System and method to automatically triangulate location based on popularity and density ranking of venues over distance

1. A computerized method for determining, for a plurality of individuals having a common interest, locations relevant to that common interest, each individual in the plurality possessing a user terminal that has a location, the method comprising:

in a first computer process, receiving search parameters pertaining to the common interest via a data communication network from a given user terminal possessed by an individual in the plurality;

in a second computer process, determining a collection of locations that provide goods or services satisfying the search parameters as a function of the locations of the user terminals possessed by the plurality of individuals;

in a third computer process, identifying clusters of locations in the collection of locations;

in a fourth computer process, providing a cluster score to each cluster based at least on the proximity from the cluster to the locations of the user terminals; and

in a fifth computer process, transmitting, toward the given user terminal via the data communication network, data indicating the clusters according to their relative cluster scores.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the common interest is automatically determined by a messaging application executing on the given user terminal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the collection of locations includes determining a geographic center of the locations of the user terminals.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the collection of locations further includes searching within a circle centered at the determined geographic center that contains the locations of the user terminals possessed by each individual in the plurality.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying clusters of locations includes applying a flood fill algorithm to the collection of locations.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each cluster score for a cluster is a function of one or more of: a satisfaction rating of a location in the cluster, the number of locations in the cluster, an average distance from the cluster to the individuals in the plurality, a crime rate of a geographic area of the cluster, a trendiness of a geographic area of the cluster, and accessibility of a geographic area of the cluster.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying text or images representing the clusters on the given user terminal.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein clusters having a plurality of locations are represented by shaded areas on a map.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the shaded area for each cluster is colored as a function of the cluster score of the cluster.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting advertisement data, relating to a good or service provided by a location in the collection of locations, toward the given user terminal for display thereon.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search parameters are determined automatically by analyzing a messaging conversation provided by a messaging application executing in the given user terminal.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of determining, identifying, or providing takes into account a preference of at least one individual in the plurality.

13. A computer program product for determining, for a set of one or more individuals having a common interest, locations relevant to that common interest, each individual in the plurality possessing a user terminal that has a location, the product comprising a non-transitory medium on which is stored computer-useable program code for:

receiving search parameters pertaining to the common interest from a given user terminal possessed by an individual in the plurality;

determining a collection of locations that provide goods or services that satisfy the search parameters as a function of the locations of the user terminals possessed by the plurality of individuals;

identifying clusters of locations in the collection of locations;

providing a cluster score to each cluster based at least on the proximity from the cluster to the locations of the user terminals; and

transmitting toward the given user terminal data indicating the clusters according to their relative cluster scores.

14. The product of claim 13 , wherein the common interest is automatically determined by a messaging application executing on the given user terminal.

15. The product of claim 13 , wherein the program code for determining the collection of locations includes program code for determining a geographic center of the locations of the user terminals.

16. The product of claim 15 , wherein the program code for determining the collection of locations further includes searching within a circle centered at the determined geographic center that contains the locations of the user terminals possessed by each individual in the plurality.

17. The product of claim 13 , wherein the program code for identifying clusters of locations includes program code for applying a flood fill algorithm to the collection of locations.

18. The product of claim 13 , wherein each cluster score for a cluster is a function of one or more of: a satisfaction rating of a location in the cluster, the number of locations in the cluster, an average distance from the cluster to the individuals in the plurality, a crime rate of a geographic area of the cluster, a trendiness of a geographic area of the cluster, and accessibility of a geographic area of the cluster.

19. The product of claim 13 , further comprising program code for transmitting advertisement data, relating to a good or service provided by a location in the collection of locations, toward the given user terminal for display thereon.

20. The product of claim 13 , wherein the program code for at least one of determining, identifying, or providing takes into account a preference of at least one individual in the plurality.