Access points for maps

Abstract

Methods, systems and apparatus for providing map data that enables a user device to display a map of an area including physical entity locations and visited locations of the physical entities, wherein the physical entity locations are indicated by a first type of icon and each visited location is indicated by a second type of icon that is different from the first type of icon.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with an application date of October 11, 2016, application number 201680048375.2, and invention name “Access point for map”. Background Art

[0002] Interactive geographic maps are now available on most mobile devices and computers. A user can view an interactive geographic map showing a location that may include information about surrounding businesses, business addresses, contact information, driving directions, and other information related to the location displayed on the map. Some interactive maps allow the user to manipulate the map to view adjacent portions, zoom in or out, and / or view satellite images of the location.

[0003] The interactive map system can provide query suggestions in response to a received query (or a portion of a received query). The query suggestions generally help users refine search queries and discover search queries.

[0004] However, map services provide query suggestions and results for different physical locations. Although such information is useful, map information for different physical locations may not provide users with location information that the user may be additionally interested in. For example, an airport may have multiple entrances, but the location of the airport resolved as a map address may be hundreds of meters away from the location that a particular user is most interested in. Summary of the invention

[0005] In general, an innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in a method comprising the following actions: determining, by a server in response to a query input received from a user device, a plurality of map query suggestions, each map query suggestion being based on the query input and identifying a physical entity located at a physical entity location; determining that the physical entity identified by the map query suggestion has a plurality of corresponding access locations, each access location being a location that facilitates physical entry and / or exit to the physical entity, and in response: sorting the access locations of the physical entity relative to each other to generate a sorting of access locations, and generating access location query suggestions of the map query suggestions, each access location query suggestion identifying one of the access locations of the physical entity; and providing, by the server to the user device, the map query suggestions and the access location query suggestions in a format that causes the user device to display the access location query suggestions grouped as subordinate to the map query suggestions, the map query suggestions identifying a physical entity having a plurality of corresponding access points, and wherein the access location query suggestions are provided in an order according to the sorting of the access locations. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs configured to perform the actions of the method encoded on a computer storage device.

[0006] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in a method comprising the following actions: determining by a server in response to a map query received from a user device and identifying a physical entity located at a physical entity location: determining that the physical entity identified by the map query suggestion has multiple corresponding access locations, each access location being a location that facilitates physical entry and / or exit to the physical entity, and in response: sorting the access locations of the physical entity relative to each other to generate a sorting of the access locations, and providing by the server to the user device data that causes the user device to display a map of an area including the physical entity location and the access locations, wherein the physical entity location is indicated by a first type of icon and each access location is indicated by a second type of icon that is different from the first type of icon. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs configured to perform the actions of the method encoded on a computer storage device.

[0007] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in a method comprising the following actions: receiving location data from each of a plurality of user devices at a plurality of corresponding times, the location data describing the location of the user device at the corresponding time; determining path data for each of the user devices and relative to a physical entity location of a physical entity based on the location data from the plurality of user devices at the plurality of corresponding times; determining a merge of a plurality of paths of the plurality of user devices based on the path data, wherein each merge of the plurality of paths is based on the paths belonging to the merged user devices being within a threshold distance of each other and the respective directions being within a threshold parallelism; and for each merge of the plurality of paths, determining a location based on the locations determined from the relative locations of the user devices being within a threshold distance of each other and the respective directions being within a threshold parallelism; determining that each location determined for each merge is an access location of an access point of the physical entity; and storing the determined access location in an index in association with the physical entity location of the physical entity. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs configured to perform the actions of the method encoded on a computer storage device.

[0008] Specific embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented to achieve one or more of the following advantages. The user interface displays the access location in a visual manner that conveys the relationship between the access location and the physical location. This provides users with an intuitive interface that quickly conveys a more precise location than their initial query, which helps them obtain more accurate results in terms of both geographic location on the map and routing data. It achieves the above by intuitively showing the relationship between the access location and the physical location in the user's natural search flow without adding additional steps. When displayed in map form, the user interface also provides an interactive model that allows users to request routing data for each access location. The interactive model allows users to discover routes that will guide users to their selected access points, which also meets the user's information needs. By displaying this information in an intuitive manner, the amount of user input can be minimized. This has the further advantage of reducing the number of messages sent over the network. In this way, more efficient use of computer network resources is achieved.

