Method of determining a likely geographical location

1. A computer-implemented method for determining a likely geographical location for which a querying user of a computer desires further information based on submitted criteria, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, at an internet-based search engine, search criteria comprising text that comprises a locality name;

separating the text of the search criteria into text that may be a name of a locality and text that is not a name of a locality;

comparing the text that may be a name of a locality to a data set comprising at least one of town, province, or country names to verify the locality name in the text of the search criteria;

determining, with a processor, a probability that the locality name in the text of the search criteria is associated with a geographical location; and

providing, with the processor, to a user providing the search criteria, information that comprises search results that are refined based on the probability that the locality name in the text of the search criteria is associated with a geographic location.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the returned probability indicates a probability of the locality name in the text of the search criteria being associated with each of a plurality of geographic locations.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the text of the search criteria includes a plurality of locality names, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

identifying each locality name of the plurality of locality names in the text of the search criteria;

determining, for each locality name of the plurality of locality names, a probability that the locality name is associated with a geographical location; and

combining the probabilities to return a composite probability that indicates the probability of the plurality of locality names being associated with a geographical location.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the composite probability indicates the probability of each of the plurality of locality names being associated with each of a plurality of geographic locations.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the composite probability is derived from a combination of each of the probabilities associated with each of the plurality of locality names.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a probability comprises determining a set of probabilities between a plurality of locality names and a plurality of geographic locations, there being a probability linking a locality name of the plurality of locality names to one or more of the geographic locations of the plurality of geographic locations.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search criteria is received from a computer that is part of a network and has a network address, the network address being mapped to a geographical location, and wherein the method further comprises the step of:

weighting the probability that the locality name in the text of the search criteria is associated with the geographic location based on the geographical location mapped to the network address.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the network is the Internet and the network address is the IP address of the computer.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the computer is one of the group consisting of: a desktop PC, a portable PC, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone and a mobile communication device.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining a geographical location associated with the name of the locality name in the text of the search criteria based on the probability that the locality name in the text of the search criteria is associated with a geographic location.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the probability that the locality name in the text of the search criteria is associated with a geographic location is determined based on a look-up table that associates locality as a probability vector.

12. A method of determining a likely geographical location of a network user based on criteria submitted by the user, the method comprising the steps of:

holding in a location module geographic location information mapped from a user's computer network address that is an IP address;

monitoring submitted criteria including a locality name;

determining if the locality name is a sub-location within the geographic location indicated by the geographic location information mapped from the user's network address;

refining the geographic location information mapped from the user's network address to indicate a probability that the user is located in the sub-location; and

using the indicated probability to determine a likely geographical location and to provide to the user information that relates to the likely geographic location.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the information comprises a list of internet sites.

14. A computer-readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions for determining a likely geographical location for which a querying user of a computer desires further information based on submitted criteria, the set of instructions to direct a processor to perform acts of:

receiving, at an internet-based search engine, search criteria comprising text that comprises a locality name;

separating the text of the search criteria into text that may be a name of a locality and text that is not a name of a locality;

comparing the text that may be a name of a locality to a data set comprising at least one of town, province, or country names to verify the locality name in the text of the search criteria;

determining a probability that the locality name in the text of the search criteria is associated with a geographical location; and

providing to a user providing the search criteria, information that comprises search results that are refined based on the probability that the locality name in the text of the search criteria is associated with a geographic location.