Retargeted Location-Based Information Delivery

Abstract

A method according to certain embodiments comprises receiving a first request indicating a first location of a first mobile device at a first time and including first non-location data associated with the first mobile device; determining whether the first non-location data meet one or more requirements in response to the first location being proximate to a first physical object, receiving a second request indicating a second location of the first mobile device at a second time and including second non-location data; determining a set of selection factors including at least a first factor based at least on the first request in response to the second location being proximate to a second physical object; and selecting content associated with one of the first physical object and the second physical object for delivery to the mobile device based at least on the set of selection factors.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method performed by one or more computer systems coupled to a packet-based network, comprising:
 receiving from the packet-based network a first request indicating a first location of a first mobile device at a first time, the request including first non-location data associated with the first mobile device;   in response to the first location being proximate to a first physical object, determining whether the first non-location data meet one or more requirements;   in response to the first non-location data meeting the one or more requirements, registering a first event at the first physical object for the first mobile device based on the first request;   receiving from the packet-based network a second request indicating a second location of the first mobile device at a second time and including second non-location data;   in response to the second location being proximate to a second physical object, determining a set of selection factors including at least a first factor based at least on the first event; and   selecting content associated with one of the first physical object and the second physical object for delivery to the mobile device via the packet-based network based at least on the set of selection factors.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first location triggers a first geo-fence associated with the first physical object; and   the second location triggers a second geo-fence associated with the second physical object.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the first physical object is associate with a first entity and the second physical object is associated with a second entity distinct from the first entity. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the first physical object includes a first building;   the first non-location data includes a mobile user identification (UID) or a hashed value representing the UID; and   the one or more requirements include a requirement that historical requests associated with the UID do not indicate that the first mobile device have regularly been in or near the first building for prolonged periods of time.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first entity and the second entity belong to a same category of entities. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first factor is dependent on an amount of elapsed time between the first time and the second time. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the first geo-fence is one of a set of different types of geo-fences associated with the first physical object; and   the first factor is further dependent on a type of the first geo-fence.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the second non-location data includes a mobile user identification (UID) or a hashed value representing the UID; and   the set of selection factors further includes a second factor based on a mobile user intent profile associated with the UID or hashed value representing the UID;   the method further comprising, before receiving the second request, deriving the mobile user intent profile using at least a plurality of requests associated with the first mobile device, one or more respective requests of the plurality of requests indicating that the first mobile device has been proximate to a respective entity of a set of entities.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein deriving the mobile user intent profile comprises:
 determining a set of intent scores corresponding, respectively, to the set entities based at least on the plurality of requests, the set of entities including an entity associate with one of the first physical object and the second physical object; and   updating the intent scores using one or more time decay functions.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the second non-location data includes first characteristics of a mobile user associated with the first mobile device;   the set of selection factors further includes a third factor based on statistical results for various mobile user characteristics derived from historical requests associated with a plurality of mobile devices; and   the set of selection factors further includes a third factor based on comparison of the first characteristics with the statistical results.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first location triggers one of a set of geo-fences associated with the first physical object; and   the first factor is further dependent on which of the set of geo-fences is triggered by the first location.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first factor is dependent on an amount of elapsed time between the first time and the second time. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first non-location data includes first characteristics of a mobile user associated with the first mobile device;   the one or more requirements include specifications of required mobile user characteristics; and   determining whether the first non-location data meets one or more requirements includes comparing the first characteristics with the required mobile user characteristics.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the first factor is dependent on an amount of elapsed time between the first time and the second time. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the first physical object is associate with a first entity and the second physical object is associated with a second entity distinct from the first entity but belong to a same category of entities as the first entity. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing therein computer readable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out a method_comprising:
 receiving from the packet-based network a first request indicating a first location of a first mobile device at a first time, the request including first non-location data associated with the first mobile device;   in response to the first location being proximate to a first physical object, determining whether the first non-location data meet one or more requirements;   in response to the first non-location data meeting the one or more requirements, registering a first event at the first physical object for the first mobile device;   receiving from the packet-based network a second request indicating a second location of the first mobile device at a second time and including second non-location data;   in response to the second location being proximate to a second physical object, determining a set of selection factors including at least a first factor based at least on the first event; and   selecting content associated with one of the first physical object and the second physical object for delivery to the mobile device via the packet-based network based at least on the set of selection factors.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the first location triggers a first geo-fence associated with the first physical object;   the second location triggers a second geo-fence associated with the second physical object;   the first physical object is associate with a first entity and the second physical object is associated with a second entity distinct from the first entity but belonging to a same category of entities as the first entity;   the first physical object includes a first building;   the first non-location data includes a mobile user identification (UID) or a hashed value representing the UID;   the one or more requirements include a requirement that historical requests associated with the UID do not indicate that the first mobile device have regularly been in or near the first building for prolonged periods of time; and   the first factor is dependent on an amount of elapsed time between the first time and the second time.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the second non-location data includes a mobile user identification (UID) or a hashed value representing the UID; and   the set of selection factors further includes a second factor based on a mobile user intent profile associated with the UID or hashed value representing the UID;   the method further comprising, before receiving the second request, deriving the mobile user intent profile using at least a plurality of requests associated with the first mobile device, one or more respective requests of the plurality of requests indicating that the first mobile device has been proximate to a respective entity of a set of entities.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the first non-location data includes first characteristics of a mobile user associated with the first mobile device;   the one or more requirements include specifications of required mobile user characteristics;   determining whether the first non-location data meets one or more requirements includes comparing the first characteristics with the required mobile user characteristics; and   the first factor is dependent on an amount of elapsed time between the first time and the second time.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the second non-location data includes first characteristics of a mobile user associated with the first mobile device;   the set of selection factors further includes a third factor based on statistical results for various mobile user characteristics derived from historical requests associated with a plurality of mobile devices; and   the set of selection factors further includes a third factor based on comparison of the first characteristics with the statistical results.