[0009] The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1A is a block diagram of an example environment in which a map service provides suggestions for access point map queries.

[0011] Figure 1B and Figure 1C is a detailed description of the map query suggestion in the user interface.

[0012] Figure 2 is a flow diagram of an example process for providing map query suggestions including access location query suggestions.

[0013] Figure 3A and Figure 3B is an illustration of a map displayed in a user interface at two different zoom levels.

[0014] Figure 4 is an illustration of a map user interface with routing instructions.

[0015] Figure 5 is an illustration of a map user interface with access to location metadata.

[0016] Figure 6 is a flow chart of an example process for discovering a visited location from user device location data.

[0017] Figure 7 is a diagram of visited locations discovered from user device location data.

[0018] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings represent like elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Figure 1A 1 is a block diagram of an example environment in which a map service provides access point map query suggestions. A computer network 102 (such as the Internet) or a combination thereof provides data communication between electronic devices and systems. The computer network 102 may also include one or more wireless networks, or may communicate data with one or more wireless networks with the aid of one or more gateways.

[0020] User device 106 is an electronic device that is under the control of a user and is capable of requesting and receiving resources over network 102. Example user devices 106 include personal computers, mobile communication devices, wearable devices, and other devices that can send and receive data over network 102. Figures 1A to 1C In the example of FIG. 1 , user device 106 is a smartphone.

[0021] The search system 110 allows users to search for resources on the web. To facilitate searching for web resources, the search system 110 identifies resources by crawling publisher websites and indexing the resources provided by the publisher websites. Indexed and optionally cached copies of the resources are stored in a web corpus index 114.

[0022] The user device 106 submits a search query to the search system 110. The search query is submitted in the form of a search request that includes the search query as it is entered. For example, each time a character is entered as part of a search query, another search request is sent to the search system 110. The search system 110 uses a suggestion service 112 to generate search query suggestions that are displayed to the user as the user enters the query. Any suitable suggestion generation process can be used. Suggestions can be selected based on characters derived from the current input, or based on a semantic relationship to a term currently entered as the search query, or based on any other suitable suggestion algorithm.

[0023] Search system 110 is also in data communication with mapping service 120. Mapping service 120 provides maps that resolve to locations of queries that invoke search map data 122. Examples of queries that invoke a search of map data 122 are queries that specify an address, site, state, landmark, or other point of interest that resolves to a physical location.

[0024] The suggestion service 112 determines whether the query suggestion invokes a web corpus index 114 search operation or a map data 122 search. Figure 1AAs shown, a query input "J" is entered in the input field 130 of the search user interface 131. The suggestion service 112 has provided: a number of web query suggestions, as shown in the web search icon 132; and a number of map query suggestions, as shown in the map icon 134. If the user selects one of the web query suggestions, the search system 110 will use the selected query suggestion to perform a search of the web corpus index 114 and provide the corresponding web search results to the user device 106. Similarly, if the user selects the map query suggestion, the map service 120 will perform a search of the map data 122 and provide the corresponding map search results to the user device 106.

[0025] In some implementations, queries selected from user devices 106 are stored in query log 116. Click data for the queries is also stored in query log 116. Query log 116 can thus be used by search system 110 to determine the sequence of queries submitted by user devices, the actions taken in response to the queries, the frequency with which queries are submitted, and the relative frequency of selection of query suggestions.

[0026] The map data 122 stores data identifying physical entities (e.g., cities, businesses, points of interest, etc.) and the corresponding locations of each physical entity. Some physical entities may have multiple access locations. An access location is a location of an access point that facilitates physical entry and exit to the physical entity. For example, an access point may be an entrance into a building, such as the main entrance to an airport terminal; a parking location, such as a parking ramp of a building or a parking space in a parking garage; and other such access points that facilitate entry and exit of a person to a physical location.

