Granted Patent B2

US 12,249,010 · App. 18/202,619 · Granted Mar 11, 2025

Inventors: Adam Bliss (Drain, OR); David P. Conway (Los Altos, CA)

Assignee: GOOGLE LLC

G06T11/20G01C21/3874G06F16/9537G06F17/15G06T11/60G09G5/003

Abstract

Claims (61)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device, a query from a particular user;

submitting the query from the computing device to a search system;

rendering a map on a display of the computing device;

receiving, at the computing device and from the search system, one or more search results responsive to the query, wherein the one or more search results include a first search result that represents a personal contact of the particular user, wherein the personal contact was determined by the search system to be responsive to the query from the particular user;

receiving, at the computing device and from the search system, a location descriptor that indicates a location of the personal contact; and

presenting a marker for the first search result on the map, the marker presented at a position of the map corresponding to the location of the personal contact.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

accessing an address book of the particular user;

identifying an entry in the address book for the personal contact;

identifying from the entry an address of the personal contact; and

geocoding the entry for the personal contact based on the address.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the marker for the first search result comprises an image of the personal contact.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the marker for the first search result comprises an image associated with a category of the personal contact.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the map rendered on the display of the computing device shows a limited geographic region, and the method comprises presenting a first subset of the search results that have locations within the limited geographic region on the map, and presenting a second subset of the search results that have locations outside the limited geographic region within a display area beyond the map on the display of the computing device.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

receiving a user-based selection of the marker for the first search result on the map; and

in response to receiving the user-based selection of the marker for the first search result, presenting detailed information about the personal contact that was not initially displayed before the user-based selection of the marker.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the marker for the first search result is selected for display on the map based on the personal contact being within a preferred category of contacts for the particular user.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more search results further include a second search result that was determined by the search system to be responsive to the query from the particular user.

9. A non-transitory medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, performs actions including:

receiving, at a computing device, a query from a particular user;

submitting the query from the computing device to a search system;

rendering a map on a display of the computing device;

receiving, at the computing device and from the search system, one or more search results responsive to the query, wherein the one or more search results include a first search result that represents a personal contact of the particular user, wherein the personal contact was determined by the search system to be responsive to the query from the particular user;

receiving, at the computing device and from the search system, a location descriptor that indicates a location of the personal contact; and

presenting a marker for the first search result on the map, the marker presented at a position of the map corresponding to the location of the personal contact.

10. The non-transitory medium of claim 9 , wherein the actions comprise:

accessing an address book of the particular user;

identifying an entry in the address book for the personal contact;

identifying from the entry an address of the personal contact; and

geocoding the entry for the personal contact based on the address.

11. The non-transitory medium of claim 9 , wherein the marker for the first search result comprises an image of the personal contact.

12. The non-transitory medium of claim 9 , wherein the marker for the first search result comprises an image associated with a category of the personal contact.

13. The non-transitory medium of claim 9 , wherein the map rendered on the display of the computing device shows a limited geographic region, and the actions comprise presenting a first subset of the search results that have locations within the limited geographic region on the map, and presenting a second subset of the search results that have locations outside the limited geographic region within a display area beyond the map on the display of the computing device.

14. The non-transitory medium of claim 9 , wherein the actions comprise:

receiving a user-based selection of the marker for the first search result on the map; and

in response to receiving the user-based selection of the marker for the first search result, presenting detailed information about the personal contact that was not initially displayed before the user-based selection of the marker.

15. The non-transitory medium of claim 9 , wherein the marker for the first search result is selected for display on the map based on the personal contact being within a preferred category of contacts for the particular user.

16. The non-transitory medium of claim 9 , wherein the one or more search results further include a second search result that was determined by the search system to be responsive to the query from the particular user.

17. A computing device, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause performance of operations comprising:

receiving, at the computing device, a query from a particular user;

submitting the query from the computing device to a search system;

rendering a map on a display of the computing device;

receiving, at the computing device and from the search system, one or more search results responsive to the query, wherein the one or more search results include a first search result that represents a personal contact of the particular user, wherein the personal contact was determined by the search system to be responsive to the query from the particular user;

receiving, at the computing device and from the search system, a location descriptor that indicates a location of the personal contact; and

presenting a marker for the first search result on the map, the marker presented at a position of the map corresponding to the location of the personal contact.

18. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the operations comprise:

accessing an address book of the particular user;

identifying an entry in the address book for the personal contact;

identifying from the entry an address of the personal contact; and

geocoding the entry for the personal contact based on the address.

19. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the marker for the first search result comprises an image of the personal contact.

20. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the marker for the first search result comprises an image associated with a category of the personal contact.

21. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the map rendered on the display of the computing device shows a limited geographic region, and the operations comprise presenting a first subset of the search results that have locations within the limited geographic region on the map, and presenting a second subset of the search results that have locations outside the limited geographic region within a display area beyond the map on the display of the computing device.

22. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the operations comprise:

receiving a user-based selection of the marker for the first search result on the map; and

in response to receiving the user-based selection of the marker for the first search result, presenting detailed information about the personal contact that was not initially displayed before the user-based selection of the marker.

23. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the one or more search results further include a second search result that was determined by the search system to be responsive to the query from the particular user.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (137)