
[0033] Now referring to FIG. 2 where an example of a web page
displayed to a Visitor is shown and includes, inter alia, a frame
32, a frame 34, a frame 36 and a frame 38. FIG. 2 is essentially a
screen shot of what a Visitor in or near Panama City, Fla. would
see as a result of visiting a Vendor's web site. If the Visitor was
physically located in a different location the web page may be
different to reflect where the Visitor was.
[0034] In the example shown in FIG. 2 said frame 32 is a navigation
bar that permits a Visitor to navigate to other areas of the
Vendor's website. Frame 34 is an example of information that would
be displayed to all visitors regardless of where they are
physically located. Frame 34 may include, for example, a search
feature, broad interest information or any other information that
is likely to interest Visitors from a variety of physical
locations. Frame 32 and frame 34 are part of the web site template
described in step 26 in FIG. 1 and is included in all web pages as
generated in step 26.
[0035] Still referring to FIG. 2, frame 36 is shown to include in
this example, inter alia, a graphical representation of locations
that a Visitor may potentially wish to travel. In this example the
Visitor is geographically located in or near Panama City, Fla. The
application has returned results of several possible destinations
that a Visitor in Panama City may wish to travel. The possible
destinations may be depicted graphically as arcs originating in
Panama City and radiating to each of the several suggested possible
destinations. Frame 38 shows a detail of the suggested possible
destinations shown in frame 36 and invites the Visitor to obtain
more information about the destination and make a purchase.
[0036] Of course, the example shown in FIG. 2 is but one of many
possible layouts of a web page generated in step 26 of FIG. 1.
Besides the dynamic content shown in frame 36 and frame 38 based on
the physical location of the Visitor, frame 32 and frame 34 may
change as styles and customs change. There could be more frames,
less frames, no frames or any other layout to show at least some
content geographically relevant to the Visitor based on the
Visitor's location.
[0037] In an embodiment of the invention if the Visitor's IP
address is unable to be matched to a physical location or the
Application determined the Visitor's location in error the Visitor
may manually select the correct travel origination location.
Likewise if for any reason the Visitor wishes to view travel
products originating at any location the Visitor may manually
select that travel origination location.
[0038] In an embodiment of the invention the application saves a
cookie on the Visitor's computer or a session on the Vendor's
server to retain additional information about a Visitor's
preferences so that in subsequent visits to the Vendor's website
the Visitor's past selections are known to provide more relevant
and accurate information to the Visitor.
[0039] Now referring to FIG. 3 where an example of software to
provide geographically relevant web site content as it may be
applied to Vendors providing goods or services other than in the
travel industry as described above. In step 40 a Visitor who is
also a potential purchaser of the type of goods or services
provided by a Vendor directs her computer to the web site of the
Vendor. As is common, the Visitor can search with a third party
search engine or directly enter the Vendor's URL into the address
bar of her browser.
[0040] In step 42 the browser sends a request for the Vendor's web
page to the Vendor's web hosting server to return the Vendor's web
page the Visitors IP address.
[0041] Instead of simply returning a pre-designed static web page
to the Visitor as does the prior art, as shown in step 44 an
application on the server side of the internet connection is
initiated and receives the Visitor's IP address and stores it into
memory.
[0042] There are in existence and available to the public,
sometimes as a fee based service, databases that catalog and index
various information about internet service providers (ISP). Each
ISP has a range of IP addresses that it assigns to its customers.
Each ISP is also identified as servicing a specific region, for
example a state, county or metropolitan area. Therefore, if an IP
address is known the database can be searched to match the IP
address to a likely physical location where the specific IP address
is assigned based on the location of the ISP.
[0043] As shown in step 46 the application over the internet
queries a third-party database of IP addresses to match the IP
address of the Visitor to an ISP. The ISP is typically reported as
servicing a limited geographical area and therefore the likely
physical location of the Visitor, based on the Visitor's IP
address, is estimated.