[0027] The data describing the access points of the physical entity may be provided by a party associated with the physical entity. For example, a building manager may provide data describing the access points of the building to the mapping service 120; a shopping mall management company may provide data describing parking lot locations and shopping mall exits / entrances, etc. In other implementations, the access point processor 124 may process the location data provided by the user device 106 to discover the access points and locations of the physical entity. Figure 6 and Figure 7 Describe how the latter is implemented.

[0028] Reference Figure 1A , assuming that the user continues to enter query input at user device 106 , which results in user device 106 receiving additional query suggestions from suggestion service 112 . Figure 1B and Figure 1C is a detailed diagram of map query suggestions in user interface 131 in response to continued user input. Figure 2 To describe the operations of query suggestion processing, Figure 22 is a flow chart of an example process 200 for providing map query suggestions including access location query suggestions. The process 200 may be implemented in a suggestion service 112 in data communication with a map service 120.

[0029] Process 200 determines map query suggestions in response to a query input received from a user device, wherein each map query suggestion is based on the query input and identifies a physical entity located at a location of the physical entity (202). Figure 1A In FIG. 1 , in response to the query input “J”, the suggestion service 112 generates query suggestions, two of which correspond to the map query inputs—“Jersey City” and “JFK International Airport”. As the user continues to input, inputting “JF”, more map query suggestions 140, 150, and 170 are generated, as shown in FIG. Figure 1B shown.

[0030] The process 200 determines that a physical entity identified by a map query suggestion has multiple corresponding visited locations (204). For example, the suggestion service 112 accesses the map data 122 and determines that the query suggestion "JFK International Airport" has a corresponding visited location associated with a physical entity location of the airport. Each identified visited location is eligible to be identified by a visited location query suggestion. However, when multiple visited locations are identified for a physical entity location, the suggestion service 112 will sort the visited locations to determine which visited location will be identified by the visited location query suggestion and the order in which the visited location query suggestions will be provided.

[0031] Process 200 ranks the access locations of the physical entity relative to each other to generate a ranking of the access locations (206). The access locations can be ranked by a variety of different algorithms. For example, the access locations can be ranked based on the selection frequency of the access location query suggestion for each access location. The selection frequency can be determined by the access query log 116.

[0032] Another way to rank the visited locations is by ranking the visited locations based on user data of a user of the user device, wherein the user data indicates the user's specific use of each visited location. For example, assume that a first user has booked a flight with an airline that is located at Terminal 4 of JFK International Airport, and the user has provided this information to the search system 110 or otherwise allowed access to the information. The recommendation service ranks the visited location of Terminal 4 as the highest, and therefore will rank the visited locations in order. Figure 1B The order depicted in FIG. 1 provides access to location query suggestions 152 and 154 .

[0033] As another example, assume that the second user has a rental car reservation at a rental agency located at JFK International Airport, and the user has provided this information or otherwise allowed access to this information to the search system 110. The suggestion service ranks the rental car center's visit location highest.

[0034] In some implementations, the search system 110 may also provide data showing why a particular visited location is ranked higher than other visited locations. For example, assuming the first user has booked a flight with an airline that is located at Terminal 4 of JFK International Airport, the data may be a message explaining that Terminal 4 is the main terminal for the airline, e.g., "Your flight, Flight 123 of Airline A, departs from this terminal."

[0035] Other ways of ranking the visited locations may also be used. For example, the access point processor 124 may access the location data 126 of the mobile device, which describes the location of the mobile device over time, and determine a traffic rating for each visited location. The traffic rating is a measurement of the user device traffic through the visited location by traffic counts. Visited locations with high traffic ratings are ranked higher than visited locations with lower traffic ratings. In some implementations, when the location data of the user device indicates that the user device is within a threshold distance of a visited location, or based on historical traffic data, indicates that the user device is most likely to have passed through a particular visited location relative to other visited locations, the user device may attribute a traffic count to the particular visited location.

