Method and apparatus for evaluating an attribute of a point of interest

1. A method of operating a server to evaluate an attribute of a point of interest, comprising:

obtaining, at the server, position data representative of the variation in position of a plurality of users over time;

associating, at the server, a region with the point of interest having at least one of a shape and size in dependence on the nature of the goods and services offered at the point of interest;

determining, at the server, the users entering the region from a comparison of the obtained position data with position data defining the associated region;

evaluating, at the server, the attribute for the point of interest according to at least one of: the number of users entering the associated region; the speed in the associated region of each user entering the associate region; and the length of time spent in the associated region for each user entering the associated region; and

sending the attribute from the server to a remote device for display to a user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the position data representative of the variation in position of a plurality of users over time is obtained from a data store of the server.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attribute comprises a quality parameter for the point of interest.

4. The method of claim 3 , comprising evaluating the quality parameter for different time periods.

5. The method of claim 4 , comprising determining at least one of: (i) an opening time or an open time period; and (ii) a closing time or a closed time period, for the point of interest from quality parameter values for different times or different time periods.

6. The method of claim 5 , comprising determining at least one of a busy time period and a quiet time period for the point of interest from quality parameter values for different time periods.

7. The method of claim 3 , comprising determining a rank for a point of interest according to a quality parameter value for the point of interest and a quality parameter value for one or more further points of interest which offer the same or similar goods and services as the goods and services offered at the point of interest and which are located in the same geographical area as the point of interest.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attribute is sent to a remote device for display to a user in response to a user request.

9. The method of claim 8 , comprising displaying the attribute for the point of interest adjacent to a symbol representing the nature of the goods and services offered at the point of interest.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the associated region has at least one of a shape and size in dependence on time.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the associated region has at least one of a shape and size in dependence on a region associated with a neighboring or an adjacent point of interest.

12. A non-transitory data carrier comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed on a processor of a server, cause the processor to:

obtain position data representative of the variation in position of a plurality of users over time;

associate a region with the point of interest having at least one of a shape and size in dependence on the nature of the goods and services offered at the point of interest;

determine the users entering the region from a comparison of the obtained position data with position data defining the associated region;

evaluate the attribute for the point of interest according to at least one of:

the number of users entering the associated region; the speed in the associated region of each user entering the associate region; and the length of time spent in the associated region for each user entering the associated region; and

send the attribute from the server to a remote device for display to a user.

13. A server for evaluating an attribute of a point of interest, comprising a data store for storing position data representative of the variation in position of a plurality of users over time, and a processing resource adapted to:

associate a region with the point of interest having at least one of a shape and size in dependence on the nature of the goods and services offered at the point of interest;

determine the users entering the region from a comparison of position data obtained from the data store with position data defining the associated region;

evaluate the attribute for the point of interest according to at least one of:

the number of users entering the associated region; the speed in the associated region of each user entering the associate region; and the length of time spent in the associated region for each user entering the associated region; and

send the attribute from the server to a remote device for display to a user.