Passive check-in

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, by a server computer system, a location stream corresponding to a mobile device of a user represented by a user profile, the mobile device accessing one or more web sites;

comparing data representing a current location of the mobile device to data representing an earlier location of the mobile device using the obtained location stream;

determining a boundary crossing of a geo-fence based on the result of the comparison;

in response to determining the boundary crossing:

tracking a period of time during which the user is within the geo-fence based on the location stream;

tracking online user behavior while the user is within the geo-fence based on access of the mobile device of one or more websites during the period of time; and

tracking offline user behavior while the user is within the geo-fence based on offline behavior tracked by online services during the period of time;

identifying an area within the geo-fence as a type of special location with respect to the user based on a duration of the period of time, the online user behavior, and the offline user behavior;

determining special locations information for the area within the geo-fence based on the identified type of special location, the duration of the period of time, the online user behavior, and the offline user behavior; and

including the special locations information into the user profile.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user profile is maintained by a web-based service hosted at the server computer system.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the web-based service is an on-line trading service.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location stream is associated with requests originated from a web browser accessed from the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location stream is associated with requests originated from a mobile application accessed from the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising storing the location stream andevent data representing the boundary crossing in a passive check-in database.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

detecting, at the server computer system, a further request from the mobile device; from the request detected at the server computer system, collecting current geo-location data for the mobile device;

at the server computer system, based on the current geo-location data and the previous geo-location data for the mobile device, determining lack of a crossing of a geo-fence event for the mobile device; and

storing the current geo-location data as previous geo-location data.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising providing a recommendation from the server computer system to the mobile device, based on the determining of the boundary crossing of the geo-fence.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the special locations information corresponds to: a work place of the user, a home of the user, a place of worship of the user, a gym of the user, a store frequently visited by the user, or a restaurant frequently visited by the user.

10. A computer-implemented system comprising:

at least one memory configured to store instructions; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory at a server computer system, the processor being configured to, in response to execution of the instructions, cause the system to perform operations, the operations comprising:

obtain a location stream corresponding to a mobile device of a user represented by a user profile, the mobile device accessing one or more web sites;

determine a plurality of boundary crossings of a geo-fence of the user based on comparing data included in the location stream;

track periods of time during which the user is within the geo-fence based on the location stream and the plurality of boundary crossings;

track user behavior while the user is within the geo-fence based on one or more types of tracking selected from a group of tracking types consisting of: tracking online user behavior while the user is within the geo-fence based on access of the mobile device of one or more websites during the period of time; and tracking offline user behavior while the user is within the geo-fence based on offline behavior tracked by online services during the period of time;

determine special locations information for an area within the geo-fence based on the tracking of the user behavior and based on durations of the periods of time and a number of the plurality of boundary crossings, and

include the special locations information into the user profile.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the user profile is maintained by a web-based service hosted at the server computer system.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the web-based service is an on-line trading service.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the location stream is associated with requests originated from a web browser accessed from the mobile device.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the location stream is associated with requests originated from a mobile application accessed from the mobile device.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise store the location stream in a passive check-in database.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise :

detect, at the server computer system, a further request from the mobile device; from the request detected at the server computer system, collect current geo-location data for the mobile device;

at the server computer system, based on the current geo-location data and the previous geo-location data for the mobile device, determine lack of a crossing of a geo-fence event for the mobile device; and

store the current geo-location data as previous geo-location data.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise generate a recommendation to be provided from the server computer system to the mobile device, based on the determining of the boundary crossing of the geo-fence.

18. One or more machine-readable non-transitory storage media having instruction data to cause a system to perform operations comprising:

obtaining, by a server computer system, a location stream corresponding to a mobile device of a user represented by a user profile, the mobile device accessing one or more web sites;

comparing data representing a current location of the mobile device to data representing an earlier location of the mobile device using the obtained location stream;

determining a boundary crossing of a geo-fence based on the result of the comparison;

in response to determining the boundary crossing, tracking user behavior while the user is within the geo-fence based on one or more types of tracking selected from a group of tracking types consisting of: tracking online user behavior while the user is within the geo-fence based on access of the mobile device of one or more websites during the period of time; and tracking offline user behavior while the user is within the geo-fence based on offline behavior tracked by online services during the period of time;

identifying an area within the geo-fence as a type of special location with respect to the user based on the tracking of the user behavior;

determining special locations information for the area within the geo-fence based on the identified type of special location and the tracking of the user behavior; and

including the special locations information into the user profile.

19. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:

tracking a period of time during which the user is within the geo-fence based on the location stream; and

identifying the area as a type of special location based on a duration of the period of time.