[0036] Process 200 generates a visit location query suggestion for a map query suggestion (208), and then provides the map query suggestion and the visit location query suggestion in a format that causes the user device to display the visit location query suggestion grouped as subordinate to the map query suggestion (210). Figure 1B As shown, visited location query suggestions 152 and 154 identifying visited locations for JFK International Airport are displayed such that they are subordinate to the map query suggestion 150 for JFK International Airport.

[0037] The number of location query suggestions provided may vary. For example, in some implementations, a default number of location query suggestions may be displayed. The default number may be two, such as Figure 1B However, if the query input highly indicates the information need for access points, the number of access location query suggestions can be increased. Figure 1CIn response to the query input "Jfk t", map query suggestions 150 and web query suggestions 180 are shown. However, referring to the map query suggestion 150, the visited location query suggestions 152, 154, 156, 158 and 160 are shown, as well as the link 162 showing the additional visited points. This is because the query input "Jfk t" is a query stem, which is likely to be resolved to the query suggestion "JfkTerminal...".

[0038] In some implementations, when a user selects a map query suggestion or a visited location query suggestion subordinate to a map query suggestion, the map service 120 provides a user device with a map of an area including the location of the query suggestion. In particular, the resulting map will display the physical entity locations and visited locations corresponding to the visited location query suggestion provided to the user device. The physical entity locations will be indicated by a first type of icon, and each visited location will be indicated by a second type of icon that is different from the first type of icon. For illustration, assume that the user selects Figure 1B Map query suggestions in 150; in Figure 3A The query input field now reads "JFK International Airport", and the map in the user interface 300 includes a first icon 292 of a first type corresponding to the location of the airport, and a first icon 292 of a first type corresponding to the location of the airport. Figure 1B The visited location query shown in FIG. 1 suggests three icons 294, 296 and 298 of the second type corresponding to the visited locations identified. However, additional visited locations may also be shown.

[0039] although Figure 3A The exemplary user interface in FIG. 30 is described as being displayed in response to selection of a map query suggestion, but the same interface may be displayed in response to input of a map query without using map query suggestions. For example, assume that a user enters the query "JFK International Airport" in a map application. The user interface 300 with the same physical location and access location may still be displayed as Figure 3A Provided as depicted.

[0040] The map in user interface 300 is sufficient to show Figure 1B The user can zoom in or out, and the number of visited locations associated with this physical entity can change. For example, Figure 3B As shown, the user has Figure 3A The zoom level is increased starting from the zoom level of , and in response, the map service 120 provides data that causes the user device to display a new set of visited locations 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314, and 316.

[0041] In some implementations, if the user selects the directions command 320, the mapping service 120 will provide directions from the current location of the user device 106 to the physical entity location 302. However, if the user selects a specific access point location, such as the access location 312 of Terminal 4, the mapping service 120 will provide directions from the current location of the user device 106 to the access location 312. For example, Figure 4 is an illustration of a map user interface 400 with routing directions to a selected access point location 312 .

[0042] In some implementations, a user may select an access point for a specified period of time (e.g., a "press and hold" selection) to cause the user device 106 to display metadata in a pop-up window for the access point. The metadata describes the physical characteristics of the access point at the selected access point. For example, Figure 5 , a user has selected a visit location 312 for a specified time period (e.g., 2 seconds), and a description of the airlines served by the specified airport terminal is displayed in a pop-up window 313. Metadata can be provided by the manager of the property or entity located at the physical entity location. As another example, for a parking ramp visit location, the daily rate for the parking ramp can be displayed. In addition, some metadata can be specific to all visit locations of a location. For example, for a sports arena, the metadata for each visit location can also include a list of items that are prohibited from being brought into the arena.

[0043] Although access locations for a particular building, area, or other identifiable map entity may be provided by an administrator of the particular building, area, or other identifiable map entity, in some implementations, the access point processor 124 accesses location data for the user device 106 to discover possible access points for the map entity.