[0044] In step 48 the application then matches the estimated
physical location of the Visitor with any of several predefined
geographic regions. For example, if a Vendor primarily only
services the United States the geographic regions could be defined
as mid-west states, western states, north-east states, south-east
states, south-west states and north-west states. Another example
may be that each state is its own geographic region. Another
example may be each city with a population over a certain size is
surrounded by a predefined region. Of course, the predefined
geographic regions can be customized to suit a particular Vendor's
requirements to be as large or small as desired.
[0045] Once a Visitor is matched to a predefined geographic region
a pre-made website corresponding to that region is selected in step
50 and sent to the Visitors IP address where it is displayed on the
Visitor's computer screen in step 52. The Visitor in step 54 is
then able to view content relevant to their physical location and
make a purchase.
[0046] In an embodiment of the invention if the Visitor's IP
address is unable to be matched to a physical location or the
application determined the Visitor's location in error the Visitor
may manually select the correct region.
[0047] In an embodiment of the invention a web site cookie is
placed on the Visitor's computer when they visit a Vendor's web
site. The cookie may contain information related to, inter alia,
what a Visitor viewed while on the Vendor's web site. Presumably,
what a Visitor views is of particular interest to that Visitor. On
subsequent visits to the Vendor's web site can then rank similar
products higher.
[0048] In an embodiment at step 50 the filter may rank results
delivered to a Visitor based at least in part on what other
Visitors of the web site in a similar geographical location viewed.
Presumably, what other similarly located Visitors viewed may be of
increased interest to other Visitors. This embodiment may
optionally track trends from day to day as to what Visitors from a
particular location are interested. A web page more suited to
recent viewing trends may then be provided to the Visitor.
[0049] An example of the software as shown in FIG. 3 may be when a
Visitor directs their computer to go to a popular chain of hardware
stores. The Visitor's IP address is indicated to be originating
from Chicago, Ill. If the time of year is January the hardware
store may want to rank higher snow shovels to display to the
Visitor. On the same day the same hardware store chain may prefer
to show lawn furniture to a Visitor from Miami, Fla. without
needlessly showing snow shovels to this Visitor. Therefore, it can
be appreciated that geographically relevant web site content can be
selected to offer more relevant products or service to Visitors
based on where they are physically located.
[0050] The present invention is A computer based system for
providing geographically relevant internet content to a website
visitor comprising an application on a server of a website that
reads the IP address of a visitor to said website. Said application
queries the website visitor's IP address against a first database
of IP addresses with known geographic locations and determines a
physical geographic regional location estimated to be that of the
visitor. Said application selects a preferred departure point from
a set of predetermined departure points based on the physical
geographic region estimated to be that of the website visitor. Said
application queries a second database of travel products and
receives a set of preferred travel products that originate at said
preferred departure point. Said application applies a filter and a
ranking algorithm to the set of preferred travel products resulting
in a set of selected travel products. Said application compiles a
web page incorporating said set of selected travel products and
delivers said web page to the website visitor.
[0051] In an embodiment said preferred departure point may be an
airport, bus station, sea port or train station. In another
embodiment said ranking algorithm removes travel products unlikely
to be purchased by the website visitor from said set of preferred
travel products. In another embodiment said filter removes travel
products unlikely to be purchased by the website visitor from said
set of preferred travel products. In another embodiment said
application selects two, three, four, five or six preferred
departure points and delivers preferred travel products originating
at any of said preferred departure points.
[0052] Another embodiment of the invention is computer based system
for providing geographically relevant internet content to a website
visitor comprising an application on a server of a website that
reads the IP address of a website visitor. Said application queries
the website visitor's IP address against a database of IP addresses
with known geographic locations and determines a physical
geographic regional location estimated to be that of the website
visitor. Said application selects a preferred region from a set of
predetermined region based on the physical geographic region
estimated to be that of the website visitor. Said application
selects a pre-made web page that most appropriately matches the
selected preferred region and delivers said web page to the website
visitor. Optionally, said application further selects a pre-made
web page based on prior purchases made by other visitors from a
similar geographic region as the present visitor.
[0053] The foregoing description conveys the best understanding of
the objectives and advantages of the present invention. Different
embodiments may be made of the inventive concept of this invention.
It is to be understood that all matter disclosed herein is to be
interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting
sense.
* * * * *