Online sites with associated fictitious geographical locations

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for associating online objects with geographical locations are provided. One of the methods includes: obtaining a request for assigning a geographical location to an online object, wherein the online object is associated with provision of one or more products or services; determining, based on the request, a geographical area associated with the provision of the one or more products or services; identifying a first geographical location to be assigned to the online object; and storing a relationship between the online object and the first geographical location in the data store.

1 . A computer-implemented method for associating online objects with geographical locations, comprising:
 obtaining a request for assigning a geographical location to an online object, wherein the online object is associated with provision of one or more products or services;   determining, based on the request, a geographical area associated with the provision of the one or more products or services;   identifying a first geographical location to be assigned to the online object, wherein the identifying comprises:
 determining that the first geographical location is within the geographical area associated with the provision of the one or more products or services; and 
 confirming that the first geographical location does not overlap with any of a plurality of second geographical locations in a data store, wherein each of the second geographical locations corresponds to a physical object; and 
   storing a relationship between the online object and the first geographical location in the data store.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the online object is associated with an online business and wherein the online business does not have a real address. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising, prior to storing the relationship between the online object and the first geographical location:
 verifying that an owner of the online business is associated with the geographical area.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a search query for businesses in the vicinity of the first geographical location; and   returning a plurality of search results in response to the search query, at least one of the search results comprising information associated with the online object, wherein the one of the search results is generated based on the stored relationship between the online object and the first geographical location.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the search results comprise one or more physical objects corresponding to one or more of the second geographical locations. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the search query is received at an application displaying an online map. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the returning a plurality of search results in response to the search query comprises:
 sending, to the application, instructions for displaying the first geographical location in the online map.   
     
     
         8 . A system for associating online objects with geographical locations, comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions executable by the processor to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining a request for assigning a geographical location to an online object, wherein the online object is associated with provision of one or more products or services;   determining, based on the request, a geographical area associated with the provision of the one or more products or services;   identifying a first geographical location to be assigned to the online object, wherein the identifying comprises:
 determining that the first geographical location is within the geographical area associated with the provision of the one or more products or services; and 
 confirming that the first geographical location does not overlap with any of a plurality of second geographical locations in a data store, wherein each of the second geographical locations corresponds to a physical object; and 
   storing a relationship between the online object and the first geographical location in the data store.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the online object is associated with an online business and wherein the online business does not have a real address. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise, prior to storing the relationship between the online object and the first geographical location:
 verifying that an owner of the online business is associated with the geographical area.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a search query for businesses in the vicinity of the first geographical location; and   returning a plurality of search results in response to the search query, at least one of the search results comprising information associated with the online object, wherein the one of the search results is generated based on the stored relationship between the online object and the first geographical location.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the search results comprise information associated with one or more physical objects corresponding to one or more of the second geographical locations. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the search query is received at an application displaying an online map. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the returning a plurality of search results in response to the search query comprises:
 sending, to the application, instructions for displaying the first geographical location in the online map.   
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for associating online objects with geographical locations, configured with instructions executable by one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining a request for assigning a geographical location to an online object, wherein the online object is associated with provision of one or more products or services;   determining, based on the request, a geographical area associated with the provision of the one or more products or services;   identifying a first geographical location to be assigned to the online object, wherein the identifying comprises:
 determining that the first geographical location is within the geographical area associated with the provision of the one or more products or services; and 
 confirming that the first geographical location does not overlap with any of a plurality of second geographical locations in a data store, wherein each of the second geographical locations corresponds to a physical object; and 
   storing a relationship between the online object and the first geographical location in the data store.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the online object is associated with an online business and wherein the online business does not have a real address. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise, prior to storing the relationship between the online object and the first geographical location:
 verifying that an owner of the online business is associated with the geographical area.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a search query for businesses in the vicinity of the first geographical location; and   returning a plurality of search results in response to the search query, at least one of the search results comprising information associated with the online object, wherein the one of the search results is generated based on the stored relationship between the online object and the first geographical location.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the search results comprise information associated with one or more physical objects corresponding to one or more of the second geographical locations. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the search query is received at an application displaying an online map.