[0044] Figure 6 is a flow chart of an example process 600 for discovering a visited location from user device location data. Process 600 may be implemented in a data processing apparatus such as one or more server computers.

[0045] Process 600 receives location data describing the location of the user device at the corresponding time from each of a plurality of user devices at a plurality of corresponding times (602). In some implementations, the user of user device 106 has consented to provide location data to mapping service 120, and the location data of the user device at multiple times (e.g., every n seconds) is stored in location data 126.

[0046] Process 600 determines path data for each user device relative to a physical entity based on location data from a plurality of user devices at a plurality of corresponding times (604). Figure 3A For example, the process 600 may identify a path of a user device within a set distance of the location 292. The set distance may vary based on the entity type. For an airport, for example, the distance may be 1 kilometer; for a building, the distance may be 25 meters, etc. In other implementations, the process 600 may identify a path of a user device within a map area corresponding to the identified location. The path of the user device is derived from the location of the user device over time.

[0047] Process 600 determines a merge of multiple paths for multiple user devices from the path data, wherein each merge of the multiple paths is based on the paths belonging to the merged user device being within a threshold distance of each other and the respective directions being within a threshold parallelism (606). Threshold parallelism occurs when two paths or sub-portions of the paths are in substantially the same direction (or substantially the same bidirectionally). For example, two paths that intersect almost perpendicularly do not meet the threshold parallelism, but two paths that are parallel to each other within a threshold duration (e.g., 6 meters) meet the threshold parallelism.

[0048] However, even if the paths meet the threshold parallelism, they may still not merge unless they are within a threshold distance. For example, the threshold distance may be 5 meters. Two paths that meet the threshold parallelism and are within a threshold distance of each other indicate an in / out location.

[0049] For each merge of the plurality of paths, the process 600 determines the locations based on the locations determined from the relative locations of the user devices being within a threshold distance of each other and the corresponding sub-portions of the paths being within a threshold parallelism (608). For example, for the N paths determined to be merged, the corresponding locations of the user devices for the merged portions of the paths are determined. From these relative locations to each other, the access point locations can be determined. For example, the access point locations can be determined using the centroid of all locations. The access point locations are then determined as the locations of the access points of the physical entities (610). The determined access points are then stored in the data store for later access by the map service 120.

[0050] Figure 7 is a diagram of the access locations discovered from the user device location data. Figure 6 As depicted, an area of ​​map entity 700 is processed for path data. Two illustrative paths (702 and 704) are found for two respective user devices. Although only two paths are shown, in practice hundreds of paths may be processed for a particular location.

[0051] The two corresponding first sub-portions 712 and 714 of the paths 702 and 704 meet the parallelism threshold, and the two corresponding second sub-portions 722 and 724 of the paths 702 and 704 also meet the parallelism threshold. An example method for determining whether the two sub-portions of the two paths meet the threshold parallelism is to insert a straight line for each sub-portion. Thereafter, the relative angle between the straight lines is determined. If the relative angle is less than a threshold angle, for example, 10 degrees, then the two sub-portions of the path meet the parallelism threshold.

[0052] The respective distances between the paths are represented by arrows 716 and 726. The distance represented by arrow 716 is greater than the threshold distance for merging, so sub-portions 712 and 714 are not merged. However, the distance represented by arrow 726 is within the threshold distance, so sub-portions 722 and 724 are merged. Accordingly, a visited location 730 is determined for map entity 700.

[0053] An exemplary method for determining the threshold parallelism of two sub-portions is to insert a straight line for each sub-portion and then find the closes point between the two lines. If the closes point is less than a threshold distance, for example, 4 meters, then the two sub-portions of the path meet the threshold distance.

[0054] In some implementations, a threshold number of merged paths must exist before an access location is determined. The threshold number can be a fixed number, such as 100, or, alternatively, can be a number that depends on the number of paths found, for example, at least 5% of the paths found must merge to a particular location for an access point to be determined.

[0055] In cases where the systems discussed herein collect personal information about a user or may utilize personal information, the user may be provided with the opportunity to control whether a program or feature collects information about the user (e.g., information about the user's social network, social behavior or activities, profession, the user's preferences, the user's current location, location trajectory, inferred location such as home / work, inferred context, calendar data, upcoming events / reservations from email, etc.), or to control whether and / or how content that may be more relevant to the user is received from a content server. In addition, certain data may be processed in one or more ways before being stored or used to remove personally identifiable information. For example, the user's identity may be processed so that personally identifiable information cannot be determined about the user; or in the case of obtaining location information (such as a city, zip code, or state level), the user's geographic location may be summarized so that the user's specific location cannot be determined. Thus, the user can control how information about the user is collected and used by the content server.

[0056] Embodiments of the subject matter and operations described in this specification may be implemented in the form of digital electronic circuitry or computer software, firmware or hardware (including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents), or a combination of one or more thereof. Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification may be implemented as one or more computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions for execution by a data processing device or for controlling the operation of a data processing device.

[0057] A computer storage medium may be a computer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or sequential access memory array or device, or a combination of one or more of them; or a computer storage medium may be included in the above. In addition, although a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, a computer storage medium may be a source or destination of computer program instructions encoded in an artificially generated propagated signal. A computer storage medium may also be one or more separate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices), or may be included therein.

[0058] The operations described in this specification may be implemented as operations performed by a data processing device on data stored on one or more computer-readable storage devices or received from other sources. The term "data processing device" covers all types of devices, equipment and machines for processing data, including, for example, programmable processors, computers, systems on chips, or multiple or a combination of the foregoing. The device may include a dedicated logic circuit, for example, an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). In addition to hardware, the device may also include code that creates an execution environment for the computer program involved, for example, code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, a cross-platform runtime environment, a virtual machine, or one or more combinations thereof. The device and the execution environment can implement a variety of different computing model infrastructures, such as web services, distributed computing, and grid computing infrastructures.

[0059] As an example, processors suitable for executing computer programs include both general and special purpose microprocessors and any one or more processors of any type of digital computer. Typically, the processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. The basic elements of a computer are a processor for performing actions according to instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Typically, a computer will also include or be operably coupled to receive data from one or more mass storage devices (e.g., disks, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks) for storing data or transfer data to one or more mass storage devices (e.g., disks, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks) for storing data or both. However, a computer need not have such a device.

[0060] Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification may be implemented in a computing system including a back-end component (e.g., as a data server), or including a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or including a front-end component (e.g., a user computer with a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification), or any combination of one or more such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include local area networks ("LANs") and wide area networks ("WANs"), internetworks (e.g., the Internet), and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

[0061] Although this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be interpreted as limitations on any invention or the scope that can be claimed, but as descriptions of features specific to specific embodiments of specific inventions. Specific features described in the context of separate embodiments in this specification may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable sub-combination. In addition, although features may be described above as working in a specific combination and even initially required to be so, one or more features from the claimed combination may be deleted from the combination in some cases, and the claimed combination may be directed to a variant of a sub-combination or a sub-combination.

[0062] Similarly, although operations are described in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order or sequential order shown, or that all of the operations shown be performed to achieve the desired results. In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system components in the above-described embodiments should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

[0063] Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve the desired results. Additionally, the processes depicted in the accompanying drawings do not necessarily require the particular order or sequential order shown to achieve the desired results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising: Receive map queries; Identify points of interest that satisfy a map query; identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest, wherein each access point comprises an entry to the point of interest; ranking the plurality of access points based on user equipment traffic rating information associated with the plurality of access points, wherein a selectable icon is provided for each of the ranked plurality of access points; In response to a map query, providing for output a map including a corresponding selectable icon for each of: (i) a point of interest that satisfies the query and (ii) each of a ranked plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest, wherein the corresponding selectable icon for each of the ranked plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest is operable, when selected, to invoke a process for returning navigation directions specific to the ranked access point corresponding to the corresponding selectable icon, wherein the navigation directions specific to at least two of the ranked plurality of access points are at least partially different from each other; receiving data indicating that a particular icon has been selected; and Provides direction for the output based on the specific icon that has been selected.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest includes identifying a parking lot that has been previously associated with the point of interest agent.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest includes identifying a portal that has been previously associated with the point of interest.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Prior to receiving the map query, data indicative of a plurality of access points is received from a building manager associated with the point of interest.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest includes identifying different terminals that have been previously associated with the point of interest.

6. The method according to claim 1, comprising: Information explaining the reason for ranking at least one of the ranked plurality of access points is provided for output.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising providing for output on a map a pop-up window displaying metadata associated with a particular icon that has been selected.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing software, the software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers, the instructions, when executed, causing the one or more computers to perform operations comprising: Receive map queries; Identify points of interest that satisfy a map query; identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest, wherein each access point comprises an entry to the point of interest; ranking the plurality of access points based on user equipment traffic rating information associated with the plurality of access points, wherein a selectable icon is provided for each of the ranked plurality of access points; In response to a map query, providing for output a map including a corresponding selectable icon for each of: (i) a point of interest that satisfies the query and (ii) each of a ranked plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest, wherein the corresponding selectable icon for each of the ranked plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest is operable, when selected, to invoke a process for returning navigation directions specific to the ranked access point corresponding to the corresponding selectable icon, wherein the navigation directions specific to at least two of the ranked plurality of access points are at least partially different from each other; receiving data indicating that a particular icon has been selected; and Provides direction for the output based on the specific icon that has been selected.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein: Identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest includes identifying a parking lot that has been previously associated with the point of interest agent.

10. The device according to claim 8, wherein: Identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest includes identifying a portal that has been previously associated with the point of interest.

11. The device according to claim 8, wherein: Prior to receiving the map query, data indicative of a plurality of access points is received from a building manager associated with the point of interest.

12. The device according to claim 8, wherein: Identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest includes identifying different terminals that have been previously associated with the point of interest.

13. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein: Ranking the plurality of access points is also based on historical user information associated with the plurality of access points.

14. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein: The operations include providing for output on a map a pop-up window displaying metadata associated with a particular icon that has been selected.

15. A computer-implemented system comprising: One or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more computers, are operable to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising: Receive map queries; Identify points of interest that satisfy a map query; identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest, wherein each access point comprises an entry to the point of interest; ranking the plurality of access points based on user equipment traffic rating information associated with the plurality of access points, wherein a selectable icon is provided for each of the ranked plurality of access points; In response to a map query, providing for output a map including a corresponding selectable icon for each of: (i) a point of interest that satisfies the query and (ii) each of a ranked plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest, wherein the corresponding selectable icon for each of the ranked plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest is operable, when selected, to invoke a process for returning navigation directions specific to the ranked access point corresponding to the corresponding selectable icon, wherein the navigation directions specific to at least two of the ranked plurality of access points are at least partially different from each other; receiving data indicating that a particular icon has been selected; and Provides direction for the output based on the specific icon that has been selected.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein: Identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest includes identifying a parking lot that has been previously associated with the point of interest agent.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein: Identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest includes identifying a portal that has been previously associated with the point of interest.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein: Prior to receiving the map query, data indicative of a plurality of access points is received from a building manager associated with the point of interest.

19. The system according to claim 15, wherein: Identifying a plurality of access points that have been previously associated with the point of interest includes identifying different terminals that have been previously associated with the point of interest.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein: Ranking the plurality of access points is also based on historical user information associated with the plurality of access points.

21. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a search query by a search engine; Identification by a search engine of physical entities that satisfy a search query; determining whether the physical entity is associated with a plurality of entry or exit points, each of the entry or exit points being associated with a different geographic location; In response to determining that the physical entity is associated with a plurality of entry or exit points, each of the entry or exit points being associated with a different geographic location, ranking the plurality of entry or exit points based on a frequency of selection of query suggestions associated with each of the entry or exit points in the query log; Select a subset of multiple entry or exit points to be sorted; generating a map including a first type of selectable control overlaid at a geographic location of the physical entity and, for each subset of the ordered plurality of entry points or exit points, a second type of selectable control overlaid at the geographic location of the entry point or exit point; Provide maps; receiving an indication of a selection of a particular selectable control of a second type overlaid at a particular geographic location of a particular entry or exit point; and Navigation directions are provided via a map to a particular entry or exit point associated with a particular selectable control.

22. The method of claim 21, comprising selecting a zoom level for the map such that all representations of the plurality of entry or exit points are visible on the map.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The physical entity comprises a building, and wherein each of the plurality of entry or exit points comprises a door into the building.

24. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The plurality of entry or exit points are further ordered based on user-specific usage functions.

25. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The physical entity comprises an airport, and wherein each of the plurality of entry or exit points comprises a terminal.

26. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The search query includes partial search queries.

27. A computer-implemented system comprising one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions, wherein: The instructions, when executed by one or more computers, are operable to cause the one or more computers to perform operations including: receiving a search query by a search engine; Identification by a search engine of physical entities that satisfy a search query; determining whether the physical entity is associated with a plurality of entry or exit points, each of the entry or exit points being associated with a different geographic location; In response to determining that the physical entity is associated with a plurality of entry or exit points, each of the entry or exit points being associated with a different geographic location, ranking the plurality of entry or exit points based on a frequency of selection of query suggestions associated with each of the entry or exit points in the query log; Select a subset of multiple entry or exit points to be sorted; generating a map including a first type of selectable control overlaid at a geographic location of the physical entity and, for each subset of the ordered plurality of entry points or exit points, a second type of selectable control overlaid at the geographic location of the entry point or exit point; Provide maps; receiving an indication of a selection of a particular selectable control of a second type overlaid at a particular geographic location of a particular entry or exit point; and Navigation directions are provided via a map to a particular entry or exit point associated with a particular selectable control.

28. A system according to claim 27, comprising selecting a zoom level for the map so that all representations of entry or exit points are visible on the map.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein: The physical entity comprises a building, and wherein each of the plurality of entry or exit points comprises a door into the building.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein: The plurality of entry or exit points are further ordered based on user-specific usage functions.

31. The system of claim 27, wherein: The physical entity comprises an airport, and wherein each of the plurality of entry or exit points comprises a terminal.

32. The system of claim 27, wherein: The search query includes partial search queries.

33. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising: receiving a search query by a search engine; Identification by a search engine of physical entities that satisfy a search query; determining whether the physical entity is associated with a plurality of entry or exit points, each of the entry or exit points being associated with a different geographic location; In response to determining that the physical entity is associated with a plurality of entry or exit points, each of the entry or exit points being associated with a different geographic location, ranking the plurality of entry or exit points based on a frequency of selection of query suggestions associated with each of the entry or exit points in the query log; Select a subset of multiple entry or exit points to be sorted; generating a map including a first type of selectable control overlaid at a geographic location of the physical entity and, for each subset of the ordered plurality of entry points or exit points, a second type of selectable control overlaid at the geographic location of the entry point or exit point; Provide maps; receiving an indication of a selection of a particular selectable control of a second type overlaid at a particular geographic location of a particular entry or exit point; and Navigation directions are provided via a map to a particular entry or exit point associated with a particular selectable control.

34. Apparatus according to claim 33, comprising selecting a zoom level for the map so that all representations of entry or exit points are visible on the map.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein: The physical entity comprises a building, and wherein each of the plurality of entry or exit points comprises a door into the building.

36. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein: The plurality of entry or exit points are further ordered based on user-specific usage functions.

37. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein: The physical entity comprises an airport, and wherein each of the plurality of entry or exit points comprises a terminal.

38. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein: The search query includes partial search queries.

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